human dignity and freedom versus tyranny and oppression. We will prevail because of
the support of the American people, armed with a trust in God." [fn 79]
But surely all was not spiritual that weekend in Camp David. One sign is that First Lady
Barbara Bush came back with a broken leg. What had happened? A few weeks earlier,
George and Bar had granted a joint interview to two fawning and sycophantic reporters
from People weekly. During this interview, Bush was asked, "Mr. President, this is an
understandably tough period. How do you deal with the stress?" Bush answered: "Well, I
have this dog named Ranger and this wife named Barbara and a couple of grandchildren."
At this point, Barbara Bush broke in to say "Thought you were gonna say, 'I kick the dog,
kick the wife.'" [fn 80] Had Barbara Bush suffered the fate of a battered woman during
that pre-war weekend in Camp David? The official story was that she had slid down an
icy slope on a saucer sled and hit a tree, producing a "non-displaced fracture of the fibula
bone in the left leg." According to Mrs. Bush's press secretary, Anna Perez, George had
yelled "Bail out! Bail out!" as Mrs. Bush accelerated toward the tree, but she had not
heeded his advice. The incident had allegedly occurred during a sledding party after
church on Sunday, January 13, in the presence four of the Bush's grandchildren (ages
6,4,4, and 1), and Bush loyalist Arnold Schwarzenegger, the chairman of the President's
Council on Physcial Fitness. Bush's daughter Dorothy LeBlond and his daughter in law
Margaret, may have been present or nearby, as may Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver
of NBC, and her infant daughter. But only the First Lady's press secretary spoke in public
of the incident, which has therefore remained somewhat obscure. When the presidential
party returned by helicopter to the White House that evening, Mrs. Bush was carried
indoors in a wheelchair. [fn 81]
On that same day, Soviet troops acting in the name of a self-styled "National Salvation
Committee" massacred more than a dozen Lithuanian patriots. Bush's response was in the
mildest and most craven of terms, saying that there was "no justification for the use of
force," but taking absolutely no steps to bring that message home to Moscow; the New
World Order was exposed once again as the law of the strong over the weak.
According to the official account, Bush signed the National Security Directive ordering
the attack against Iraq at in the White House Oval Office at 10:30 AM on Tuesday
morning, January 15, 1991. On Wednesday morning in Washington, when it was early
evening in Baghdad, Bush ordered Scowcroft to call Cheney with a further instruction to
implement the attack plan. The US air attack on Iraq accordingly took place between 6
and 7 PM on Wednesday, January 16. The bombs began to fall during the first night in
Baghdad after the expiration of Bush's deadline. [fn 82] Within 24 hours, Iraq retaliated
with Scud missles against Israel and against US bases in Saudi Arabia. One day after that,
Bush described the Scud attacks as "purely an act of terror." Bush's mental health had not
gotten any better during the first days of the war; he showed signs of clinical hysteria, the
refusal to recognize obvious facts. During this press conference, he was asked:
Q: Why is it that any move, or...move for peace is considered an end run at the White
House these days?