[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992-1993, Book II)]
[January 13, 1993]
[Pages 2244-2245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Presenting the National Security Medal to Admiral Jonathan T. 
Howe and an Exchange With Reporters
January 13, 1993

    The President. John, welcome. This is a surprise. [Laughter] 
[Inaudible]--are very proud to award you the National Security Medal. 
And I would ask Bill Sittmann to read a very quick citation. We're sorry 
to blindside you like this, but the only way we knew that you'd show up 
is if you didn't know about it. [Laughter]

[At this point, William F. Sittmann, Executive Secretary, National 
Security Council, read the citation, and the President presented the 
medal.]

    The President. Well, that is the understatement of the year, but we 
are very, very proud of you. And it is well-deserved, and great, 
honorable service to your country. Particularly, I want to thank you for 
all you've done here.
    [Inaudible]--this, that goes with it. I thought you looked good 
sitting over there at that desk--[laughter]. I hardly got him out of 
there, I'll tell you. [Laughter]

Allied Action in Iraq

    Now, you wanted to ask a question on the military action. Let me 
simply say that once again the American military, in coalition

[[Page 2245]]

with strong allies, has performed in a superb fashion. Our planes are 
all accounted for. I've not yet seen a damage assessment or results of 
the strike. But they did the right thing, and the coalition did the 
right thing. I have said before that we are determined that Saddam 
Hussein will abide by the United Nations resolutions, and we're very 
serious about that.
    I can say with confidence here, and I think it's important, that I'm 
confident Governor Clinton, the President-elect of the United States, 
feels that way too. I have talked to him before these strikes hit, and 
he as much as told me that, and then I've heard statements out of Little 
Rock. But I think that's a very important message to go not just to our 
coalition forces, that we have every intention of working together in 
the future as we have in the past, but to Saddam Hussein who has 
violated the resolutions.
    Q. Do you think it will work?
    The President. Well, I don't know what ``work'' means, but I am 
confident that when I--I will continue to insist that he abide by these 
resolutions. We've taken action, and I hope that will convince him he 
must do that. And I'm as confident that President Clinton will do this 
and feel the same way after the 20th.
    Q. Did you have any reservations, sir, doing it so close to the end 
of your term in office?
    The President. No, absolutely not. I'm President until the 20th, and 
I will run foreign policy and make these kinds of decisions as long as 
I'm President. We will keep the new team fully informed. And I believe 
they've been very generous and gracious in saying that we have done 
that. General Scowcroft is in almost daily contact with the transition 
people from the national security field, and then I know Dick Cheney's 
had good visits with, as has Larry Eagleburger, with the people coming 
in. So we'll just keep it closely informed. But I have no reservations 
at all. You've got to do what you have to do. And there should be no 
question about that.
    Q. Sir, was there any particular action by Saddam that triggered the 
strike?
    The President. Just his failure to live up to the resolutions and 
then his moving around of these missiles in a way that was unacceptable 
to the coalition of the United Nations.
    Q. Are you prepared to order additional sites to be--[inaudible]----
    The President. I will conduct myself until the 20th just as I have 
in the almost 4 years gone by, and that is, I don't say what we might or 
might not do. But I would think that soon Saddam Hussein would 
understand that we mean what we say and that we back it up. And I have 
no intention of changing that approach to life in the last 6 or 7 days 
of my Presidency.
    Thank you very much. I should say I'm very proud of the pilots and 
those who supported the pilots. Once again, we see what superb training 
we have and what dedicated young people are out there. I must say I 
worried when I heard premature stories of this because I hesitate ever--
I would never put a young flyer in harm's way because of leaked 
information. Fortunately the leaks that occurred on this did not result 
in the loss of life for any of our pilots. But I will always--I would 
just urge everybody to guard against that, whatever administration is 
here, now or in the future.
    Q. Did they encounter any kind of resistance?
    The President. We'll have more to say about that when we do a fuller 
briefing on the mission itself. But any time you divulge plans when 
somebody's life is at stake, it is not a good thing to do. I just never 
understood it. I don't like it. I saw it happen today. But that's 
history now. But we ought to have more responsibility when you risk the 
life of a single U.S. pilot.
    Thank you all very much.

                    Note: The President spoke at 4:05 p.m. in the Oval 
                        Office at the White House.