European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 27, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday february 27, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13 commentary William Safi rewrite lies boost Allied Effort against Saddam a few Days ago the worlds Media were certain that iraqis acceptance of the soviet proposal to avoid retribution meant at least this that George Bush still had a mandate to press the air War but could not conceivably launch a ground attack without dividing the coalition and invoking the Wrath of world opinion. Totally mistaken. The president in his finest hour rejected Mikhal Gorbachev a meddling and turned the tables with an ultimatum to Iraq to disgorge Kuwait or taste its own invasion Medicine. Within our coalition Syria and to a lesser degree Egypt were queasy but Britain did not waver France surprised Bush with its fortitude and most Gulf arabs were avid to attack. Thanks partly to the Way the degraded dictator made the table turning easier by torching Kuwait and murdering civilians Public opinion remained with Bush. The inconceivable became the inevitable that a leadership. In Light of that revelation of the reality of Power consider four White lies that still veil truth 1. The Gorbachev attempt to save Saddam was within the new Bush inner Circle Cheney scowcroft Quayle the soviet meddling was seen to be troublesome and even contemptible at no Cost in blood or treasure Moscow tried to become the Radical Arab hero by preserving the dictator in Power. The decision was to kill with kindness the Gorbachev bid for brokerage. More honest rejection would humiliate him further at Home which is not in Bush a plan hence the oleaginous expression of gratitude masking our irritation. 2. Our objective is to free Kuwait but not to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Since everyone knows this is untrue Why done to we come out and align our rhetoric to reality answer because we want to leave the iraqi people some dignity. We want the Honor of deposing Saddam to be theirs. A White lie is forgivable when it helps a Defeated nations people regain their self esteem and reduce their resentment. A Saddam Hussein always feared the Fate of romanians Ceausescu at the hands of his victims which accounted for sad Damic fury last year at our voice of America Edi Cli Ica Tryb be civilian. Shelter. Iraqi glossary of terms baby milk Plant. Baby milk mask Tehran shuttle. Family station Zug in elite Republican elite. Republican. Guard trial hinting at a similar Fate for All the coming surrender How about the deck of the nearby battleship Missouri we will discover a vast Pool of anti Saddam feeling among iraqis not in his secret police. 3. The . Security Council Calls the shots. This is is not a . Enforcement action that part of its charter has never been invoked. Instead this is a collective defense authorized by the Security Council similar to the korean defense which Means that the resolutions about reparations cannot be revoked without . Concurrence. When the soviet Union Calls for a cease fire before surrender the . Representative can Block it by simply voting no. We show obeisance to the United nations but obedience to it is a White Stephen Rosenfeld lie the fighting coalition determines the timing. 4. We expected fierce Resi Tance from Well dug in iraqi troops. Military briefer painted a dire picture of defences half a million mines ditches filled with burning Oil. Battle hardened troops Etc. That was said to prepare Public opinion for the worst in truth most experts said privately that the air War had made resistance along the front line unlikely. A posterior cover ers wanted to assert a gloomy evaluation in Case something went wrong better to look unduly cautious than realistically optimistic. This White in might have affected the decision to commit ground troops but if you re wrong predicting the worst nobody holds it against you unless you re Mcclellan s Pinkerton wartime presidents from Lincoln to Bush set aside overestimation of did or enemy strength. White lying May k manipulative but self de capt a in at madness. Consider Saddam i defiant come and get me speech n the same Day he sent his Ems it Ltd a in. It a conditional withdrawal was he hire a his people or to h or he Vas few Lafity or his cd p Ting the dictator a let a st�4 s.,&Quot e the fearsome wizard a a / a it be a military Charbo an Promise of a get re m s e a i re defeat in it a a Etc inc a. A r Quot t no War crime to d he Rue do i f i r Sociopath a can set ferns free to inc streets of Baghdad a few Kyta j and leave her to it the Ito we feet refuse t he Tatis to to it Ltd. F r . Media War report card gets High Marks How Are we of the american Media doing in covering the Iraq War in our first role of telling the Story our general unfamiliarity with the history and politics of the persian Gulf made us with a few individual exceptions hardly sharper than the Bush administration in recognizing the perils of Saddam Hussein before aug. 2. What we have Learned since from our daily work and from the specialists still May not be enough to spare us a certain amount of floundering in chasing the postwar Story. The specialists including those Orf television offer value but it is not the same a i would rashly say it is not As Good a As having a Well grounded reliable corps of correspondents on the line. In reporting the military buildup and the conduct of the War in saudi Arabia we have been energetic and comprehensive within the limits of military censorship a censorship that could get worse in rhe ground Campaign. We have caught up w Ith the sort of daily errors inevitable in a fast breaking Story a like the reported a a decimation of the Republican guard and gassing of Tel Aviv and the scope of the Oil spill. But Saddam has permitted us Only a glimpse at Iraq and no firsthand look at All at Kuwait. Overall in telling the Story. Id give us a Grade of b. In our second role of sorting out the multiple political messages of the combatants our performance has been mixed. There Nas been Good catch up analysis of Saddam a purposes and Maneu vers. But we have been less effective in laying out the policies of the Kremlin and even of the White House. True the situation , but we should have been Able at least to address the threshold question of whether Washington and Moscow Are improvising or acting by design. The governments confusion or obfuscation can to be our whole excuse. Maybe with All our diligent and True often silly questions we Haven t asked All the right ones. Since most of us have not a. I.�/1 t1\ a a or i n h of Trier lion cd kuku tul a Wuu Uulu you of the War and have found its costs bearable maybe we have missed the two sorts of journalistic stimulus provided by the Vietnam War a a sceptical and aroused Public and the pain of casualties. Another b. A third Media role is to encourage a Broad Public debate on policy. Particularly in the Long months before the United states joined Saddam a War the press and television performed Well especially in giving space and time to a Range of qualified and articulate people who Aren t journalists. Recall for instance the informative multimedia Duel of Henry Kissinger and Obi grew Brzezinski. Military strategists were brought into the discussion turning All of us into Amateur generals. Whatever the flaws of american policy they cannot be blamed on Lack of adequate of uie participation. The Grade Here a. The most attended journalist of the War is of course can s Peter Arnett. 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