Transcript: Chapter 18

Narrator: Congress cut a deal with Bush on the deficit but still balked on the use of force in Iraq. It would be easier to get Congressional support, Bush concluded, if the United Nations were on his side. On Nov. 29, Secretary Baker made his case for the use of "all necessary means" to evict Iraq from Kuwait if it did not withdraw by January 15, 1991.

James A. Baker, III (archival): The result of the voting is as follows. Twelve votes in favor. Two votes against. One abstention. The draft resolution has been adopted as Resolution 678-1990.

James A. Baker, III: That UN vote was very important. But if you ask me whether we would have done it without the vote, we probably would have, because we felt we had the constitutional authority and power to do so. But it was really important to try and get the rest of the world behind us.

Narrator: After the UN backed the use of force, Secretary Baker made his case to a reluctant Congress.

Senator Paul Sarbanes (archival): It seems to me that you have placed us on a course to war. Now this buildup now of the force almost takes you irresistibly down the path of going to war.

James A. Baker, III (archival): Politically, Mr. Chairman, we must stand for American leadership, not because we seek it but simply because no one else can do the job. And we did not stand united for forty years to bring the Cold War to a peaceful end in order to make the world safe for the likes of Saddam Hussein.

Narrator: Congress was still resisting when Secretary Baker met with Iraq's foreign minister in a final attempt at diplomacy.

James A. Baker, III (archival): Ladies and gentlemen, in over six hours, I heard nothing that suggested to me any Iraqi flexibility whatsoever on complying with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Narrator: Only then, on January 12, 1991 did Congress narrowly approve the use of force to evict Saddam Hussein from Kuwait.

James A. Baker, III: And how did we finally win a vote in the House and the Senate when we were a Republican administration with a Democratic Congress? We won a vote because we went out and we got the rest of the world to support us. So we could go to a Senator and we could say, "Senator, you mean you're not going to support the President of the United States but the president of Ethiopia is going to support him?" And it was very, very effective.

Doro Bush Koch: It was a snowy weekend at Camp David. A lot of the kids were there and the idea was for Dad's friends to sort of take his mind off a little bit of what was going on, but of course his mind was on it every minute.

Willard "Spike" Heminway, friend: Barbara called up and said "the President needs some comic relief," if you want to put it that way. "Come on up to Camp David." He said, "Spike, let's take a walk around the perimeter. I've got to get out and get some air," and we started to walk around, and then he looked over at one of the military police over there who guard Camp David, and he had tears in his eyes, and he said, "Spike, those are the kids I've got to send to war, and I don't want to do it, but I have to do it."

Narrator: That weekend President Bush called Congressional leaders to thank those who voted for the war for their votes, to thank those who voted against it for their consideration.

George H. W. Bush (archival): Just 2 hours ago Allied air forces began an attack on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.

Narrator: At 9pm on January 16, 1991, President Bush announced the start of the Gulf War.

George H. W. Bush (archival): These attacks continue as I speak. Ground forces are not engaged. Five months ago Saddam Hussein started this cruel war against Kuwait. Tonight, the battle has been joined.

Narrator: For 38 days the U.S. Air Force led the battle, now called Desert Storm. Then the coalition launched a ground assault. Coalition forces quickly evicted the Iraqi army from Kuwait. They crushed forty-six Iraqi divisions. Much of the elite Republican guard escaped back to Baghdad. Others were caught on what became known as the "Highway of Death." Bush chose to stop the slaughter. He ended the war after four days. The ground offensive became known as the 100-hour war.

Despite warnings of a blood bath, the death toll among Americans would number 303, with fewer than 500 wounded. Yet Saddam Hussein remained in power.

James A. Baker, III: Well, the war was stopped because all the President's political and military advisors told him that he had achieved the war aims that were laid out. We had achieved what the UN Security Council resolution asked us to do and authorized us to do, that is, kick Iraq out of Kuwait. And every one of the President's advisors advised him that it was time to end it.

Brent Scowcroft: We did not know what would happen if we went on into Baghdad. It would have been simple to do. But we would have been occupiers in a hostile land. Our troops would have been sniped at and so on. And we had no exit plan. How do you get out once you've occupied the country?

Colin Powell: Another consideration that we took into account, as a military matter, is we did not want to totally destroy the Iraqi army. And you can guess why: Iran. We did not want Iraq laying prostrate before Iran. And so it was always our intention to leave Saddam Hussein with enough of an army that it would not be a threat to his neighbors anymore, but it would not leave him totally vulnerable to Iranian misadventure, keeping in mind that that Iraq-Iran War had only ended three years earlier.

Brent Scowcroft: We were trying to set a pattern for behavior in the post-Cold War world. We were operating under a UN mandate. If we said, "Okay, we've fulfilled the mandate but now we want to go on and do some more," that's a bad precedent to set for people relying on the United States to do what the UN mandates and not further.

George H. W. Bush (archival): For the sake of our principles, for the sake of the Kuwaiti people. We stood our ground. Because the world would not look the other way. Ambassador al-Sabah, tonight Kuwait is free.

Narrator: This was the high point of the Bush presidency. His approval ratings were at 89%, at the time, the highest in the history of presidential polling.

Morgan Freeman (archival): Mr. President, you set down ideals and standards that because they were carried on...

Narrator: A few days later Bush attended a tribute to President Lincoln at the Ford Theater where he was shot.

Morgan Freeman (archival): If they could stand where I stand where I stand now, their message would be overwhelmingly simple, Thank you Mr. President. And thank you, Mr. President.