[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[February 15, 1991]
[Pages 147-148]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Exchange With Reporters in Andover, Massachusetts, on the Iraqi Offer To 
Withdraw From Kuwait
February 15, 1991

    Q. Mr. President, is there any indication that Iraqis are turning
around and going home?
    Q. Do you think this is words only, this Iraqi statement?
    The President. What statement? You mean this morning?
    Q. Yes.
    The President. Oh, there's no evidence of any withdrawal. I mean, as 
I said down in

[[Page 148]]

Washington, it's a cruel ploy. What he did was reiterate some conditions 
and add some new ones. And it's totally unacceptable to everybody.
    You know, my heart goes out to the people in Iraq that you saw kind 
of jumping with joy early on, firing their weapons--which is I guess 
their sign of joy--in the air, and only to recognize when the fine print 
came out that it was a step backwards.
    So, there's no sign of any withdrawal. I wish there were; so did the 
whole world.
    Q. ----members of the coalition, sir?
    Q. What do you think the use of the word ``withdrawal'' means? It's 
the first time we've heard that.
    The President. I don't know. It doesn't mean compliance with the 
United Nations resolutions. Until that happens, regrettably, there will 
not be a cessation of hostilities. There will be no pause, there will be 
no cease-fire, there will be no reliving experiences in the past that 
were unhelpful to a peaceful, satisfactory conclusion of the war. And 
so, there's nothing in this thing to offer hope. I wish I thought there 
was; there's not.
    Q. Any sign that this tempts any members of the coalition?
    The President. No, they're all--the ones we've talked to are all 
solid and got on this thing the minute they saw the declaration coming 
out of Baghdad, pronounced it--it was an initiative--pronounced it dead 
on arrival because there wasn't anything new or significant. There was 
just some more conditions including asking the American taxpayer to pay 
for damage in Iraq. It's the other way around--there--reparation 
sanctions are called for under the United Nations. Reparations for 
Iraq--undoes the damage that it's done to its neighbors. I don't know 
how you repay for the loss of human life in Kuwait, the brutality, the 
15-to-20-year-old Kuwaitis just this last week. You can't make amends 
for that.
    But this was a cruel ploy. And the world saw it as such, including 
the coalition, which is just as solid today as it's ever been.
    Now, I've got to get on and learn something more about the Patriot. 
But thank you all very much.

                    Note: The exchange began at 12:40 p.m. in the 
                        Andover Room of the assembly building at the 
                        Raytheon Missile Systems plant. 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. 
                        Following the exchange, the President toured the 
                        plant facilities.