[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[January 17, 1991]
[Page 46]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters on the Persian Gulf Conflict
January 17, 1991

    Q. Mr. President, will you insist on an unconditional surrender by
Saddam?
    Q. Has it reached that point, sir, that surrender is the answer?
    The President. I tried very hard last night to spell out our 
objectives, and I think it's very clear. And the United Nations spelled 
them out, and they remain the same. He can call it anything he wants, 
interpret any way he wants, but we are going to prevail. I don't want to 
get caught up in some semantics about all of this. He's got to get out 
of Kuwait. And he's got to do it with no concessions or no condition. 
That was determined long ago when he failed to comply with the U.N. 
resolutions. And now, in keeping with those, we are using force, and 
we're not going to stop until he fully complies with the resolutions.
    So, let's not worry about what we call it. Let's worry about--call 
it, if you want to make it clear, full compliance with the U.N. 
resolutions, full compliance with the objectives of the coalition 
forces.
    Q. What do you think of his response so far?
    The President. I think our people are doing very well.

                    Note: The exchange began at 3:13 p.m. in the Cabinet 
                        Room at the White House. In his remarks, 
                        President Bush referred to President Saddam 
                        Hussein of Iraq. A tape was not available for 
                        verification of the content of this exchange.