[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[January 9, 1991]
[Pages 25-26]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Open Letter to College Students on the Persian Gulf Crisis
January 9, 1991

    If armed men invaded a home in this country, killed those in their
way, stole what they wanted and then announced the house was now 
theirs--no one would hesitate about what must be done. And that is why 
we cannot hesitate about what must be done halfway around the world: in 
Kuwait.
    There is much in the modern world that is subject to doubts or 
questions--washed in shades of gray. But not the brutal aggression of 
Saddam Hussein against a peaceful, sovereign nation and its people. It's 
black and white. The facts are clear. The choice unambiguous--right vs. 
wrong.
    The terror Saddam Hussein has imposed upon Kuwait violates every 
principle of human decency. Listen to what Amnesty International has 
documented. ``Widespread abuses of human rights have been perpetrated by 
Iraqi forces . . . arbitrary arrest and detention without trial of 
thousands . . . widespread torture . . . imposition of the death penalty 
and the extrajudicial execution of hundreds of unarmed civilians, 
including children.''
    Including children--there's no horror that could make this a more 
obvious conflict of good vs. evil. The man who used chemical warfare on 
his own people--once again including children--now oversees public 
hangings of dissenters. And daily his troops commit atrocities against 
Kuwaiti citizens.
    This brutality has reverberated throughout the entire world. If we 
do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for 
human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy 
of the emerging new world order we now see: this long dreamed-of vision 
we've all worked toward for so long. A year after the joyous dawn of 
freedom's light in eastern Europe, a dark evil has descended in another 
part of the world. But we have the chance--and we have the obligation--
to stop ruthless aggression.
    I have been in war. I have known the terror of combat. And I tell 
you this with all my heart: I don't want there to be war ever again. I 
am determined to do absolutely everything possible in the search for a 
peaceful resolution to this crisis--but only if the peace is genuine, if 
it rests on principle, not appeasement.
    But while we search for that answer, in the Gulf young men and women 
are putting their own lives on hold in order to stand for peace in our 
world and for the essential value of human life itself. Many are younger 
than my own children. Your age, most of them--doing tough duty for 
something they believe in.
    Let me tell you about one of the soldiers over there, Sfc. Terry 
Hatfield, a young man from Georgia. He sent me a Christmas card. And 
this is what he wrote: ``Mr. President, I just wanted you to know my 
soldiers and I are ready to do whatever mission you decide. Freedom as 
we know and enjoy has been taken away from another country and must be 
restored. Although we are separated from family, friends, loved ones, we 
will

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do what must be done . . . We stand ready and waiting. God Bless you and 
the U.S.A.''
    Terry understands the moral obligation that has compelled our 
extraordinary multi-national coalition to make this stand in the Gulf. 
To look this international terrorist straight in the eye and say: no 
concessions. To proclaim for now and for the future: no compromises. To 
bear witness by our presence to the fact that aggression will not be 
rewarded.
    Terry waits thousands of miles from the White House, yet we share 
the same thoughts. We desperately want peace. But we know that to reward 
aggression would be to end the promise of our new world order. To reward 
aggression would be to destroy the United Nations' promise as 
international peacekeeper. To reward aggression would be to condone the 
acts of those who would desecrate the promise of human life itself. And 
we will do none of this. There are times in life when we confront values 
worth fighting for. This is one such time.
    Each day that passes means another day for Iraq's forces to dig 
deeper into their stolen land. Another day Saddam Hussein can work 
toward building his nuclear arsenal and perfecting his chemical and 
biological weapons capability. Another day of atrocities for Amnesty 
International to document. Another day of international outlaws, instead 
of international law.
    I ask you to think about the economic devastation that Saddam 
Hussein would continue to wreak on the world's emerging democracies if 
he were in control of one-fifth of the world's oil reserves--and to 
reflect on the terrible threat that a Saddam Hussein armed with weapons 
of mass destruction already poses to human life and to the future of all 
nations.
    Together, as an America united against these horrors, we can, with 
our coalition partners, assure that this aggression is stopped and the 
principles on which this nation and the rest of the civilized world are 
founded are preserved.
    And so let us remember and support Terry Hatfield, all our fine 
service men and women, as they stand ready on the frontier of freedom, 
willing to do their duty and do it well. They deserve our complete and 
enthusiastic support--and lasting gratitude.

                    Note: This letter was sent to 460 college newspapers 
                        on January 9, and it was released by the Office 
                        of the Press Secretary on January 10. The letter 
                        referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.