    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [February 11, 1991]
    [Pages 130-131]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Persian Gulf Conflict
    February 11, 1991

        The President. Let me just say that we had a very thorough briefing
    from Secretary Cheney and from Chairman Powell. They had a very good
    visit out there to the Gulf area, talking to our commanders. I am very
    satisfied, having heard their briefing, with the progress in the war.
    The air campaign has been very, very effective, and it will continue for
    awhile. We're not talking about dates for further adding to the air
    campaign, put it that way.
        But I would simply want to say to the American people that the war
    is going well. I am very pleased with the people that are running the
    war; they have my full confidence. We are going to take whatever time is
    necessary to sort out when a next stage might begin. And I will not be
    discussing it any further than that. And I can guarantee you that there
    should be no further discussion of that for a lot of reasons, including
    the safety of our own troops--and that comes first as far as I'm
    concerned--and the coalition forces. Their safety is paramount in my
    mind.
        But I would be remiss if I didn't reassure the American people that
    this war is being fought with high technology. There is no targeting of
    civilians. It has gone far better in terms of casualties than I'd hoped,
    though we mourn the loss of every single member of our armed forces and
    the coalition forces, of course.
        My heart still goes out to the families. I might say to the families
    of those who are over there, the report from General Powell and from
    Secretary Cheney is very reassuring in terms of the morale of our people
    over there. They know why they are there. They are gung ho about it.
    They know its importance. They know that it's right and just. And so, I
    have great confidence in them.
        And altogether, I feel much better after this briefing. I've always
    felt confident we were on the right path. I feel even more so now after
    this briefing from Secretary Cheney and General Powell. So, we will just
    continue down this road. We're the ones that are going to set the time
    for how this war--the time for any action that is taken. We are not
    going to suit somebody else's timetable, whether he lives in Baghdad or
    anyplace else. And that's exactly the way it should be.
        And so, I will rely heavily on the advice of our Secretary of
    Defense, of our Chairman, of our generals out there--General Schwarzkopf
    and others. Then if they come to me and say there needs to be another
    phase, then I will then make that decision because that is a decision
    for the President of the United States.
        Having said that, I have total confidence that we are on the right
    path. And with no further ado, I want to thank them for this arduous
    trip, but it was well worth it.
        Thank you.
        Q. Mr. President are you still skeptical air power will do the job?
        The President. They may be taking questions over there and I'll
    refer the--as I said early on when I started in all of this, the
    briefings on military and air and all of this are best conducted by the
    experts. And they are over there across the river in the Pentagon. When
    it comes to the President's decision, I'll be glad to discuss it at the
    appropriate time. But this is not the appropriate time, for the reasons
    that I gave you.
        We are on track; it is going smoothly. I've

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    got total confidence that we are prevailing. It is working well. And
    that's what the American people need to know now, and I don't have
    anything to contribute beyond that.

                        Note: The President spoke at 3:45 p.m. in the Rose
                            Garden at the White House. Prior to his remarks,
                            the President was briefed by Secretary of
                            Defense Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin L. Powell,
                            Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on their
                            recent meetings in Saudi Arabia with Gen. H.
                            Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. forces
                            in the Persian Gulf, and other allied officers.