George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

Even the escalation of the Iraqi troop buildup had not disturbed the official US posture of
blase' indifference in the face of the crisis. It was a deliberate and studied deception
operation, what the Russians call maskirovka.
Bush would have known all about the additional Iraqi troops at least 36 hours earlier,
through satellite photos and embassy reports. But still Bush remained silent as a tomb.
Bush had plenty of opportunity that day to say something about the Gulf; he met with the
GOP Congressional leadership for more than an hour on the morning of July 31 and,
according to participants, told them he was "annoyed" at the pace of the budget talks,
which remained stalemated. At this time the White House was receiving intelligence
reports that made an Iraqi invasion seem more likely, and some officials were quoted in
the New York Times of the next day as having "expressed growing concern that hostilities
could break out...." But Bush said nothing, did nothing.
Then, in the afternoon, Bush reluctantly received a Latvian delegation led by Ivars
Godmanis. The Latvian request for an audience had at first been rudely rejected by the
White House, but then acceded to under pressure from some influential senators.
Godmanis wanted recognition and aid, but Bush made no committments, and limited
himself to asking several "very exact questions."
On Wednesday, August 1, Bush was undoubtedly not amused by a New York Times
account showing that one of his former top White House aides, Robert L. Thompson, had
abused his access to government information in order to help his clients to make
advantageous deals for themselves in buying S&Ls. In the evening, about 9 PM, reports
began to reach Washington that Iraqi forces had crossed the border into Kuwait in large
numbers. From the moment the crisis had emerged on July 16-17 until the moment of the
invasion, Bush had preserved a posture of nonchalant silence. But now things began to
happen very rapidly. Scowcroft and Bush drafted a statement which was released by
11:20 PM. This strongly condemned the Iraqi invasion and demanded "the immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of all Iraqi forces." The New York Times of August 2, in
reporting the Iraqi invasion, recorded the surface posture of the Bush regime:
Despite its efforts to deter an attack on Kuwait, the Bush Administration never said
precisely what the United States would do if Iraq launched a small scale or large scale
attack on Kuwait. The vagueness of the American pronouncements, which eschewed any
explicit promise to come to Kuwait's assistance, disturbed some Kuwaiti officials, who
hoped for a firmer statement of American intentions that would be backed up by a greater
demonstration of military force.
On Thursday, Bush was scheduled to fly to Aspen Colorado for a meeting with Margaret
Thatcher, a personage of whom Bush was in awe. Thatcher, whose rise to power had
included a little help from Bush in sweeping the Labour Party out of government in
accordance with the designs of Lord Victor Rothschild, had now been in power for over
11 years, and had assured her place in the pantheon of Anglo-Saxon worthies. This
dessicated mummy of British imperialism had been invited to Aspen, Colorado, to hold
forth on the future of the west, and Bush was scheduled to confer with her there. At 5