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George Bush: Incidents
Ousting of Noriega
Although Manuel Noriega was ultimately removed about halfway through Bush’s term, the US first began toying with the idea when Bush was vice president under Reagan. However, Reagan never seriously considered using military force to remove Noriega, despite the protests of members of his administration, including Vice-President Bush. Instead, Reagan used more diplomatic means to convince Noriega to step down. In particular, a drug indictment by the Justice Department made Noriega nervous. So nervous, in fact, that he refused to step down until the indictment was removed. The Reagan administration refused to lift the indictment because they saw it as a US commitment to fight drug trafficking. Noriega remained in power through the end of Reagan’s term. On May 7, 1989, Noriega nullified the results of an election that would have forced him from office and even used his personal police force to publicly beat Guillermo Endara, the successful vice-presidential candidate. Bush quickly ordered additional troops into the Canal Zone and ordered Admiral William Crowe, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to construct a plan to oust Noriega. Still, Bush was not yet ready to act. On December 16, four American soldiers got lost on their way to a restaurant and ended up in Panamanian Defense Force headquarters. PDF soldiers fired on the car and killed on the soldiers. A navy lieutenant and his wife who witnessed the shooting were beaten and threatened. When the administration heard of the incident, Bush did not hesitate to order the capture of Noriega. Indeed, one insider claimed that the shooting was just an excuse for the invasion. On December 20, Guillermo Endara was sworn in as president and American paratroopers landed in Panama City. In about eight hours, military action was over and all key facilities were in US hands. Noriega, however, had escaped capture by claiming asylum in the Vatican Embassy in Panama City. After playing loud rock music 24 hours a day, every day, for over a week, Noriega surrendered. In 1992, Noriega was found guilty on eight charges, including money laundering and cocaine trafficking.
Desert Storm/Shield
In the fall of 1980, about a year after the overthrow of the shah, Saddam Hussein invaded Iran. The war lasted eight years and devastated the economies of both nations. Not only did Iraq have an immense foreign debt of $80 billion, the price of oil, which made up 95% of Iraq’s exports, was falling rapidly. To aid his shaky economy, Saddam began seeking foreign aid. The US seemed the most receptive. After Saddam made a veiled threat against Israel, the Bush administration made the decision to discontinue aid. The president of Iraq, desperate for money to rebuild his economy, decided to invade Kuwait, both because Kuwait was a fairly wealthy nation and because Saddam owed the Kuwaiti government some $10 billion. On August 2, 1990, about 140,000 Iraqi troops and 18,000 tanks moved into Kuwait. In less than a day, Kuwait City had fallen to Iraqi forces, and Saddam not only controlled Iraq, but also over 20% of the world’s oil supply. ush acted quickly when he learned of the Iraqi invasion. Bush, along with 11 members of the Western Alliance, order the freezing of over $100 billion of Iraqi assets. On August 6, the UN passed Resolution 660 unanimously. The resolution condemned Iraq’s invasion and called for immediate withdrawal from Kuwait under the threat of sanctions. Although UN support ultimately meant little (National Security Advisor Brent Scowcraft made the comment that US intervention was inevitable, with or without the UN), the resolution was significant because Bush had managed to woo the support of Gorbachev. Although the Soviet president faced internal opposition, Gorbachev could not afford to alienate the US as the Soviet economy was crumbling and US aid was vital. After the coalition was in order, Bush’s first objective was the protection of Saudi Arabia. Military intelligence suggested that Saddam’s next move would be into Saudi Arabia, which would give him control of almost half of the world’s oil supply. By the end of August, over 80,000 coalition troops were stationed in Saudi Arabia to “defend themselves, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and other friends in the Persian Gulf.” The operation was code named Desert Shield. On November 8, after it became clear that Saddam was not responding to an economic embargo that was hurting western economies almost as much as Iraq’s, Bush announced that he was doubling American forces in Saudi Arabia to 500,000 to allow for an “offensive military option.” After one more failed attempt to negotiate an Iraqi withdrawal, in which Iraq’s foreign minister declared “We accept war,” Congress voted on January 12 to declare war on Iraq. On January 17, 1991, the first air strikes on Iraqi radar systems commenced. One hundred thousand sorties and five weeks later, the ground war began. After just 100 hours of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and General Norman Schwartzkopf meant with Iraqi military leadership and laid out the terms of the cease-fire. The US lost 148 soldiers versus the some 22,000 estimated Iraqi losses.
The Collapse of the Soviet Union
In the midst of the Persian Gulf War, Gorbachev, gambling that the US was absorbed in the effort to expel Iraq from Kuwait, made a last desperate attempt to hold his collapsing state together by lashing out at secessionist movements in different parts of the Soviet Union. In January of 1991, Soviet troops took several government buildings in Lithuania and placed the republic under martial law. In the riots that followed, 15 were killed and over 100 wounded. Bush was torn. The Soviets had to remain in the coalition against Iraq, yet conservatives in his own party accused Bush of abandoning the republics. As Gorbachev’s dealings with his republics continued to destabilize, Bush began to feel pressure from within his own administration to turn away from Gorbachev in favor of Boris Yeltsin, who had won Moscow’s at-large seat in the legislature with 89% of the vote. Bush refused, declaring “you dance with who is on the dance floor.” Finally, in the middle of renegotiating the relationship between Moscow and the republics, a coup was staged led by vice-president Gennady Yenayev. The coup collapsed, however, when Yeltsin passionately spoke out against the coup in favor of Gorbachev. Bush was still cautious, however, and only voiced support for Yeltsin’s stance when it was obvious the coup had failed. The damage was done, however, and the failed coup led to the passage of a resolution of secession in eight republics, including Russia. Soon after, the Communist Party was voted out of existence by the Parliament by a count of 283 to 29. On December 21, eleven former republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States and accepted Gorbachev's resignation, even though he hadn’t yet submitted it. By standing by Gorbachev to the end, Bush did nothing to stop the inevitable and alienated himself further from members of his party. |
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