George Bush: The Unauthorized Biography - Get a Free Blog

According to the official account, Bush signed the National Security Directive ordering
the attack against Iraq at in the White House Oval Office at 10:30 AM on Tuesday
morning, January 15, 1991. On Wednesday morning in Washington, when it was early
evening in Baghdad, Bush ordered Scowcroft to call Cheney with a further instruction to
implement the attack plan. The US air attack on Iraq accordingly took place between 6
and 7 PM on Wednesday, January 16. The bombs began to fall during the first night in
Baghdad after the expiration of Bush's deadline. [fn 82] Within 24 hours, Iraq retaliated
with Scud missles against Israel and against US bases in Saudi Arabia. One day after that,
Bush described the Scud attacks as "purely an act of terror." Bush's mental health had not
gotten any better during the first days of the war; he showed signs of clinical hysteria, the
refusal to recognize obvious facts. During this press conference, he was asked:
Q: Why is it that any move, or...move for peace is considered an end run at the White
House these days?
Bush: Well, you obviously...what was the question? End run?
Q: Yes. That is considered an end run, that people that still want to find a peaceful
solution seem to be running into a brick wall.
Bush: Oh, excuse me. The world is united, I think, in seeing that these United Nations
resolutions are fulfilled [...]
Bush was sensitive, as he always was, to any hint that the conflict was what it seemed to
be, a war of the west against the Arabs. In a long monologue, he claimed that "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 the new world order should, should have a conciliatory component
to it." Even Jordan, which was threatened with dismemberment over the short run might
"continue to be a tremendously important country in this new world order," Bush
claimed. [fn 83] Bush was buoyed by the poll reports alleging that his war was now
supported by 76% of the US population.
Day after day, Iraq military and above all civilian targets were subjected to a hail of
bombs. The centerpiece of Bush's personal self-jusitification remained the equation
Saddam=Hitler. "was it moral for us in 1939 to not stop Hitler from going into Poland?"
Bush asked a group of Republican officials. One party worker described Bush as "a man
obsessed and possessed by his mission" in the Gulf war. During those days, Bush was
preparing his State of the Union address. At a press conference to introduce his new
secretary of agriculture, GOP Illinois Congressman Edward Madigan, Bush made
pugnacious statements that he was proceeding with business as usual despite the war.
"We are not going to screech everything to a halt in terms of our domestic agenda. We're
not going to screech everything to a halt in terms of the recreational activities...and I am
not going to screech my life to a halt out of some fear about Saddam Hussein," said Bush.
After making these remarks, he introduced Madigan as his new secretary of education.
The reporters looked so perplexed that Bush realized his gaffe and corrected himself;
Madigan would be his new "secretary of agriculture," he said. [fn 84] In White House