    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [February 12, 1991]
    [Pages 139-140]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters on the Persian Gulf Conflict Prior to
    Discussions With Defense Minister Thomas King of the United Kingdom
    February 12, 1991

        Q. Going to talk about the ground war--possible?
        The Defense Minister. Are you going on, Mr. President, or----
        The President. No, I'm not. I defer to guests because I don't take
    questions in here. And that's Helen Thomas [United Press International],
    I think. [Laughter] I don't look over, so I can't see, but I----
        Q. We've got a better one for you.
        The President. She knows very well that I don't take questions here.
    But foreign guests are encouraged to, if you'd like to.
        The Defense Minister. Well, I just said to the President here--and
    the Vice President, who I had the pleasure of meeting last week in
    London, and with Dick Cheney, General Brent Scowcroft--the very close
    measure of the very close cooperation we have. I'm very grateful for it.
    We've been very appreciative of the close contact also we have. And I
    was going to say to the President that we have great admiration for
    General Schwarzkopf. We're working very closely with him. We have our
    1st Armored Division, which is with now the U.S. 7th Corps. And General
    Franks is commanding that. And we have General Smith working under him.
    And it's a measure of the cooperation that we have. I think both at sea,
    in the air, and on land that it's been an excellent illustration of very
    close cooperation. And I welcome the chance to meet the President. And
    one feels one knows these issues so well, communicating through various
    channels.
        Q. Mr. King, do you think it's too soon to go to a ground war? Do
    you agree with the President on that?
        The Defense Minister. It's a need to see some significant reduction
    in Iraq's military capability. You can't put precise figures on it, but
    there certainly needs to be a reduction in their capability. I know the
    President has always made very clear something that we support very
    strongly, that we want to see a tilt in the balance of military
    advantage so that when our forces embark--the allied coalition forces
    embark on that land campaign that the balance of advantage is with them.
    That will help us to minimize the casualties on our own side and
    actually hopefully minimize the casualties for the people of Kuwait who
    are going to be part of the battleground.
        Q. Is there concern, though, on the other hand, that if the air war
    is protracted that you start to lose some of the international

    [[Page 140]]

    support?
        The Defense Minister. There are a lot of considerations that have to
    be taken into account. We have great respect and confidence in General
    Schwarzkopf, in the military judgments that he will make on the ground.
    He talks closely to our commanders there as well, which is very valuable
    to us. And we appreciate very much--and obviously my relationship with
    Secretary Cheney--but particularly the President's excellent habit of
    keeping in very close touch with Prime Minister John Major. And so, as
    far as I can say for the United Kingdom, the cooperation couldn't be
    closer. And we know, I think all of us, in our hearts, a whole range of
    issues that have to be taken into account before the President will
    undoubtedly have to reach a very important judgment.
        Q. But right now do you think they have the balance?
        The Defense Minister. Oh, I think there's some work to be done.
        Q. Mr. President, do you feel there is pressure to get it over with?
    Either internal or international?
        The President. I'm not going to take any questions here. But I
    must--like to identify myself with the remark we've just heard here.
    [Inaudible]
        The Defense Minister. We've got a change of shift.
        The President. This may be some of your troops coming in.
        The Defense Minister. [Inaudible]
        The President. I think so.
        The Defense Minister. But it's been very useful to be able to see
    that exchange of views.
        The President. I think there's a conscientious effort on his part to
    try to raise the propaganda value--accusing us of indiscriminate bombing
    of civilians. And it's simply not true. And what's overlooked is the--a
    lot of the brutality that's so evident and so purposeful on his part--
    the treatment of the prisoners. The Scud missile attacks have no
    military value. The environmental terrorism has not taken human life
    yet, but it's pretty bad. And we are doing the right thing. And I'm just
    delighted with the cooperation. And we are on track. And I think most of
    the world knows it. But to hear this one-sided propaganda machine
    cranking out a lot of myths and falsehoods--but I don't think the world
    is buying it, frankly.
        The Defense Minister. We didn't see many television pictures of the
    casualties in Kuwait, did we?
        The President. No. It's still going on.
        The Defense Minister. And of the civilians and the tens of thousands
    of civilians that must have lost their lives there?
        The President. No, I think we're right on track--right on track and
    very proud to be identified with you all in this enterprise.

                        Note: The exchange began at 2:05 p.m. in the Oval
                            Office at the White House. The Defense Minister
                            referred to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney;
                            Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President for
                            National Security Affairs; Gen. H. Norman
                            Schwarzkopf, commander of the U.S. forces in the
                            Persian Gulf; and Lt. Gen. Frederick M. Franks,
                            Jr., and Maj. Gen. Isaac Dixon Smith, commanding
                            general and deputy chief of staff for personnel,
                            1st Armored Division, U.S. Army Europe and 7th
                            Army. President Bush referred to President
                            Saddam Hussein of Iraq.