Kitty Kelley comments on George H.W. Bush and the first Gulf War

[Samantha]

Meeting with King Hussein of Jordan, George H.W. Bush, in an attempt to justify the United States confronting Saddam over his invasion into Kuwait, remarked: "I will not allow this little dictator to control 25 percent of the civilized world's oil."

Meeting with Prince Bandar, George H.W. Bush informed the Saudi ambassador that the Pentagon had satellite photos of Iraqi troops amassed on the Saudi border, a statement that was false.

Concealing the size and longevity of the planned war in order to attract the support of the American public, Bush concealed his strategic plans until after the November elections. He had already decided it was worth sacrificing American blood to salvage access to Iraqi oil, but decided to make his appeal via another perspective:

"but to the better world we all hope to build in the wake of the cold war...We are talking about the price of liberty...Nuclear threat," said the President. "We are determined to knock out Saddam Hussein's nuclear bomb potential."

These quotes come from Kitty Kelley's book, "The Family" at pages 496 and 497.

Both of these presidents (sic) preyed upon the fear of annihilation to justify a war for oil. Like father, like son.

Reading these passages tonight riding home on the metro in Washington, D.C, I was surprised at exactly how much I had forgotten about the first Bush who sat in the Oval Office. Unfortunately, the passage of time will not allow any of us to ever forget as much about the second Bush* who now occupies the Oval Office. His blood-stained fingerprints will forever tarnish the pages of our history books.