Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 19, 1991 TAG: 9102190400
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE H. GELB
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
George Bush, with his call for Iraqis to dump their dictator, finally reveals he will not be content with military success and that he intends to deny his adversary a postwar political triumph as well.
Ridding Iraq of Saddam is surely the correct ultimate aim. If he were to survive the war as a hero, he would be like a giant starship emitting undeflectable death rays, infinitely more lethal than any of the look-alike henchmen who might replace him.
A frontal assault on Saddam will not work. President Bush should let pressure for his departure occur naturally, as a byproduct of war and negotiations.
But the president made several avoidable mistakes last week in pursuit of his quarry and could be heading toward other miscues.
The Iraqi nemesis caught everyone off guard on Friday with his highly contaminated statement about withdrawal from Kuwait.
Though it was peppered with obscure Arab verbs and linked to a host of unacceptable conditions, it still ignited sparks of hope.
Bush did well to characterize the package as "a cruel hoax," and deflate unfounded and divisive optimism.
But Marlin Fitzwater, the White House spokesman, ran to the podium too quickly and erred in saying that the statement contained nothing new.
Of course, there was something new. For the first time, Baghdad hinted it would comply with U.N. Resolution 660 and withdraw from Kuwait.
Some aides intercepted Bush before his early morning speech and told him so.
But Bush's corrective did not go far enough.
He ended up saying that there was "nothing new here, with the possible exception of" the withdrawal point.
When the dust settles, such grudging talk might damage Bush's well-earned credibility.
It could also look like unseemly overeagerness to discard any peace overture and simply get on with the war.
Other coalition partners, like Canada, reacted much more smartly, simply noting that the withdrawal point was new but that it was tied to old and new conditions rejected by the U.N.
Bush's aides were also surprised on Friday to hear him invite the Iraqi military and people "to take matters into their own hands" and rid themselves of their accursed dictator.
Though that mirrors the private sentiments of almost all national leaders, no one wants to be accused of creating new objectives, exceeding the U.N. mandate and prolonging the war.
Bush's indiscretion was doubly unwise because he did it gratuitously. He had no intelligence information to suggest a receptive military audience in Iraq. He only hoped there might be one.
The president could make yet another misstep away from where he wants to go if he orders a ground attack now in the face of the current round of Iraqi-Iranian-Soviet diplomacy.
To listen to high Bush administration officials, that is precisely what their boss still has in mind and what they themselves still believe is best.
Bush will look like the villain if he rushes into land battle before this "peace game" has played out.
The United States will need the world's full faith and credit to hold the coalition together and maneuver Saddam from power.
The trick is to keep moving in that direction, never making his ouster an explicit aim of policy, nailing down tough agreements at each stage of talks, then moving on to set new and reasonable requirements, never overloading the bargaining circuits.
If Saddam is really angling for a cease-fire and will buy an unconditional and total withdrawal, agree to it.
But insist that his forces clear the mine fields and leave heavy weapons behind.
Meanwhile, maintain the full trade embargo against Iraq.
It is essential to fulfilling the second part of the U.N. resolution, requiring the restoration of stability in the Persian Gulf.
End the embargo only after Iraq agrees to reduce the size of its armed forces, destroy its nuclear and chemical weapons stockpiles and related facilities and grant the U.N. inspection rights.
These tough and reasonable demands might help Iraqis wake up to the fact that their maximum leader has squandered their lives and resources in two self-aggrandizing and unwinnable wars, and help them to do the right thing.
by CNB