    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [April 3, 1991]
    [Pages 320-323]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Question-and-Answer Session With Reporters in Hobe Sound, Florida
    April 3, 1991

    Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, could you say a few words? Did you learn anything
    new just then, for instance, on Iraq or anything else?
        The President. No, I didn't learn anything new. Read some stuff
    that's not true, but I didn't learn anything new.
        Q. Which----
        The President. Well, there's no point in going into all of that.
        Q. Did you sign an order for----

    Possible Soviet-U.S. Summit

        The President. I was talking about a firm date for a meeting with
    Gorbachev on there. That's not set. I want to meet with President
    Gorbachev; I've said so. But, I don't know where a story like that comes
    from. It's just simply not true.
        Q. Sir, are you optimistic that you can do it by the first half of
    the year?
        The President. Do the summit meeting? I'd like to go to Moscow, and
    we've maintained that we should get a START agreement. And we also have
    some difficulties on CFE to work out, the conventional forces agreement.
    But this story is just simply not correct. Such a meeting may turn out
    to be, but I would know if that were set, and it's not.
        Q. Would you consider meeting someplace other than Moscow?

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        The President. Sure, if we're going to have a meeting. Listen, you
    know my view. I've said I think nearly a year and a half ago that it
    would be appropriate to have meetings with President Gorbachev, once a
    year I think we said. But we've got to work out these details on these
    arms control agreements now, and that's what I think he's trying to do.
    And I know we're pushing our experts very hard on doing that. So, I
    don't know where this story could come from.

    Iraq

        Q. Mr. President, there's a story about Iraqi--that you had signed a
    finding--covert actions----
        The President. Let me stop you right there. If you're going to ask
    about intelligence matters, you're wasting time because I never comment
    on them. And I wouldn't confirm or deny or comment on intelligence
    matters, particularly findings, in any way. It simply would be
    inappropriate.

    Return of U.S. Troops

        Q. Are you going to speak tonight? When you get back to Andrews
    you're going to be on in the middle of a nationwide CBS special on
    bringing back the troops. Do you feel a little bit awkward,
    participating in a gala like this, when most of the troops are still in
    the Middle East?
        The President. No, they're coming home 3,000, 5,000 a day. And the
    rejoicing that the families have when these young men and women come
    home has been wonderful therapy for this whole nation. And I have
    nothing but respect for the military, the way in which they're bringing
    our troops out. And when we get a cease-fire agreement, you'll see them
    come out even more rapidly because it is my intention to do what I said
    early on: bring our troops home as soon as possible.
        I think we've already brought home over 100,000. I'm looking around
    for somebody to give me the exact figures.
        Q. Yes. The Pentagon has said that.
        The President. But it's a lot of people back, and more will be
    coming back. And so, I have no feeling of awkwardness at all. The war
    hasn't been over all that long. It takes a long time to move people out.
        But what we've done is keep our forces in Iraq, and we'll keep them
    there until we have a cease-fire agreement. And they'll come out.
    Hopefully, there will be a blue-helmeted U.N. force or some kind of
    security force along the border between Kuwait and Iraq, thus relieving
    the United States of any obligation in this regard. And they'll be
    coming out just as fast as we can bring them out.
        But I have nothing but joy in my heart about the way these troops
    are being received, about what's happened to the American heartbeat as a
    result of all of this. And I'm looking forward to seeing some more of
    them that'll be coming home, seeing them tonight at Andrews Air Force
    Base.

    Iraq

        Q. Do you feel frustrated at not being able to help the Iraqis?
        The President. Well, I feel frustrated any time innocent civilians
    are being slaughtered. And I feel very frustrated about that. But the
    United States and these other countries with us in this coalition did
    not go there to settle all the internal affairs of Iraq.
        I have said that there will not be normalized relations with Iraq as
    long as Saddam Hussein is in power. And of course I feel a frustration
    and a sense of grief for the innocents that are being killed brutally.
    But we are not there to intervene. That is not our purpose; it never was
    our purpose. I can understand the frustration of some who think it
    should have been our purpose, some who never supported this in the first
    place on military action. I share their frustration, but I am not going
    to commit our forces to something of this nature. I'm not going to do
    that.
        We will proceed along the diplomatic channels, working at the United
    Nations, getting security forces.
        Q. Why let their helicopters continue?
        The President. Because I do not want to see us get sucked into the
    internal civil war inside Iraq, that's why.
        Q. Isn't that a violation of the informal cease-fire?
        The President. I don't know whether technically, Lori [Lori Santos,
    United Press International], it's in violation or not. It is in

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    the fixed-wing planes to fly, but if it is a violation, that doesn't
    necessarily mean that we are going to commit our young men and our young
    women into further combat. I will do my level-best to use all diplomatic
    channels to bring this fighting to a halt. But I do not want to push
    American forces beyond our mandate. We've done the heavy lifting. Our
    kids performed with superior courage, and they don't need to be thrust
    into a war that's been going on for years in there. That's my view.
        Q. Given the recent success of his forces, are you still confident
    that Saddam Hussein will not be there in less than a year?
        The President. Yes. I'm still confident he won't be. I don't think
    he can survive, and I don't think he should survive. He's not going to
    have the kind of relations that Iraq should have with other countries as
    long as he's there. And I haven't changed my view on that at all.
        Most of the people I talk to and hear from around the world, in that
    part of the world, feel the same way I do about that, incidentally.
        Q. Has the fighting in Iraq complicated efforts to reach a permanent
    cease-fire at the U.N.?
        The President. I don't think so. I mean, these cease-fire
    requirements are fairly straightforward, fairly strong, and they have
    not been changed by the fighting in Iraq itself. I think what's happened
    is, if further outrage was possible about Saddam Hussein's brutal
    behavior, that further outrage has been achieved, you might say. But I
    don't think it's changed the objectives of these United Nations
    resolutions that will bring about a cease-fire and will enable me as
    Commander in Chief to bring our troops home. That's what I want to do.
    We'll get some security along there.
        We've got a major program for trying to bring peace, security, and
    stability to the Gulf area. I hope we can be a catalyst in moving the
    whole peace process forward between Israel and the Palestinians, between
    the Arab States and Israel, between Lebanon. But we want to get this
    Gulf matter under control. And I don't feel that the civil war has
    adversely affected our chances of getting a U.N. resolution or getting
    the U.N. to act. They should act very, very soon.
        Nobody's sympathetic for Iraq anymore. The very few friends they've
    had have deserted them because they see this man's abject brutality and
    lack of conscience. And so, there's no sympathy for Iraq out of this
    civil unrest. There's sympathy for those that are getting slaughtered,
    not for the Iraqi regime. I have said that we want to help the
    innocents, children, those that are starving. I don't care what their
    politics are, what their previous associations have been. If there's a
    child hurting, America cares about that.
        But what we don't care about is helping project a regime that has
    lost all credibility and lost all chance of running the country because
    of the brutality. And I'm talking about Saddam Hussein himself,
    personally.
        If his own army would do something about it, maybe we could start
    over. I think the world has seen even more clearly since the end of the
    fighting how brutal he is. We saw it in Kuwait, what he did to the
    Kuwaiti people--women and children. And now we've seen it, what he's
    done to the Shiites in the south and the Kurds in the north. He's turned
    off everybody. If he had one scintilla of good will, it's been
    dissipated.
        Q.  What could the U.S. do to help the children you are worried
    about?
        The President. Well, food, medicines. We will do our part. We always
    have, and we always will. That's the beauty of it. When you see those
    American soldiers extending their hearts and their hands to those
    fleeing, when you see them picking up the children, that's the American
    spirit, and we are going to do that. We are going to continue to help.
    But we're not going to do anything to help Saddam Hussein. And that
    distinction is very, very clear.
        Q.  Sir, when you say the army could do something about it, wouldn't
    you have a situation where a group that's accused of all these
    atrocities would be in charge?
        The President. I blame Saddam Hussein for the atrocities, and I have
    made it clear to the Iraqi leaders long before the war started. You go
    back and take a look at what I said then, because I think it's apropos
    now--we do not have an argument with the leadership. Our argument is
    with

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    the brutality of Saddam Hussein and the orders he's given. Now, does
    that clear somebody that goes down and rapes a child in Kuwait? No, it
    does not. But for the most part, it does, because Saddam Hussein has
    been the major villain there. I would be willing to take a new look if
    the army took those matters into their own hands, as I've said before.
    But he's got to go, and he will someday. He can't survive.
        Q. Sir, were you at all surprised at the success of his army in
    putting down the rebellion?
        The President. No, no I wasn't surprised about his success of his
    army. His army has been battered and can no longer project offensive
    military might against his neighbors. I believe that. But to go in and
    crush a bunch of people that aren't armed, that doesn't take much macho
    to do that. It just takes a lot of brutality and cruelty, and that's
    what's happened.
        Q. Can you expand on this new look? You said you might take a new
    look if the army took the matters into their own hands.
        The President. If a new regime emerged in there, I'd like to know
    what their goals are. Do they want to live peacefully in the
    neighborhood? Do they want to start treating their people with respect?
    Do they want to try to work out some of the differences with the Kurds
    that have been there for ages? Are they willing to talk to the Shiite
    leaders in the south?
        That's what I want to see. And that's what the world wants to see.
    It's not just what the U.S. wants, incidentally. All our coalition
    partners are in exactly the same mode on this one as far as I am. I stay
    in touch with them. I know that. And you haven't seen the call,
    incidentally, from any of them for the United States to go in and use
    this superior military might to try to sort out this civil war. But you
    have seen statements from all of them saying that it would be a good
    thing if we had new leadership in Iraq, in Baghdad.

    U.S. Diplomacy in the Middle East

        Q. Did you send Scowcroft to Lebanon and Iran as well as Saudi
    Arabia?
        The President. Hey, listen. If I'd have wanted to talk about
    Scowcroft's itinerary, I'd have made that public. There are certain
    things you've got to try to do your best in diplomacy that are better to
    keep quiet. And it's very hard in our open society, and I don't blame
    you a bit for asking, and I hope you'll forgive me for not answering.

    Turkey

        Q. What about Turkey? Did you offer $1 billion to Turkey?
        The President. Excuse me just a minute. Did I what?
        Q. Turkish Government----
        The President. No.
        Q. How did your game go?
        The President. Fun was had by all.

                        Note: The session took place at 1:45 p.m. at the
                            Jupiter Hills Country Club Golf Course. During
                            the exchange, President Bush referred to
                            President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union,
                            President Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Brent
                            Scowcroft, Assistant to the President for
                            National Security Affairs. A tape was not
                            available for verification of the content of
                            this session.