European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns to tars and stripes tuesday december 4, 1990 be amp amp a amp a a ,x�.k�  twp of f Tom Wicker Ress is bad news for Bush the Good news for president Bush last week was that the . Security Council approved his Resolution authorizing Force against Iraq after Jan. 15. The bad news was that congressional leaders opposed a special session to consider the same question. The bad news is More significant. The Security Council cannot remove from Congress its constitutional Power to declare War nor can the . Provide an adequate substitute for some form of congressional authorization for War. Speaker Thomas Foley and the mouse Republican Leader Robert Michel advised the president against calling a special session to seek such authorization for the Good reason that he might not win it. Of course Bush if he chose could launch a War without going to Congress at All under color of the Security Council and citing his vast Power As commander in chief. Me also could Point out that president Truman did not have congressional authorization when he sent troops to fight in Korea in 1950. One of the Many lessons of Vietnam however was that in a democracy even the commander in chief should be wary of carrying on a a policy War that he or she May think justified or desirable if the Public is not solidly behind the policy. The Truman precedent moreover is weak a i Truman acted to repel an armed Cross Border invasion actually taking place he opposed what was believed at the time a though erroneously a to be an aggression inspired by the soviet Union at the time the. Feared enemy in a developing Gold War and the pres world War ii failures to halt hitlers aggressions were still in 1950, a vivid memory supporting resistance in Korea \ a a a a. A a a even so support for Truman so police action faded rather quickly. Nor does any of the above apply to the present Situa lion. Quot a a / /. A a a a Bush not Only would have to begin the hostilities and against an opponent who is neither Stalin nor Hitler despite White House rhetoric and certainly not communist a a. A a a a a Quot a a a Quot. \ a a a the president also would be abandoning his own nonviolent blockade and embargo policy a which has won worldwide support and appears  working rather Well Quot v a a a v. There Are Good reasons however for Bush to heed the Foley Michel warning against going to Capitol Hill. _ in 1964, president Johnson could win from Congress a Resolution that authorized taking action in Indochina because . Ships were thought to have been attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. A few realized then that he would use that Resolution As authorization for one of the biggest wars in . History a a War neither Congress nor the Public would Barry Schweid h1tlm. W Long support. Partly for that reason it became a losing War. Sour memories of the Tonkin Gulf Resolution make it unlikely a in the absence of Clear Public support a that Congress again will vote a president anything he might interpret As a Blank Check for War which is what Bush probably would seek. If he fails to win that kind of congressional approval a or even if he wins it Only by a narrow margin in a bitter debate a it will be a graphic demonstration that the nation is by no Means unified in support of such a War. A a for if Congress does not always do what the voters want it almost never does what they clearly do not a want a a a. That would return Bush to the alternative of launching a policy War on presidential initiative without Strong Public or congressional backing. In that event As Bush and Saddam Hussein must be Well aware the Well remembered Home front opposition to the Vietnam War suggests what could and prob ably would happen again. Even if Congress confounded such expectations and voted Strong support for War in the Middle East would that Send a useful signal As Bush apparently wishes it might cause Saddam to conclude that War is inevitable if he does to pull out of / . A a a a but if he did draw that conclusion would a warlike Leader therefore be More Likely to surrender As the president and the . Demand. Or As with the proverbial a cornered rat a would he be More determined than Ever to stand and fight that would not necessarily be suicidal. Saddam already depicts himself As an Arab David fighting the Western Goliath if he responded to a . Assault by attacking Israel he might Well be Able to win the support of the Arab world and leave Bush bereft of effective Ara support. High . Casualties could quickly erode what Home front backing the president jihad. Congress is. More Likely however to apply the brakes to the presidents Rush to War. Which May be Why Bush is sending James Baker to talk things Over with Saddam Hussein. I a a. A c new York times a a a a a a Bush overture blunts War mongering image president Bush a diplomatic overture to Iraq is also his answer to congressional critics sceptical former . Military commanders and sagging Public opinion polls ail reflecting widespread worn that he is eager to go to War with Saddam Hussein. Even if Bush a offer to Swap envoys with the iraqi Leader Falls Flat he will be Able to say he gave diplomacy one last Chance to Avert a dash in the a Pef Stah Gulf. There is no apparent . Plan to induce the iraqi president to give up Kuwait and while Bush has been Adamant about demanding total withdrawal an offer of a partial solution a if foreign minister Tariq Aziz were to bring such a Concession to the White House next week a might get serious bargaining going. But Saddam so far is not offering to give up any of his spoils. Many members of Congress responded Lap pity to Bush a proposal Friday to receive Tariq Aziz and men to Send St tary of state James a. Baker a to Baghdad the following week their fundamental complaint shared by several former . Military commanders is that Bush was not giving diplomacy and the sanctions slapped on Iraq after the aug. 2 invasion enough time to work. _. So far though diplomacy has failed. A soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev sent a special emissary Yevgeny Primakow to Baghdad on peace missions. But despite some optimistic rumblings the trips and a visit to Moscow last week by Tariq Aziz were not productive. When Baker was in Moscow last month for a briefing from Gorbachev and foreign minister Eduard a. Shevardnadze he found the soviets no More optimistic than the Bush administration of a political settlement Over Kuwait. A senior . Official said the iraqis had a a stiffed the soviets similarly an offer by the ousted kuwaiti rulers to discuss iraqis territorial dispute with them after a total withdrawal did not elicit a positive response from Baghdad. Nor did Saddam grab the line tossed him by French president Francois Mitterrand two months ago. In a carefully constructed , speech Mitterrand advised Saddam that with drawing from Kuwait could help the palestinians in their struggle with Israel and even curb syrian influence in Lebanon. Those Are two of Saddam s main goals but the incentive simply was not enough to persuade him to give up Kuwait. I. Quot a. Rafter the , Security Council set Jan. 15 As a deadline for withdrawal Baker said a we do not Stop the diplomatic and political efforts now at  but he gave no clue to what approaches might be under consideration. 1 at a his news conference Friday Bush said Only that Baker would be willing a to discuss All aspects of the Gulf  uni d Baker again insisted Saddam should not be permitted to reap rewards from the aug. 2 invasion. The . Resolution does not make War inevitable if iraqi forces remain in Kuwait past Jan 15. Presumably the United states might hold its fire if some semblance of negotiations was under Way at the same time Saddam might seize on some face saving gesture if he were convinced Bush would go to War Over Kuwait otherwise. A from the outset the iraqi Leader has tried to link the crisis in the persian Gulf to the arabs Campaign against Israel. Baker has offered to discuss a in Good Faith this week with supporters of the Palestine liberation organization a move to have , peacekeepers Monitor israelis treatment of palestinians in Jerusalem a obviously Saddam wants a Tot More than that from israelis closest ally. But it could be a beginning. And yet Bush has been relentless in his denunciation of iraqis takeover of Kuwait comparing Saddam to Adolf Hitler and Baker said before the vote thursday in the Security Council a we must meet the threat to International peace created by Saddam Hussein a aggression a their Tough talk Saddam a rejection of the soviet French and kuwaiti overtures and the absence of a new formula for Compromise All suggest Bush a initiative is mostly a gesture designed to protect his image. The associated press