European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 stars and stripes sunday August 19.1990 columns or amp is m vex i William Saf Rebush becomes president at opportune time last Lime King of Jordan bore a message from Saddam Hussein to another chief of state according to Kuwait Snow do posed Emir it was this do not mobilize your troops lest you provoke Iraq. The Little King says he brought no message to president Bush. We can presume he said a he knew nothing of Saddam a intention to invade his neighbor. A he considers dictator to be a repugnant Butcher who can and must be appeased. A if we want Jordan to close port of Aqaba president should Tell Cia to put him Back on payroll. Crisis is a Crucible that tests Mettle of principals and observers. This one has already exposed Little King As a Crown for hire. How Are others holding up Saddam Hussein is dictator abscond Tus his speeches read by an actor who looks like Omar Sharif in a Frank Morgan role. He culminates that he will Send americans Home in body bags. In a desperate Man Euver to protect his Hack but sure to stir resentment in his army a ranks a he gives Back to hated Iran All sic has won after eight years of War and a million casualties. Publicity hungry but camera shy he hides in a Bunker fearful even of appear ing personally on to to read his diatribes against beloved infidels. Other leaders Egypt a Hosni Mubarak after a hesitant Start is rising to occasion and King fahd after agreeing to help in his survival is getting Slippery about pumping enough Oil to hold Down prices. Syrians Hafez Al Assad who slaughtered More countrymen at Hama than Saddam gassed at Halaja is an overnight moderate Hafez has let it be known that if Iraq should be attacked by Israel Syria would not come to iraqis defense. Wow. Turkeys president Turgut Ozal promptly turned off Oil pipeline and made his stand with West. His is Only army bordering Iraq that Saddam fears. Last year sen. Bob Dole r-kan., led armenian charge to denounce turkish genocide israelis supporters Nandrew j. Glass Congress aware of turkeys present importance blocked Dole backed Reso ution that helped sour minority Cadar on Israel and sent him off to Baghdad this Spring to court Saddam Low we need turks. Well skip guest of Honor for a moment and it seems that Germany and France arc hiding under table but look Down at Media end of dais there arc Evans and Novak bless their hating Tough hearts still standing on burning deck for Saddam. They were anti Israel Long before it became popular and have never wavered even when proven horrendously wrong which i Admire having been in thai position myself. The Abc evening news longtime pro palestinian tilt has manifested itself More subtly in this crisis its analyst confidently predicted Saddam would Bow to pressure from fellow arabs to withdraw from Kuwait. Can has provided Quantity under pressure but should Tell its interviewers to learn follow up from pm so a Macneil Lochrer. Lbs was too close for perspective at Start. Tom Brokaw on Abc has emerged from crisis As steadies hand on to news Tiller. All journalists and technicians from Ted Koppel and Dan rather on Down who went into Baghdad showed personal courage that reflects Well on their profession nobody forgets that Apps Terry Anderson is in his sixth year As a hostage. And what of George Bush his half bake Rcd Mideast petulance and 18-month appeasement of Saddam have regularly been blasted in this space but in Crucible of crisis he has comported himself like a president. He has internationalized resistance to aggression without losing our Freedom of action. He has done what is popular now in knowledge it will become unpopular soon enough. He has eschewed Tough pose for Strong stance. And he has been accessible instilling Confidence by showing he is on top of Job. When some presidents Carter Reagan answered reporters questions you found yourself hoping for no bad goofs when others Kennedy Nixon in first term were being interrogated you could relax a they had done their Homework understood subjects and would not Embarrass you. For example on delicate subject of americans unable to leave Iraq or occupied Kuwait Bush weaved his Way through that minefield with sensitivity and skill. On full Range of policy you May not agree with what he is doing but you now know for certain that he knows what he is doing. He a been Riding along As or. Popular elected Leader for a year and a half in this serious month he became president. A c new York Timas Bush must tackle myth More than reality in Iraq to bolster their times of crisis people turn to vaporous one Between history and myth such symbols punctuate crisis on both sides of he struggle in persian Gulf a which iraqis Call arabian Gulf. George Bush came into his manhood As Axis trampled through Europe Africa and far East in search of Power and plunder. As Many Young citizen soldiers who did Battle in world War ii he Felt that costly struggle could have been averted a if Only Western democracies bad resisted dictators while they were still relatively weak. That is Why it is so natural for hush to equate deployment of military forces into Middle East with need to protect As he put it Quot our jobs our nay of life our own Freedom and Freedom of Friendly countries around president candidly admits that this is also a clash Over Oil As was conflict with Japan at its inception. You Cun be sure that . Troops would not be involved if saudi Arabia Kuwait and Iraq had cornered world Market for figs and dates. Iraqi president Saddam Hussein Bush a Nemesis in a contest of wills also must Cope with history s Sears. In 1958, As a Young Man he saw iraqis Young Hashe mite Monarch Faisal ii murdered by army officers in his Baghdad Palace in a coup British had placed Faisal a Grandfather Faisal i on iraqi throne after French had dumped him As King of Syria. Iraq seized from ottoman turks by Britain did not become a country in its own right until 1932, when George Bush was already a first Faisal brother Abdullah served As Jordan a King until he was murdered in Jerusalem in 1951 by Arab extremists. Their father Hussein was Sharif or chief of holy City of Mecca in what is now saudi Arabia. Along with legendary , Lawrence Hussein led 1916 Arab revolt against turks. Abdullahu a grandson also named Hussein now rules Jordan amid an intense swirl of bedouins and palestinians. In 1961, with British protectorate Over Oil Rich Kuwait about to expire iraqi strongman of Lime Abdul Karim Qassim demanded merger of Kuwait into Iraq. The British sent troops. But they yanked them when Arab league including Jordan sent its own military shield. Qassim was murdered in 1963 by Saddam a baathist action. A reign of terror ensued in Baghdad which eclipsed even Savage butchery of iraqi Hashe mite family five years earlier. It is this blood drenched history a rooted in Oil riches revenge and revolt a to which Saddam bears witness As he engages Bush. We ignore it at our peril. Each year Saddam stages a festival at ancient capital of Babylon near Baghdad. He mints a special Gold Coin for occasion. One Side carries his own portrait. The other face bears a likeness of Nebuchadnezzar ii who was born nearly six centuries before fragments suggest that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt. But Bible leaves no doubt that he captured Jerusalem from israelite in 586 . A a cording to scripture As gods chosen instrument against wrongdoers. It was not until our own limes that ancient exodus to Babylon of descendants of Judah was reversed Arab firebrands liken Saddam to Saladin who engaged Richard 1 of England before Gates of holy City during third crusade. In White House and in . Senate Saddam has been compared to Adolf Hitler. But it is Nebuchadnezzar role that Saddam has chosen As his own. It is myth that Bush must undermine if a your w a of life is to prevail. C Cox
