    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [January 9, 1991]
    [Pages 25-26]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Open Letter to College Students on the Persian Gulf Crisis
    January 9, 1991

        If armed men invaded a home in this country, killed those in their
    way, stole what they wanted and then announced the house was now
    theirs--no one would hesitate about what must be done. And that is why
    we cannot hesitate about what must be done halfway around the world: in
    Kuwait.
        There is much in the modern world that is subject to doubts or
    questions--washed in shades of gray. But not the brutal aggression of
    Saddam Hussein against a peaceful, sovereign nation and its people. It's
    black and white. The facts are clear. The choice unambiguous--right vs.
    wrong.
        The terror Saddam Hussein has imposed upon Kuwait violates every
    principle of human decency. Listen to what Amnesty International has
    documented. ``Widespread abuses of human rights have been perpetrated by
    Iraqi forces . . . arbitrary arrest and detention without trial of
    thousands . . . widespread torture . . . imposition of the death penalty
    and the extrajudicial execution of hundreds of unarmed civilians,
    including children.''
        Including children--there's no horror that could make this a more
    obvious conflict of good vs. evil. The man who used chemical warfare on
    his own people--once again including children--now oversees public
    hangings of dissenters. And daily his troops commit atrocities against
    Kuwaiti citizens.
        This brutality has reverberated throughout the entire world. If we
    do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for
    human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy
    of the emerging new world order we now see: this long dreamed-of vision
    we've all worked toward for so long. A year after the joyous dawn of
    freedom's light in eastern Europe, a dark evil has descended in another
    part of the world. But we have the chance--and we have the obligation--
    to stop ruthless aggression.
        I have been in war. I have known the terror of combat. And I tell
    you this with all my heart: I don't want there to be war ever again. I
    am determined to do absolutely everything possible in the search for a
    peaceful resolution to this crisis--but only if the peace is genuine, if
    it rests on principle, not appeasement.
        But while we search for that answer, in the Gulf young men and women
    are putting their own lives on hold in order to stand for peace in our
    world and for the essential value of human life itself. Many are younger
    than my own children. Your age, most of them--doing tough duty for
    something they believe in.
        Let me tell you about one of the soldiers over there, Sfc. Terry
    Hatfield, a young man from Georgia. He sent me a Christmas card. And
    this is what he wrote: ``Mr. President, I just wanted you to know my
    soldiers and I are ready to do whatever mission you decide. Freedom as
    we know and enjoy has been taken away from another country and must be
    restored. Although we are separated from family, friends, loved ones, we
    will

    [[Page 26]]

    do what must be done . . . We stand ready and waiting. God Bless you and
    the U.S.A.''
        Terry understands the moral obligation that has compelled our
    extraordinary multi-national coalition to make this stand in the Gulf.
    To look this international terrorist straight in the eye and say: no
    concessions. To proclaim for now and for the future: no compromises. To
    bear witness by our presence to the fact that aggression will not be
    rewarded.
        Terry waits thousands of miles from the White House, yet we share
    the same thoughts. We desperately want peace. But we know that to reward
    aggression would be to end the promise of our new world order. To reward
    aggression would be to destroy the United Nations' promise as
    international peacekeeper. To reward aggression would be to condone the
    acts of those who would desecrate the promise of human life itself. And
    we will do none of this. There are times in life when we confront values
    worth fighting for. This is one such time.
        Each day that passes means another day for Iraq's forces to dig
    deeper into their stolen land. Another day Saddam Hussein can work
    toward building his nuclear arsenal and perfecting his chemical and
    biological weapons capability. Another day of atrocities for Amnesty
    International to document. Another day of international outlaws, instead
    of international law.
        I ask you to think about the economic devastation that Saddam
    Hussein would continue to wreak on the world's emerging democracies if
    he were in control of one-fifth of the world's oil reserves--and to
    reflect on the terrible threat that a Saddam Hussein armed with weapons
    of mass destruction already poses to human life and to the future of all
    nations.
        Together, as an America united against these horrors, we can, with
    our coalition partners, assure that this aggression is stopped and the
    principles on which this nation and the rest of the civilized world are
    founded are preserved.
        And so let us remember and support Terry Hatfield, all our fine
    service men and women, as they stand ready on the frontier of freedom,
    willing to do their duty and do it well. They deserve our complete and
    enthusiastic support--and lasting gratitude.

                        Note: This letter was sent to 460 college newspapers
                            on January 9, and it was released by the Office
                            of the Press Secretary on January 10. The letter
                            referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.