[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
[January 18, 1991]
[Pages 47-52]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference on the Persian Gulf Conflict
January 18, 1991

    The President. I have a few opening remarks, and then be glad to
take a few questions.
    We're now some 37 hours into Operation Desert Storm and the 
liberation of Kuwait, and so far, so good. U.S. and coalition mili-

[[Page 48]]

tary forces have performed bravely, professionally, and effectively. It 
is important, however, to keep in mind two things: First, this effort 
will take some time. Saddam Hussein has devoted nearly all of Iraq's 
resources for a decade to building up this powerful military machine. We 
can't expect to overcome it overnight--especially as we want to minimize 
casualties to the U.S. and coalition forces and to minimize any harm 
done to innocent civilians.
    Second, we must be realistic. There will be losses. There will be 
obstacles along the way. War is never cheap or easy. And I said this 
only because I am somewhat concerned about the initial euphoria in some 
of the reports and reactions to the first day's developments. No one 
should doubt or question the ultimate success, because we will prevail. 
But I don't want to see us get overly euphoric about all of this.
    Our goals have not changed. What we seek is the same as what the 
international community seeks--namely, Iraq's complete and unconditional 
withdrawal from Kuwait and then full compliance with the Security 
Council resolutions.
    I also want to say how outraged I am by Iraq's latest act of 
aggression--in this case, against Israel. Once again, we see that no 
neighbor of Iraq is safe. I want to state here publicly how much I 
appreciated Israel's restraint from the outset, really from the very 
beginning of this crisis. Prime Minister Shamir and his government have 
shown great understanding for the interests of the United States and the 
interests of others involved in this coalition.
    Close consultations with Israel are continuing. So, too, are close 
consultations with our coalition partners. Just a few minutes ago I 
spoke to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada. And in that vein, I 
also had a long and good conversation this morning with Soviet President 
Gorbachev in which we thoroughly reviewed the situation in the Gulf. 
And, of course, I took the opportunity from that call to express again 
my concern, my deep concern, over the Baltics and the need to ensure 
that there is a peaceful resolution to the situation there.
    Let me close here by saying how much we appreciate what our fighting 
men and women are doing. This country is united. Yes, there's some 
protest, but this country is fundamentally united. And I want that 
message to go out to every kid that is over there serving this country.
    I saw in the paper a comment by one who worried--from seeing 
demonstrations here and there in this country on television--that that 
expressed the will of the country. So, to those troops over there, let 
me just take this opportunity to say your country is supporting you--the 
Congress overwhelmingly endorsed that. Let there be no doubt in the 
minds of any of you: You have the full and unified support of the United 
States of America. So, I salute them. They deserve our full support, and 
they are our finest.
    And now I'd be glad to take a few questions.
    Q. Mr. President, has the United States asked Israel not to 
retaliate against Iraq for its attack, what commitments has the United 
States received in these consultations that we've had with Israel, and 
how long do you think Israel can stay on the sidelines if these attacks 
continue?
    The President. These questions, questions of what we're talking to 
Israel about right now, I'm going to keep confidential. No question that 
Israel's Scud--the attack on Israel was purely an act of terror. It had 
absolutely no military significance at all. And it was an attack that is 
symptomatic of the kind of leader that the world is now confronting in 
Saddam Hussein and that, again, I repeat, the man that will be defeated 
here.
    But Israel has shown great restraint, and I've said that. I think we 
can all understand that they have their own problems that come from 
this. But I don't want to go further into it because we are right in the 
midst of consultations with Israel. I think they, like us, do not want 
to see this war widened out, and yet they are determined to protect 
their own population centers. And I can tell you that our defense people 
are in touch with our commanders to be sure that we are doing the utmost 
we can to suppress any of these missile sites that might wreak 
havoc not just on Israel but on other countries that 
are not involved in this fighting. So, I'm going to leave it there, and

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I am confident that this matter can be resolved.
    Q. Are you worried that it could change the course of the war?
    The President. I think that we ought to guard against anything that 
can change the course of the war. So, I think everybody realizes what 
Saddam Hussein was trying to do--to change the course of the war, to 
weaken the coalition. And he's going to fail. I want to say when the 
Soviet Union made such a strong statement, that was very reassuring. We 
are in close touch with our coalition partners, and this coalition is 
not going to fall apart. I'm convinced of that.
    Q. Mr. President, 2 days ago you launched a war, and war is 
inherently a two-way street. Why should you be surprised or outraged 
when there is an act of retaliation?
    The President. Against a country that's innocent and is not involved 
in it--that's what I'm saying. Israel is not a participant. Israel is 
not a combatant. And this man has elected to launch a terroristic attack 
against the population centers in Israel with no military design 
whatsoever. And that's why. And it is an outrage, and the whole world 
knows it, and most of the countries in the world are speaking out 
against it. There can be no--no--consideration of this in anything other 
than condemnation.
    Q. Why is it that any move for peace is considered an end run at the 
White House these days?
    The President. Well, you obviously--what was the question?
    Q. That----
    The President. End run?
    Q. Yes, that is considered an end run--that people who still want to 
find a peaceful solution seem to be running into a brick wall.
    The President. Oh, excuse me. The world is united, I think, in 
seeing that these United Nations resolutions are fulfilled. Everybody 
would like to find a way to end the fighting. But it's not going to end 
until there is total cooperation with and fulfillment of these U.N. 
resolutions. This man is not going to pull a victory off by trying to 
wage terrorist attacks against a country that is not a participant in 
all of this, and I'm talking about Israel.
    And so, I think everyone would like to see it end, but it isn't 
going to end short of the total fulfillment of our objectives.
    Q. Mr. President, you gave assurances on this platform a few weeks 
ago--reiterated here today--that the coalition would withstand an 
attempt to engage Israel, or perhaps even Israel's retaliation against 
an attack. Can you give us some better idea today, sir, of what the 
basis for your assurance is on that point?
    The President. Well, a lot of diplomacy has gone on behind the 
scenes in this regard, and I feel very confident about what I've said.
    Q. If I could follow up, sir, a particularly touchy situation 
obviously exists with regard to Jordan, whose position in the 
neighborhood is particularly sensitive, sir. Can you update us on any 
understandings that may exist, any diplomatic initiatives that may be 
ongoing to assure the Jordanians or to convince them to take no action, 
or about what would happen if they did?
    The President. Brit [Brit Hume, ABC News], I don't think there are 
any understandings on that with Jordan at this point, and so I can't 
elaborate on that.
    Q. Mr. President, there was some indication last night--I appreciate 
you not wanting to tell us what is going on right now--but last night it 
appeared that Israeli planes got off the ground and headed toward Iraq. 
Did this government stop an Israeli retaliation that was underway?
    The President. No.
    Q. Secondly, are we trying to kill Saddam Hussein? We have blown out 
several buildings where he could have been last night--yesterday.
    The President. We're not targeting any individual.
    Q. Mr. President, do you have any message of reassurance to the 
people of Israel that the restraint being shown by their government 
doesn't place them in risk?
    The President. I think that they know of our determination to 
safeguard them following this attack--or prior to this attack. And we 
are going to be redoubling our efforts in the darnedest search-and-
destroy effort that has ever been undertaken out in that area. And I 
hope that that is very reas-

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suring to the citizens of Israel.
    Q. Mr. President, are you trying to caution against overconfidence 
with your statement in--by concern that Saddam Hussein may have a lot 
more staying power than was originally thought, or is it based on a 
upcoming land warfare that is apt to be protracted?
    The President. No, I don't think there is any conclusion that he has 
a lot more staying power than anybody thought. But what I am cautioning 
against is a mood of euphoria that existed around here yesterday because 
things went very, very well--from a military standpoint, exceptionally 
well. This was received all around the world with joy, but I just would 
caution again that it isn't going to be that easy all the time. But we 
have not changed our assessment as to how difficult the task ahead is.
    Q. Sir, you said the Israelis have shown restraint. Are you 
confident that they will show restraint?
    The President. Well, we are working on that, and I am very hopeful 
that they will. They've been most cooperative. Secretary Baker talked to 
Prime Minister Shamir last night. I'll probably be on the phone with him 
in not so many minutes from now, and I could answer the question better 
after that. But I think they realize the complexity of this situation; 
we certainly do. But whatever happens, I'm convinced that this coalition 
will hold together.
    Q. Sir, will you be able to tell Prime Minister Shamir with any 
confidence that you have knocked out these missile sites?
    The President. Well, the problem, John [John Cochran, NBC News], on 
that is we can tell him with confidence what we've done in terms of some 
of the missile sites but not all, because you're dealing with mobile 
missiles that can be hidden.
    I'm getting a little off of my turf here because I've vowed to 
permit the Defense Department to respond to these military questions. 
But I think that one is rather clear--that when you can hide a mobile 
missile the way they've done, it's awfully hard to certify that all of 
them have been taken care of.
    Q. Mr. President, granted you say that there are some rough days 
ahead. But there's also been a considerable amount of discussion as to 
the relatively unexpectedly low rate of response on the part of the 
Iraqis--you've had some briefings on this. What are your thoughts? What 
do you think explains this?
    The President. Well, I don't know. But my thoughts are that as each 
hour goes by, they're going to be relatively less able to respond. And I 
say that with no bravado. I just simply say that because that's what's 
happening over there.
    So, he may well have been holding his mobile missiles back, for 
example--wheeling them out there when he thinks they will be undetected 
and then firing a few of these missiles into the heart of downtown Haifa 
to try to make some political statement. But there may be some more of 
that ahead for--maybe aimed at other countries. Who knows? But in terms 
of his ability to respond militarily, I can guarantee the world that, as 
every hour goes by, he is going to be less able to respond, less able to 
stand up against the entire world--the world opinion as expressed in 
these United Nations resolutions.
    Q. Mr. President, if I may follow: Do you have any hard intelligence 
information that would indicate to you that there is indeed still a live 
chemical weapons threat from Saddam Hussein?
    The President. I'd have to refer that to the--well, I would expect 
there is a threat because chemical weapons have been dispersed. He's 
used them on his own people. And that's something that our troops have 
been warned against, the people of Israel have been warned against, 
obviously, and others in the area have been warned against. So I can't 
say that every chemical weapon has been destroyed. But I think I said 
the other night in the speech from--comments from the Oval Office there 
that his ability to make chemical weapons will not exist. I can't tell 
you exactly where that stands, but I would refer you to the Pentagon.
    Mr. Fitzwater. Final question, Please.
    The President. This is the last one?
    Q. No. No.
    Q. Awww.
    The President. It's the new me. I'm going to do exactly what Marlin 
says on this

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regard.
    Q. This is the first time there's been sustained combat between 
American soldiers and Arab forces. There's been an enormous amount of 
concern about what the reaction of the Arab world would be. Now that the 
war is underway, how concerned are you about that problem? Is there 
anything that could be done by you to minimize the damage to the links 
between Arab countries and the United States?
    The President. You're not talking about in--this in relationship to 
the attack on Israel.
    Q. More in terms of the Arab matter----
    The President. Gerry [Gerald Seib, Wall Street Journal], you see, 
I've never believed that the Arabs would oppose what's going on right 
now. I believe when you see the Arab League and Egypt itself, which I 
guess is the largest in population of Arab countries, strongly 
supporting what we're doing, that this idea that all Arabs--the idea 
that he tried to sell--Saddam did--that Arabs versus America is phony. 
It's a phony argument.
    There are Arab forces in the air probably right now--Kuwaiti or 
Saudi forces. There is a strong Arab element in this coalition. There 
are many countries in the Arab League that are opposed to Saddam Hussein 
and have long felt that he was the bully of the neighborhood. And it is 
about time that his aggression come to heel. And so, I don't worry about 
it, long run. I do think when this is over we will have some very 
sophisticated diplomacy to do. But I believe at this point that most 
people in the Arab world understand and approve of what the United 
Nations tried to do and is trying to do now. So it doesn't concern me.
    Now, there are some elements that, clearly, you might say, are on 
the other side. And that would worry me in a sense, but it worries me 
for the future, not so much for the present. I think when all this is 
over, we want to be the healers. We want to do what we can to facilitate 
what I might optimistically call a new world order.
    But that new world order should have a conciliatory component to it. 
It should say to those countries that are on the other side at this 
juncture--and there aren't many of them--look, you're part of this new 
world order. You're part of this. You can play an important part in 
seeing that the world can live at peace in the Middle East and 
elsewhere. So, there are some that oppose us. There are some of the more 
radical elements that will always oppose the West and the United States.
    But there are countries involved there that may have leaned--tilted, 
to use an old diplomatic expression, towards Saddam Hussein and towards 
Iraq that will clearly be in the forefront of this new world order. I am 
not going to write off Jordan. We've had a long-standing relationship 
with King Hussein, but he's in a very difficult position there. I have 
had some differences with him, but they've been respectful, but I would 
like to see him be more publicly understanding of what it is the United 
Nations is trying to do here and the United States role. We're not going 
to suggest that Jordan, because they've taken this position, can't 
continue to be a tremendously important country in this new world order.
    So, I don't accept the premise that Saddam Hussein tried to sell the 
world that it was the Arabs against the United States. There is 
overwhelming evidence to show that he is wrong. What he was trying to 
do, obviously, is divert world attention away from the brutal aggression 
against Kuwait. You heard it in the `Aziz press conference. I mean, if 
there ever was evidence as to what I'm saying, it was the way he 
conducted himself in that press conference.
    So, so far, Gerry, I think there has been understanding as to why 
we're doing what we are doing. And, I'd like to think, respect for the 
coalition because I think they see, as I do--the Arab world--that out of 
this there's a chance for a lasting peace.
    Thank you all very much.

                    Note: President Bush's 70th news conference began at 
                        12:03 p.m. in the Briefing Room at the White 
                        House. In his remarks, he referred to President 
                        Saddam Hussein of Iraq; Prime Minister Yitzhak 
                        Shamir of Israel; Prime Minister Brian Mulroney 
                        of Canada; President Mikhail Gorbachev of the 
                        Soviet Union; Secretary of State James

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                        A. Baker III; King Hussein I of Jordan; and 
                        Foreign Minister Tariq `Aziz of Iraq. Marlin 
                        Fitzwater was Press Secretary to the President.