إرشادات مقترحات البحث معلومات خط الزمن الفهارس الخرائط الصور الوثائق الأقسام

مقاتل من الصحراء

     



The US Secretary of State, James Baker's Statement before the US House of Representatives' Committee on Foreign Affairs
on 6 February 19911

        It is a privilege to appear before this Committee to testify on behalf of our foreign affairs funding proposal for FY 1992. With your permission, I would have my detailed written statement entered into the record. This year, even more so than most years, the funds requested should be seen as an investment in a better future - a world of secure nations, free peoples, and peaceful change.

        I realize that as armies fight in the Persian Gulf such a world seems far distant. Yet I believe that it is vitally important to see the challenges we face also as opportunities to build a more secure and just world order. And so, today I would like to make a few comments concerning our ideas about post-crisis challenges and arrangements.

        The international coalition has been waging war against Iraq for three weeks now with very clear objectives: to expel Iraq from Kuwait; to restore the legitimate Government of Kuwait; and to ensure the stability and security of this critical region. I want to make several observations about the course of the conflict so far.

        First, the international coalition has held steadily to its purpose and its course. An outstanding achievement of the current crisis has been the ability of the United Nations to act as its founders intended. Before January 15, a dozen Security Council resolutions guided the United States and other nations as together we waged a concerted diplomatic, political, and economic struggle against Iraqi aggression. We did so because we all share a conviction that this brutal and dangerous dictator must be stopped and stopped now. Since January 16, in actions authorized by Security Council Resolution 678, we have been able to wage war because we are equally convinced that all peaceful opportunities to end Saddam's aggression had been explored and exhausted.

        Let me give you some idea of those exhaustive efforts, both by the United States and other nations. In the 166 days between the invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 and the expiration of the UN deadline for Iraqi withdrawal on 15 January 1991, I personally held over 200 meetings with foreign dignitaries, conducted 10 diplomatic missions, and travelled over 100,000 miles. For over six and one-half hours, I met with the Iraqi Foreign Minister - six and one-half hours in which the Iraqi leadership rejected the very concept of withdrawal from Kuwait, even the mention of withdrawal. As you know, many others also tried - The Arab League, the European Community, the UN Secretary - General, Kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers.

        None succeeded because Saddam Hussein rejected each and every one.


1 A.G. Noorani, The Gulf Wars, Documents and Analysis, Konark Publishers PVT LTD, Delhi, 1991, pp. 249-269

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