Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9102280508
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: TERENCE HUNT and MONA ZIADE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
Bush said the war against Iraq would not be another Vietnam. Indeed not. It was declared over - and won - in just 43 days.
Bush took an immense political gamble when he decided to send American troops into a faraway desert to challenge one of the world's most dangerous, heavily armed dictators.
Many in Congress doubted Bush's strategy, urging patience and caution. He replied that the crisis couldn't wait.
He vowed Iraq's aggression would not stand. It did not.
He promised to free Kuwait. He did.
And, Saddam's threat to wage the mother of all battles? It crumbled into a myth.
"Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," Bush announced to the nation after 100 hours of relentless ground attacks against Iraqi forces.
Immediately, Bush began picking up political bouquets, even from those who had opposed him. House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., who had urged Bush to allow more time for sanctions and diplomacy, said Bush "conducted this operation brilliantly."
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, D-Maine, another doubter, said the victory was a credit to Bush and his military leaders. Longtime doves in Congress have been turned into hawks, urging Bush to keep up the pressure until he unseats Saddam.
The victory was a testimonial to Bush's skillful leadership in stitching together an improbable alliance whose membership even included the radical state of Syria. The Soviet Union refused to commit any troops, but was cajoled into consenting to every U.N. resolution proposed by Bush.
In the end, the battlefield conquest was easier than anyone imagined.
By all accounts, Saddam's awful arsenal of chemical and biological weapons was not unpacked. His air force was afraid to fly. His ground troops surrendered so fast they couldn't be counted. Iraq barely put up a fight. American casualties were said to be amazingly low.
Even before the victory was declared, Bush was soaring in the polls with an approval rating near an astronomical 90 percent. Hard to believe, but ratings probably will go higher.
It's a good thing for the Democrats that the presidential election isn't until 1992. It's hard enough to beat an incumbent president - much less one who wins a war. Scrambling for advantage, the Democrats think the recession may help deflate Bush's standing.
There are other hazards for the president.
Beaten on the battlefield, Saddam remains unpredictable. Bush wants him removed from power, but that may be tough to achieve. There have been abortive coups and at least seven assassination attempts against Saddam since he took power in 1979.
Even in defeat, Saddam retains power and can still claim wide support from Arabs who view him as a hero who stood up to America and other world powers.
To many Arabs, Saddam is the man who fought a coalition of 32 armies and dared to fire missiles into Israel - something no other Arab leader had done in 42 years of Arab-Israeli conflict.
"The allies think a military defeat will humiliate him," said Francis Tusa, a military analyst with the London-based Armed Forces Journal.
"But I'm sorry to say it won't. The fact that he has thumbed his nose at the United States and the rest of the world for eight months is good enough." Domestically, Saddam's main fear likely was that his army would revolt and topple him in a military coup. But his ruthless secret police have eliminated many opponents among the 18 million population.
It's uncertain whether Saddam will surrender the POWs or meet the terms for a permanent cease-fire. Bush has demanded war reparations and threatened war-crimes trials.
"We still have some difficult days ahead," White House media secretary Marlin Fitzwater acknowledged.
The end of the war also puts pressure on Bush to address the long-simmering Arab-Israeli dispute.
There are debts to be paid on both sides. Many Arab nations stood solidly with Bush against Saddam. And Israel honored Bush's plea that it stay out of the war.
Bush announced he is sending Secretary of State James Baker to the Middle East next week, promising "we can assist and support the countries of the region and be a catalyst for peace."
For now, though, after months of uncertainty, Bush stands in triumph. The skeptics have been silenced. America's leadership has been reborn.
And Bush proclaims, "This war is now behind us."
by CNB