Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9102280305
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"We have exorcised the ghost of Vietnam," said Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash.
Even as they celebrated the success of Operation Desert Storm, lawmakers cautioned that securing the peace will present mammoth challenges to America and to the region.
House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., said Bush had "conducted this operation brilliantly."
He noted that Bush's goals, and those of the United Nations, include restoring peace and security to the Middle East. "That is going to be a much larger and longer task," Foley said, including paying for the devastation of the war, resolving the Arab-Israeli problem and limiting arms imports into the region.
"Thank God the war is over and the bad guys lost," said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis.
He said the next step must be to "take the necessary steps to fundamentally change the Middle Eastern way of doing business on arms sales and a whole range of other issues so that the sacrifice made by many Americans will truly produce lasting results that we can be proud of."
"Our military success is a credit to President Bush, Secretary Cheney, General Powell, General Schwarzkopf and all those serving in the Persian Gulf," said Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine. "Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered the loss of loved ones in this effort."
Gorton said the allied victory has done nothing less than restore Americans' pride and raised U.S. stature in the world.
by CNB