Introduction to A Strange Music
Working up a collection of poetry at the outbreak of the Gulf War, I began
incorporating snatches of military dialogue and civilian reactions, including
my own, into my writing. The military accounting gradually subsumed the
poetry and this manuscript is the result. The Gulf War in blank verse. Collateral
damage as they say.
Open verse format, established in the unfocused opening pieces, with no
idea they would continue to accumulate into book form, proved a useful way
to continue representing the crapulous verbiage of war while permitting
a latitude of personal response outside the bounds of customary reportage.
Transformations in my own orientation to the subject, as a representative
observer, seem to me to be as pertinent to this document as its chronology
of unfolding events as presented by the media. I began by listening for
a strange music I thought I detected as an undertone to impending war. This
thread served to lure me into the fray.
For grist I relied mainly on CNN, the indisputable world organ of war reportage,
availing myself freely of the data provided by this extension of my ears
and eyes, if not my mind. The mind was exercised by threading through mine
fields of censored, biased or incomplete information to arrive at an independent
perception. Alertness is the third casualty of war, after truth and decency.
I don't know, or care to decide, if this war should have been fought or
not. If you put the cat among the pigeons certain results may be expected.
Prejudgement on my part would exclude many shades of debatability which
seemed worth recording. For the most part, a controlled exercise in tolerance
of ambiguity allowed me to examine and portray situations without attempting
to prove anything beyond what dialectic unraveled of its own accord.
San Rafael, California
March 4, 1991
A STRANGE MUSIC
Sing, Muse, of death
in battle and of the
shining wreaths of
victory. Of Soldier,
Sailor and Marine, of
Aviator and of Enemy.
of flashing bayonet
and field artillery.
The columns roll,
trenches yawn,
flash steely teeth,
snap up their meat.
Sing of honor and dishonor,
of injustice and oppression.
Of wrong addressed in blood
more crimson than the sun
rising through the smoke of
scarry battle shriven, sing!
Hail Queen Victory
in her raiment of
multicolored flames,
from dark ascended,
to consort with destiny.
A Note on Method:
Applying a technique of
observation, quotation,
extraction, abstraction,
transcription & refrain,
strange music emerges
seeming to be the song
of electronic war in
counterpoint to itself.
The method is one of
ignorance, innocence
& attempted impartiality,
refusing to turn back or
re-think a day's insights,
or lack of, in light of the
next day's revelations.
The attempt to make sense
of trying to make sense
of something that possibly
makes no sense
makes a sense of its own;
a sense often more akin
to music than to reason.
Deadline 1/15/91
It's 20 minutes to midnight,
January 15, 1991 & nobody
knows what's going to happen
once the deadline comes & goes.
Innocence is still a factor.
Now it's 11:45 (Eastern time)
& five minutes closer to
the deadline than when
I started writing these lines.
Sense of impending disaster.
The U.N. & Congress have said
bombs can cut loose at midnight,
though it may take a while, if ever,
before they do. On the other hand,
sights may be locking in place.
Now it's ten minutes to deadline.
Will they pull out in time?
Will a solitary truck begin heading
back North where it came from,
then another, maybe a tank or two?
No one really believes it.
I don't believe it too.
Time to turn on the television,
watch excitement mount and
allow the national countdown
to blur the distinction between
media & my individual senses.
Five minutes to go. Nothing across
the channels re-enforces the
experience of impending war.
There's no countdown going on.
Programming remains per usual.
Only two minutes to go.
Finally found a countdown.
on NBC. No great shakes.
What the hell is going on?
Is this news or is it not?
One minute to go - is this some
kind of hoax? Now it's midnight.
We've crossed the deadline
& nothing is happening.
This quiet could be misleading.
1/16/91
All of a sudden it was on;
complete & utter massacre.
Baghdad didn't know what
hit it. If reports can be trusted,
Coalition forces destroyed
Iraqi air defense capability
in one emphatic pounce.
Wham bam thank you ma'am.
War ain't what it wuz.
Went to the convenience store
after the strike where
nobody said anything about it.
A state of shock? Or
don't they even know yet?
Is that it? Someone on
TV says there'll be more & not
to give way to false elation,
that this is only the beginning.
But no-one seems to really believe that.
Isolated Threats (collage & comment)
Mindful of the situation,
closed consultation in
very heartfelt debate,
a commitment
of great delicacy,
extraordinary pressure,
almost miraculously
going into another night
fully expecting to be forced.
There has been speculation.
Don't know for sure that
they would not retaliate
with poison gas & do not
discount the possibility.
Something extraordinary.
Everyone is waiting to
get the reports or is it
only another false alarm?
Soviet Scud missile
explodes in Tel-Aviv,
Officials hope Israel
will show patience &
keep on the sidelines,
not offend Arab members
of the Coalition but no
confirmation is forthcoming.
Supposedly just a harassment
attack from a sore loser.
Along with television
comes news of cough
remedies & corn flakes.
Commercials can all be
heard as indirect comments
on the war. Phenomenon
of intense narrow focus.
Like no conflict in history,
even in the enemy camp,
for so long virtually arcane,
having to deal with this
kind of media-attention.
Has media coverage had
an impact on Saddam's
decision to bomb Israel?
Quick to assumers are
assuming the anti-war
demonstrations are giving
him some sort of idea of
swaying popular sentiment.
I remember this well
from another war in
another time. Very
same words on both
sides of the issue.
1/19/91 #1 - Unfathomable
A meeting between
Arafat & King Hussein.
a discussion or just a visit?
Palestinian
question
interspersed
with ads.
After 3 days strange
music comes out of it.
"In one last desperate bid,
people of good will could
redouble their attempts
at further diplomacy,
somehow make an effort,"
says some spoilsport.
Neither the means to
confirm, detect or deny
any specifics out of Iraq.
An ex-military type says:
"I hope Saddam has a good
sense of humor because
it's going to be a big joke."
I wonder if this is so.
No, I don't think it will be so.
"A big step in maybe
getting some world peace
around this country,"
says a call in viewer.
Very effective. Can't miss.
"And we'll be back with
more right after this."
"A durable value. You
can have it today."
"An American classic."
1/19/91 # 2 Taking Care of It
(random comments heard while channel surfing)
Several thousand rallied
& arrests were made
... spilling over into
other neighborhoods
all across the country.
Not authorized to disclose -
- opinions fueled by false
reports - Can't live for
what they're gonna think.
You can run your little tail off,
Saddam, but it's gonna be glorious.
Clarify that up for us.
Fighting said to be minor.
Demonstrators burned the
flag & listened to speeches
chanting & carrying signs
They were absolutely livid
because they weren't sent
over here with spare parts.
Rain turning the dust out
there to thick oozing mud.
I'm not going back to that
canned footage while I've
got real people out there to
interview. Let's go to Hartford!
No more cookies to the Front.
No more care packages.
First class mail only, please.
He believes he can wait
out an attrition strategy
& is willing to die in place
if necessary to help stir
up Arabic opposition.
Or is he still alive?
The whole base was envious.
Only reporter to get a jet ride.
Because of the protestors the
task is difficult this morning.
766 adults were interviewed
by telephone this morning.
Twenty percent said neither.
Some nations are censoring
weather reports thinking
they may aid terrorists.
Most of the population of
Israel is staying indoors.
I'm waiting, watching & wondering.
Praying all day & all night & all the
time even in the car, says a call in viewer.
1/19/91 #3 Day Four Begins
(extracts)
This effort will
take some time.
Weeks not days.
Weeks not months.
His strategy is to
lie back, to lie back,
to lie back & then hit.
But it won't work here.
Certainly technology
is marvelous but
it all comes down
to people going after
other people on foot.
Welcome back. If there
is breaking news we
will break immediately.
Israel declares it's not in the
reflexive response business.
We will of course update
you immediately in case
of great defense here.
Just how quick will it be over, General?
I believe that unless
something unexpected
happens it'll be over
like instant popcorn.
Irrespective of the time frame
one of the things we should
be doing is having some goals.
Ten to fifteen thousand
moved down to the mall
being inaccurate or at
least soft peddling which
struck a chord with me
since I saw corruption
of the language going on.
A fractured, fragmented
view which you must
piece together yourself.
How it is what it is not
more than it appears
& also neither of these.
Now back to our report.
1/19/91 #4 Call-In Show Dialogue
I don't think we belong there
for all of the above reasons.
Does he want to have that
in history again? It's more
wrong what we're doing
than what they're doing.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for letting our
field commanders get the
job done with confidence.
Wake up & smell the coffee.
Democracy is on the move.
I don't know where they get off.
People should get on their knees
& pray to God because the bible
tells me which side to be on.
We don't have a right in my
opinion to make judgements
on people in other parts of the
world. I've been a widow before.
I just think with the
bombing & killing
& everything going on
everybody responsible
ought to be shot.
They just seem to enjoy
bombing people of color.
We love the soldiers.
We will pay the price
of what they owe us.
I think they got the wrong man.
When the blood rolls down
the sandhills someone is
gonna have a real bad conscience.
It's the logical outcome
& I don't think we
should be surprised.
Must look at the deeper
causes of the problem
so this madness doesn't
happen again.
Intellectual mediocrity
& historical blindness.
We will have to deal
with consequences
that will haunt us
for many years to come.
You begin to feel limited
after awhile & use
whatever means are
at your disposal.
Some of the kids at school
think we should just
pull out the soldiers &
more or less forget about it.
Some couldn't even think about
what they did or didn't want.
Sometimes the tendency
is to exaggerate. Thank you
very much for calling. We
appreciate it. The guy who
said we only bombed people
of color ought to look at
what we did to Germany.
Thank you very much.
Activists are just concerned
with what's right for them,
not what's right or wrong.
Do you know what I mean?
We welcome your calls.
I'd just like to say I have
a brother I'm proud of.
He had a chance to come
home & didn't.
I think it's their right to
protest but I don't think
they should do it the
way they do. Thank you.
I think we have no
right to go & punish
another murderer.
We should be ashamed.
People don't realize
if we don't stop this
man now we'll just
have to pay the price
later on down the line.
1/19/90 # 5 All Clear
(channel switching in search of news)
We'll be back right after this.
It matters where you get
your news - if you don't
take care of your customers
they'll go somewhere else.
Crisis wars can have
unintended results.
I wish they could prevent
that but the fact is it doesn't.
Our intelligence people have
pretty good results but it's
hard to say so I don't know.
It depends not only on his
stability but his capacity. I
don't wish to discuss specifics.
God knows what they'll do next.
We know how it started &
we know how it'll end. It's
the middle part that's difficult.
I think we don't know that
& I can't give you an answer.
Heavy machine gun fire
in Latvia as hard line
communists open fire on
the independents there.
It looks like the first phase is
over & we'll get back to you
when it all starts again.
Both wives are refusing to
comment on whether they
recognize the prisoner's voices.
To come back to your question
you seem to be making a case
for supporting the opposition.
As Latvian's bury their dead
they resolve this will not be
the end of their independence.
1/20/91 #1 War & the NFL Playoffs
3 missiles blown out of the sky
before they could hit us. 4 hours
later it happened again. None hit
the ground. Some people looking
skyward died in a car wreck. We
checked into all the hospitals but
that's all the injuries we could find.
People were leafleting trying
to blockade the game today,
that's why the police are here.
Should put their time & energy
into something better than trying
to destroy all we got going here.
Half of the cops are going home
& the protesters are packing up.
The fans are quick to point out
they're being attentive to the war.
This was a game they had already won
& were just waiting out the clock
when they realized he's just
freewheeling out there
taking his time & waiting.
...unstoppable as they've
been these last two weeks
of playoff action ...we've
lost 8 of our aircraft &
the same number of Allied's.
That's very light:remember
this isn't a training action.
To all men of good will
throughout the world:
you have the beauty of Holy War,
you should be associated
with your brothers,
with the struggle.
...What you have to do
when you're behind like this
is take the ball away from them.
One team gets the edge,
the momentum, then just
takes it out of them.
There appears to be a missile attack.
This is not a drill. Let's go. Focus!
...It appears we've lost our audio.
...And now back to the game.
And its all Buffalo today in W. New York.
Very suddenly flares were flying,
sirens began to sound & we realized
we were under an intense attack
very close to our position here.
Time flies when you're having fun.
GO NOW! Get into the bunker!
We've got a developing situation just now.
Hello New York, this is Saudi Arabia,
this is not a drill. Let's go! Focus!
We will have more during the halftime.
1/20/91 #2 Day Five Begins
The day of the rocket has
become its own art form
in Tel-Aviv art circles.
There is no message
just cynical content.
To eliminate evil and
corruption everywhere,
this is your duty. All
war to date has been
practice for this one.
There is no message
just cynical content.
We're being told to abandon
this position immediately.
The Riyadh siren sounds
like a woman falling off a cliff.
The enemy knows how
to be in the desert
without purified water,
how to suck milk from a camel.
They'll just lie and wait
until we come after them.
We have not even begun
to show you what we have.
We will boil your fat for soap.
The dry chuckle of distant
automatic weapon bursts.
There's no turning back.
1/20/91 #3 Today's Innocence
Today's innocence is what
we will not have tomorrow.
Effective at times, other
times not. Why don't we
know what we don't know?
Who are we anyway?
Advertently, in moments
of stress, we are careful
not to put out information.
Is Saddam flying with his
tray table up & his seat
in a fully upright position?
Tomorrow we will know what
we don't know today or the
reasons it is just as well
we don't know it in light of
what we won't know next.
Is the amount of damage
we're inflicting tremendous?
Would I be stupefied to know?
Tomorrow's innocence is
what I do not have today.
1/20/91 #4 U.S. Military Briefing
answers w/o questions
Well into day five we
plan for the worst
we hope for the best.
I would rather not
give you that number.
For operational
security reasons
I will not tell you
nor would I
want to tell you,
I would rather couch
it in another context
& we will continue
to do that.
I think it would
be inappropriate
for me to identify
that at this time.
I would remind you
of what you are
all familiar with &
that is the fog of war.
It has continued to
impact our ability.
In response to your
first question, I
don't know & that
makes it impossible
for me to address
the second question.
Would we like the
weather to be better?
Yes.
For reasons of both
operational security
& the safety of
the crew I would
request I not
answer that question.
We will execute our
campaign on our
schedule when we
are ready & it
is appropriate.
I have no comment
on that. We will
continue to the
best of our ability.
I really can't just
answer. I know
nothing about that.
That would really be
speculative & I don't
want to do that.
For operational reasons
I will not answer
that question. Again,
I would not like to
be any more specific.
1/21/91 #1 Day Six Begins
(comments from a call in show)
If all the enemy population
are potential soldiers like he says
it's alright to bomb everybody.
That's collateral damage in a war.
Some things are worth fighting for
& this protest is not one of them but as
long as they keep their activities directed
at politicians & not the troops it's alright.
We know not every missile is hitting
it's target - we know innocent people
are being killed p;p; but that's war.
We're kind of pissing in the wind here.
Those aren't the questions that need asking.
The political realities are really quite different.
Old women & men & children
they were targeted by bombardment
of the so called Allied planes.
This is not going to make a difference
in the prosecution of the bruised faces
that show the brutal side of this war.
The media is hardly a cheerleader
& is making life difficult for the
generals. After all, whose war is it?
There's a small minority that seems
to be getting a lot of attention.
Why give them so much time? We don't
get any because we're not out marching.
We're going to work.
If you have an opinion we're
anxious to hear from you.
The Kuwaiti leader has about 80 wives
& spends his life in a casino. I don't
see why we should go & die for him.
Why this? Why that? Everywhere you dial
coverage seems lopsided. What right do they
have to walk up to a military base & demand
information to sell their cornflakes?
We don't need the pressure
that comes from dying needlessly.
The people of this country have
a right to firsthand news.
Why don't we get to see the hate
propagated in this war firsthand?
1/21/91 #2 Eighty Percent Accuracy
Eighty percent accuracy? What
of the other twenty percent?
Cloud cover makes it hard to
find the target resulting in
civilian casualties. Right
to know as much as possible
without sacrificing ability
of the military to do the job.
Soliloquies of footage,
anti-aircraft cantata
soaring through the
bottle green light.
Something almost
majestic among the
few riveting visions
of what is, after all,
not simply another
television fantasy.
Difficult to sort the
random harmonics of
orchestrated coverage
in order to hear phrases
of a strange music in
the process of emerging.
Must insist to myself
this is somehow new,
not simply a replay
of hackneyed themes;
force myself to listen
deeply for what it is
which is the thread
granting coherence to
fragments & cannot be
identified since nameless.
Showing the video now.
The Scud is still smoking.
If psychological warfare,
as they seem to infer,
it seems to be on target.
Told Israelis don't like to
show a lot of public emotion
but this seems to tick them off.
To be resumed in full fury
soon as the weather allows.
1/21/91 #3 Sermon to the Snakes
I whisper my truth to snakes
where I lie under a small
outcrop of rock drinking
the taste of shadow like water.
My homeland is a place they
will not remember my name
after an efflorescent memorial.
But for now, I was rarely alive.
I have believed what the others
believed, knowing nothing better.
I spoke their speech and worked
typical hours to make their money.
Now I am wiser than their wisest,
knowing what none of them know,
though they preach it in my name:
What it means to speak to snakes.
To speak to snakes where
there are no snakes, only
the phantom of something
coiling around my mind.
I whisper my truth to snakes
where I lie under a small
outcrop of rock drinking
the taste of shadow like water.
1/21/91 #4 Morning Report
flipping around the channels
U.N. To prevent
the toll from rising
further we ask you to
please reconsider the
communique of January 15.
U.S. This is not the
time for diplomacy.
USSR: We open up the society.
We open up the country.
Leave us alone with our
conscience to solve
this tough problem.
CNN: We're told to quit
reporting any weather
data from the mid-east.
Here is the satellite map,
Make your own forecast.
U.K. Within a matter of seconds
the base was quiet, almost eerie.
Hopefully we've done some damage.
All good stuff. Hello to another day.
The Admiral reminds us:
this is not a video game.
Israel: the United States should
compensate us for war damage
in excess of 3 billion dollars.
Pentagon: After 5
& a half days we
continue to be
very encouraged.
POW's Brother: I agree
with our president. We
should stay the course.
Commodities Market:
Light sweet crude is
trading at 20 dollars
& 35 cents a barrel.
1/22/91 #1 Patience
I bring you only dog brains
but I promise a day will come
when I will bring you its tail.
A swelling chorus of patriotism.
Polls show supporters outnumber
protestors by intimidating factors.
Flag factories are sewing overtime.
Star spangled T-shirts moving fast.
Too soon to tell if the epidemic is
lasting or only a passing backlash.
Iraqis had another sleepless night
wondering what will fall from the sky.
I bring you dog brains but
I promise the day comes
when I bring you its feet.
Fight AIDS not Arabs say
protestors infiltrating Dan
Rather's studio. We'll go
to a commercial now - -
I always bring you dog brains
but I promise a day will come
when you will feed on its belly.
1/22/91 #2 Day Seven Begins
Regarding a ground
campaign: you wanta
throw as many rocks
from the hill as you can
before you go down,
start slugging it out.
Everybody's hungry
for information now.
'Long about Ramadan,
thirsty for water & a
place out of the sun.
Harassment
bombs full of
combs & tissue
exploding with
tones of kazoo.
Brilliantine bombs
to leave enemies
with hair slicked
into pompadours.
Bird, bone &
caterpillar bombs.
We cannot
comment
on that.
1/22/91 #3 Overall Strategy
The overall strategy has
become a source of some
puzzlement in Washington.
Some of them be thinkin'
that ol' coot wiley like a fox.
Some be sayin' he wants
to bore us to death'n then
kick sand in our face.
He don't say nothin'.
Why he don't?
Next he be sayin'
"do anything you
want to me, blow
up my airplanes,
but please, please
don't make me fight
a ground war."
Next he be puttin'
cherry bombs
down the toilet
in the Hilton.
Blooey - crap
everywhere.
What kind of
crazy is he?
Plenty crazy,
I think.
1/22/91 #4 Press Restrictions
(extracts of a dialogue among reporters)
You get a free trip in,
a free trip out. You get
a free tour of the place.
You're free to ask any
question you want.
They're free to answer
if they want which
they generally don't
unless it reflects well
& some general
doesn't want to say
it first to 650 journalists.
The story is big enough
we don't need to know
the secret schedules;
we want to know what
the General is feeling at
a given time & you can't
go back & get that later.
We have tightly sealed
doors facing the sea.
Can you do your job?
Not as it should be done.
There's blame on both sides.
In some cases there's
truth to their paranoia.
Some of us have gone ballistic,
causing panic both here & at home.
We want to give them
the flavor of the war.
We want to bring
them here in the
thick along with us
so that anyone with
enough compassion
can feel the fear -
fall with every plane
shot out of the sky.
Because, like it or not,
we're all as much at war
as our military deputies.
It wasn't just an army
that went to battle -
it was a country.
Tomorrow it might
even be a world.
*(n.b.3/96: first hint of a major stategic misdirection)
1/22/91 #5 Conflicting Stories
The news is both good & bad today.
Good news is that there isn't that
much bad news. Bad news is that
there isn't any good news to speak of.
Stocks slipped but not that much.
Light sweet crude rose a little.
The factory wasn't what it seemed.
It had barbed wire, armed soldiers,
maybe biological warfare equipment.
They said it was the only source
for making infant formula.
Anyway, someone blew it up
so the point is moot.
Ah, sweet crude rose!
Terror becomes mundane.
No U.S. planes lost in combat
last forty eight hours though
two crashed for other reasons.
Iraq says they shot them down.
Israel shows continued restraint.
"I would make the strongest
appeal that these prisoners be
treated properly in accordance
with Geneva Conventions."
A number of POW's reportedly
moved to strategic points to act as
human shields to discourage attack.
Activists plan to block
Grand Central Station.
Next a look at oil markets.
Texaco stock up. Need
an additional 30 billion
to bail out Savings & Loans.
This concludes the morning report.
1/23/91 #1 Extracts of a Briefing
Let me begin by expressing pride.
I urge caution especially in
expecting victory too soon.
The press reporting on the
press reporting on a story
usually means they've
run out of things to say.
I'll try to correct that.
Facts, figures, facts, figures,
facts, figures, joke, figures.
We've carefully chosen our
targets & bombed them with
precision, unlike the enemy.
There may be surprises.
Now the Admiral will speak.
I would also like to express pride,
dampen out the oscillations
between euphoria & distress &
provide for security of the region.
Behind schedule due to bad weather.
Notwithstanding we are pleased with
week one. About what we expected.
We've done:this, that
& some other things.
Facts, figures, excuses,
no joke, figures, facts.
Putting all that together,
Iraq hasn't done jack but
I don't want to give away
too much information.
First we cut it off then we kill it.
The more we cut off, the more we kill.
We've got a lot of tools & we
brought them all to the party.
For the most part they're dug in,
sitting there, waiting to be attacked.
Anecdotal evidence of low morale.
We don't know how bad we've
hurt it until it starts to move.
I've laundered this so you don't
really know what I'm talking
about, but trust me. Trust me.
Saddam has not thrown a single
military punch. Only terror tactics.
.I've had some crude
line drawings made,
accurate representation of
what I cannot tell you about
almost looks like. We destroyed it.
In conclusion, we're in no hurry.
1/23/91 #2 Spoilsport
The U.N. Security Council
has just pointed out that
the intent of their resolutions
was to make Iraq back off,
not to pulverize them
into powder. By the way, the
neighbors are getting nervous.
The disinformation
analyst states that
his specialty is
something we
don't engage in.
This has been
falsely confirmed
by independent sources
& can be trusted or not
depending on you affiliation.
Hang in there.
1/23/91 #3 Maybe
A deep feeling implicit
in reports lately that
Saddam's got something
up his sleeve. Maybe
terror around the world.
Maybe nukes,
chemicals
or biologicals.
Maybe sheer
nightmare power;
some strange
Arabian magic.
Maybe he's insane.
Maybe he's not insane.
Maybe he plans to do
certain devilish things
to destroy the economy.
Maybe he knows a way
to get each of us personally.
Maybe he'll ruin the
atmosphere & cause
the crops to fail or send
an oil slick clear to China.
Maybe he'll opt for
a peaceful settlement
& obligingly attend
a war crimes trial.
Maybe he'll join
a rock band.
1/23/91 #4 Bush: State of the Union Address
Our thoughts go out
to an allied force
standing up for
what is right.
We did not begin
a war 7 days ago -
we began to end a war.
At stake not simply
energy, economics,
stability of a vital region,
but prospects for peace
& a new world order.
Countries from 6 continents
sent forces to the Gulf.
Peace at any price
was never an answer.
Every overture of peace
met with open contempt.
Despite world's prayers
he brought war on himself.
Our pinpoint attacks
put him out of the
nuclear business for
a long time to come.
We're depriving Saddam of his
ability to wage war effectively.
Severely degrading his air defense.
Still 20,000 anti-aircraft
guns in Baghdad alone.
There can be no pause.
We will stay the course
& succeed all the way.
War is never cheap or easy.
There will be more
setbacks, more sacrifices.
He sickens the world
with tools of terror
that do nothing but
strengthen our resolve
to act against
a dictator unmoved
by human decency.
Saddam may yet become
a target of his own people.
Clearly immoral,he takes hostages,
attacks population centers,
threatens prisoners,
is without pity.
Repulsive parade of American airmen on TV.
I knew as they read their statements
that these were false statements
forced on them by their captors
because these guys are Americans!
I repeat my pledge.
Never again will
ourarmed forces be
sent out to do a job
with one hand tied
behind their back.
Not just military
but moral support.
They will return to
the love & respect
of a grateful nation.
All life is precious,
yet so too are the
living principles of
liberty & peace which
Americans cherish
above all others.
May God bless the
United States of America.
1/23/91 #5 Day Eight Begins
Now I know what I did
not know a week ago.
Last week's innocence is
not this week's innocence.
Next week's innocence
will be a different innocence.
Big things are happening.
Ennui succumbs abruptly
to interesting times. We
proceed to the next room.
A strange music emerges.
It was pretty clear we
needed to talk but for
some reason we didn't.
So here we are. Nothing
to do about it but watch.
Today's innocence is
not yesterdays innocence.
That much could be foretold.
1/23/91 #6 Cost Effective
(my suss so far)
There are good wars
& there are bad wars.
This war is said
to be a good one.
The one before is
generally conceded
to have been bad
because inefficient.
This war is said
to be efficient
but past a certain
point will not
be cost effective.
A war need not
be cost effective
to be a good war.
No war which is
lost could be said
to be cost effective
unless the loser
gains economically
by the fact of losing.
We discourage this.
1/24/91 #1 Israeli Ambassador's Address
(extract)
This could again become
the Garden of Eden,
not the hub of conflict.
Whatever reality there
will be when this war
is over, it is not our
intention to rule the
so called Palestinians
against their will but
we don't want them
to determine our future.
Ten years along the road
there may be other arrangements.
We did not request
thirteen billion dollars
(from the international alliance
to refrain from retaliation.)
This is a canard.
Directly or indirectly
our damage amounts to
3.2 billion because of
tourism eliminated,
civil defense necessity,
higher price of energy,
loss of product,
transportation,
insurance,
planes in the air
around the clock -
not including the damage
of the last couple of days.
Just as other countries
have been compensated by
the international community,
hopefully so will we.
Not a request, not a demand.
We are absorbing immigrants
at a time when the world is
in a recession. We are not
going to ask for direct loans.
We have explained our
needs & hope for help.
There are wise people
among the Palestinians
who must realize violence
accomplishes nothing.
And yet they never
miss an opportunity
to miss an opportunity.
1/24/91 #2
Ally
gerund: a word which
has the characteristics
of both verb & noun.
Allied with terrorists &
feudal monarchies, what
is a sensible foreign policy?
Two million people
kicking in ten bucks
apiece could keep
this war going for
another three days.
Or one million kicking
in twenty. Or two
kicking in ten million.
Antiseptic war;
thousands dying,
no bodies seen.
Upset the public.
Might not go for it.
Media saturation.
Spoonfed military
viewpoint, statistics,
evasions to present
war in the best light.
Calls to the White House
1,000 to 1 against letting
Media have their own way
say White House sources.
No censorship in Viet Nam.
Generals have not forgotten.
Day eight is a day of digression.
Not a lot happening that's much
different from what's happened
before - except more of it.
So far as is known today marks
the first battle of the war
to produce a double kill
by a single pilot. A record.
Made a point of this.
1/24/91 #3 Arabian Briefing
Let me tell you first
the initial information
we receive. And explain.
This process will take time.
They were going
parallel to the coast.
The F15 pilot confirm
that he was engage
& kill both airplanes.
The pilot report
he doesn't see
any ejection pilot
from the F1 but we
can't confirm
that he do not eject
or he do eject.
We will see what the tape
contain before we
releasing the tape.
Since the war break down
the Saudi none of them
shot down any Iraqi.
Before one F4
or probably two F4
we shot before
long time ago.
This is information
we try to provide you
at the moment now
but as I report it
we just can't tell
where it's going.
If you don't mind we
just give more chance
for more questions
to the other subjects.
I really can't confirm it
until we go through the
whole process of
the air defense from
the early warning to
the command & control
to the pilot debrief
to the tape of the F15
to the air control till we
struck the information
together so it can be confirmed.
It was an engagement
to kill the two F1's.
Thank you very much.
Our religion asks us
to fight & pray
at the same time.
1/24/91 #4 British Briefing
Ladies & gentlemen, good day.
Thank you for attending.
Momentum has been maintained
& good progress made.
The RAF has flown
numerous sorties
against combat air
patrols in the North.
Careful positioning
of fighting units
in preparation
for a possible
ground offensive.
offensive actions
deep inside Iraq
with pinpoint accuracy.
The crew are missing in action.
Next of kin have been informed.
There are no further details.
- dropped high explosive
bombs & claimed
%100 success rate -
HMS Gloucester & HMS Cardiff
were mounting early warning
surveillance operations when their
radar operators detected the
approach of three hostile aircraft.
I can confirm that two
of these aircraft were
intercepted & destroyed
by Saudi fighters.
The third fled to base.
More information is
coming on in this but
so far the operation
seems to be going to plan.
The army is
consolidating
its position.
No particular theme.
Variation of tactics
is a normal process.
We have used a variety of profiles
& it has no bearing
on the loss rate.
It's been going
particularly well
in that respect.
1/24/91 #5 Day Nine Begins
Turn off the box
& play a little
soothing music.
Digest my dinner
before checking
any more reports.
A strange music -
a bar or two
every day p;
sometimes an
articulate phrase
but never
a whole theme.
Riffs aplenty but
they fall away
from the body of it,
exchangeable
like grace notes
in a Mozart sonata.
Precision & accuracy.
Surgical & pinpoint.
Pinpoint precision
& surgical accuracy.
Rode my bike to
the City & back
just for fresh air.
No fresher there
but that isn't
the point, is it?
My very peculiar
contribution to
the war effort
is to try to hear
how strange music
sounds from 12,000
miles away with
pinpoint accuracy.
1/24/91 #6 Between & Besides
Wars within War:
media & military,
networks & CNN
TV & the press,
Islam, Judaism
& Baptist Christianity,
economist & humanist;
idealist & utilitarian
exchanging garments.
The night wears on.
I want to say all or
nothing else about it
but must just settle
for finding some sense.
Got to thinking how
the land between the
Tigris & Euphrates
was home to Babylonians,
Parthians & Sumerians.
Fertile Crescent,
civilization's cradle.
How it was a world center
of art & scholarship
until Muslim conquest
in the 7th century.
How the Dark Ages
befell the Western World.
How life is a
combination of
inert elements
and Holy Fire.
1/25/91 #1 Tide of Oil
Unctuous slooshing
of buttery waves slip
over oleaginous sand
with voice of molasses,
thirty six hours
of continuous spillage
have transformed the
beach of Al Khafji into
an oil surfer's paradise.
Burgeoning clouds
in raven plumage ride
the stark Arabian sky,
black as blood by moonlight.
War of winds and
winds of war no less
than words of wind
beleaguer the tide.
These are my arms
and this is my blood,
this poisonous mire
the love of the leech
to suck you dry.
Oh mighty of the Earth
behold in horror for
I have riven my mark
on wind and sea and sky.
1/25/91 #2 Jihad
Religion give us
the spirit to fight
where other people
think it's mad to fight.
You can't separate
people here from
the role of religion.
Not a conflict among
nations but of souls.
Jihad
Jihad
Jihad
How to stop
dependence
on foreign oil?
Texaco says:
proper tire
inflation can
save 4,000,000
gallons of gas a day.
Jihad
Jihad
Restore rights
& freedom.
Proceed with
the idea of
bringing peace
to the region.
Jihad
Bush has more
understanding of
what will restore
peace to the area
than any President
in recent history says
the Vice President.
He is calm.
He is serene.
He gives the
impression
of a leader
who knows
he's doing
the right thing.
Jihad
1/25/91 #3 Day Ten Begins
absorbing generalities
about day nine /
Every third statement
is disinformation.
Don't lose count.
Who is the most right,
Pentagon or the Press?
...backing off after
a dose of reality...
What will
the defining
statement be?
You thought
war was Hell?
Watch this!
Is it true
that bastard shot
his commanders
just like that:
bangbangbangbangbang?
Jesus!
Point of the oil spill
may be to destroy the
enemy to the South
as badly as he is being
destroyed by Allies.
The Germans taught
him how to make gas.
Valdez taught him how
to decapacitate a gulf.
Gulf 'em,
gas 'em
n' get out.
Not showing his hand yet
just crazy stupid stink bombs
across the Western border.
Another month
of airwar? Two?
Do not dare
go down there
on the ground.
No, no, no, not yet.
1/25/91 #4 The Singing Dog
Never before
has the world
witnessed the
beginning of
such a war as
the world has
never before
witnessed
attack from
the East less
attractive due
to oil dark sea
blame unclear
for now in the
fog of words
it's hard to
have no opinion,
to realize facts
are malleable,
origins lost in
obscurity even
to perpetrators
but with practise
even dogs can
learn to sing
May want to
return the genii
to the bottle but
may need another
genii to do it.
1/25/91 #5 Saturday Morning Reports
(extracts)
We have quite a good
track record; contrary
to reports of the press,
every once in awhile
we really hit the target.
Probably been 2
or 3 thousand
civilian casualties
caused by corollary
damage; it's inevitable.
Compared to previous wars
it's a huge, huge improvement.
They field masses of
cannon fodder with
low value for human life.
Our casualties will be low,
thanks to technology.
30 miles long,
8 miles wide,
heading South,
parts of the oil
slick are on fire.
Security up for tomorrow's
Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla.
Fighter pilots report seeing
a huge fire ball after their
attack on Republican Guards.
2 bombs explode near
U.S. Embassy in Turkey.
Thousands of people
gather on the Capitol Mall
to chant for peace.
According to Gallup Polls,
62 percent think the
fighting will last for months.
45 percent are for use
of nuclear weapons -
45 percent are for use
of nuclear weapons!
45 percent are for use
of nuclear weapons,
the same percent against.
76 percent say this
is not Armageddon.
The poll has a margin
for error of plus or
minus 4 percentage points.
1/26/91 #1 The Nobel Laureate Speaks
(extract of Elie Weisel conversation)
To bear witness
will be my task.
To try to tell the tale.
To be here in such
hours of anguish,
hours of danger.
We hear certain
words today and
the words bring
back memories -
they evoke
a landscape of death.
A landscape of solitude.
A few hundred miles
from here is a man
mad with hatred,
mad with vengeance,
mad with vanity,
who has openly
proclaimed his wish
to destroy this people.
He has kept his promises.
We must be prudent.
1/26/91 #2 Sounds of Protest
(Washington D.C.Mall Rally)
Keep hope alive
Free the troops
No blood for oil
Sanctions should
have been given
time to work
Why do we fight for
an autocratic monarchy
where women have no rights?
Why did we invade Granada?
Why did we invade Panama?
What are we doing in Central
America supporting the death
squad in El Salvadorp;
What are we doing in
Honduras & in Nicaragua?
Ninety percent of Congress
is white males
Why are women excluded
from the combat troops?
Down with war up with peace!
Out of the Middle East!
Bush, you created him &
you should go & fight him
& send our children home!
We don't need to wave
the flag, it waves in us
All the lost children
& the lost mothers
please go to the first aid
center on my right hand side
Let us take strength
from each others presence
This is an unnecessary war
African Americans will
be the first to die & we
can't get a civil rights bill
in our own country
Give peace a chance
Whose side is God on?
As the war escalates
so will the resistance
War is not the answer!
Shut down the gas stations!
Call for international conference!
Boycott every product
advertised by a media that
keeps us from hearing the truth
When will they ever learn?
We shall overcome!
The movement is back!
1/26/91 #3 Day Eleven Begins
War becomes an organ of perception.
By day 11 I see nearly everything
in terms of it. Values shifting.
Like the process of grief,
where everything light-hearted
seems vaguely obscene.
Wanton. Misinformed. Self-accusing.
Most waking hours absorbed between
TV reports & writing them up.
Deaf ear to family's protests.
Eyes of obession in the mirror.
The war grabbed me unawares
from the moment of my initial
attempt to record it & just
held on. Within a week or so
I knew I was doomed to seek
some sort of understanding
through it which is denied
to works of the imagination.
Horses of change appear
most every hour if I care
to mount them. Most run
into walls or stumble in
holes & ought to be shot.
What is called editing.
Impossible to empathize
with all points of view,
but I try to do it as they
are made manifest to me,
then let them slide away.
As for value, by the time this
thing is over few will wish to
think of it, much less read an
account of it's impacted nuances.
That is for some later time.
I think not I. But it seems
it should be witnessed in
some cohesive way - letting
it suggest its own form as
the shape of battle defines
itself over course of time.
1/26/91 #4 Stormin' Norman's briefing
Thirty-nine enemy planes
sought sanctuary in Iran.
The allies lost no planes
in the last two days.
We've bombed the manifold
controlling the pipes
& hopefully sealed off
spillage of oil into the gulf.
The appropriate weapon
for the appropriate target.
No question civilians
are going to get hit -
we're doing everything
we can to prevent it
but it's going to happen.
Not said before: we're
endangering our pilots
trying to avoid shrines
& civilian casualties.
Our war is not
against the people.
Accidents happen.
I've been bombed by
our own airforce.
I don't think they
did it intentionally.
I'm a conservationist
but I'm certainly not
an ecological engineer.
I don't know the impact
of the oil spill down
the line but I think it's
a ridiculous argument
that we should stop
fighting a despot in order
to not pollute the shores.
1/27/91 #1 Sunday Kind of War
It's a Sunday kind of coverage.
Land mines are there to channelize you
& direct you into the killing zone.
You pick this up you eat
five pounds of explosives.
Never veer off the clear path.
They've laid half a million since August.
The Super Bowl is raging in Tampa.
Whitney blew the Anthem off the map.
When the 49ers lost last week in the
playoffs I had a hunch it'd be a long war.
Giants haven't generated much of a pass
rush with 7:53 left to play in the first half.
When's the last time you saw a fair catch
on a 55 yard punt? Baghdad says they're
holding back their forces & haven't yet
begun to launch their crushing strikes.
Will it be poison gas or an A-Bomb?
If Israel joins, so will Iran.
The clock stops for the two minute warning.
The air war continues completely one sided.
No hurry to begin a ground campaign. Given
mishandling & poor field position they'll
probably opt to run out the clock. Halftime.
The game began past two in the morning.
No liquor here so they had soda, popcorn
& gas-masks. 'Good evening from the White
House to everyone enjoying the game. God bless
all freedom loving people around the world.'
Dawn is now breaking over the Persian Gulf.
Back for the second half. Got to break
a tackle & make something happen.
Every now & then you can look back
to a play that turned everything around.
Some guys just get there quicker than others.
Longest drive in Super Bowl history. 9:29.
Coca Cola feels it would be inappropriate to
run a light-hearted commercial at this time.
Unprecedented security around Tampa Stadium.
Scuds, rockets & missile launchers. Stay
with us for the post game show. Soldiers &
tanks from the Kremlin do routine police work
as the Soviet economy goes into freefall.
Trying to kick his
longest ever on grass
Eight seconds left.
He misses. They lose.
1/27/91 #2 Day Twelve Begins
Keep meaning to get back to work
on subjects other than the war,
only to find there are no subjects
other than the war. Seduced by
the subject of a strange music
in the act of emergence I find
myself listening to themes more
ancient than recorded history.
The music I heard, or
thought I heard, was the
music of the emergence,
of the first days,
and it was truly there,
the harmonics of a startled
nation as it began to mobilize
its opinions, the chance for
a voicing never before heard, an
unsuspected aspect of harmony,
to affect the structure & cadence.
It was bits of the primal chord
I heard, all possible semi-tones
compressed into a chord filtered
through the reductive receptors
of auditory sense. But it was there.
.
I confused it with music
& wasn't absolutely wrong
though not what I'd call correct.
But what am I saying?
Am I certain this has
been a misadventure?
Maybe it's only weariness
of long daily participation.
Maybe the suspicion that
war does not, cannot,
offer anything new.
There are probably things
worth enduring monumental
futility for. Is this one of them?
I suspect it might be so.
I suspect it may not.
If one emergent music,
one not heard before,
should positively sound,
then victory is assured.
A victory of
perception,
not of war.
1/27/91 #3 Airport Security#
(extracts)
A group of reporters
passed a lead lined bag
containing bomb-like
components through
airport baggage 50 times
before they gave up.
You can be part of the
aviation security business.
Things you can do to help:
Leave no unattended bags.
If you've left your bag with
a porter, double-check it.
Keep your bag in your
possession at all times.
Put an identifying mark
on your bag so no one
can pull a switch on you.
Know what you're carrying,
even bombs given you by friends.
Leave electronic items at
home if you don't need them
or carry them onboard so we
don't have to screen them.
Don't dress like an Arab.
There's lots of other things
we could tell you to do
but we can't talk about them
or we'd show our hand.
1/27/91 #4 Major Highlights of Today's Briefing
More than eighty of
their planes have
flown to Iran. How
come we don't know
what they're up to?
Is there a shortfall
of intelligence?
We don't know
everything &
that's one of them.
We have to be able
to see it, feel it,
taste it & touch it
before we'll report
that it happened.
You may characterize that
as a current operation
but we're not doing it now;
it's something we might do
& therefore it's a future
operation & I can't discuss it.
I think we have tried
very hard throughout
this operation
not to get out here
with lots of statements.
1/28/91 #1 Saudi Ambassador Speaks
The oil slick isn't going to hurt us.
It is purely & simply a crime against
nature; against birds & fishes.Until
this time we thought Saddam was not
human because he was so cruel to humans.
Now we're not even sure he's an animal.
He's invented a military rank
for himself called the Awesome,
something above a field marshall
and slightly below an emperor.
We prefer to call him the Awful.
He didn't say anything new
in his interview - all threats
we've heard before. He talks
exclusively about lakes of blood,
about hundreds of thousands
of civilians being killed.
He's really deranged & thinks
about nothing but blood.
I have met him a few times.
He is a master of deceit.
You would blush if you heard
the praise I used to hear from him.
Is this same man who is telling
all the world about Saudi Arabia?
We have seen everything he has
in his arsenal. We have seen how
he rapes, how he kills, how he
pillages, how brutal he is, we
have seen everythin that the cruelty
of man has invented throughout ages.
If he has chemical or biological
weapons he will try to use them.
He lives on intimidation & blackmail.
Q: Are you glad Israel took out
his nuclear plant in 1981?
I am not proud of anything Israel has done.
If they satisfy the Palestinian demands
we can talk about being proud of them.
Sending his planes to Iran is one
of what he thinks are clever tricks.
He hopes the coalition will
go & hit them & get Iran involved
in fighting the coalition. Like all
his tricks,this one is going to backfire.
We will kick this aggressor out of Kuwait
We will have an era of peace & stability
because the new world order will be working
as expected under the UN charter since there
will be no cold war tearing the world apart.
The big five will oversee the security
of the world and, I really hope, this
will be the last dictator causing all this
disruption & we will approach an era of peace.
1/28/91 #2 Day Thirteen Begins
Got to get away from the war,
listen to some instrumental tracks
before I lose perspective.
CNN Correspondents
will update me later.
My brothers, my sisters,
mon semblable, my guides.
It ain't going away.
It's here for a spell.
Learn how to ignore it
every once in awhile.
Learn how to look at it
from the point of view
of an extraterrestrial
taking protozoa specimens.
Don't let it take me over.
Look at it from an
interstellar viepoint/
a temporary skirmish
on a minor planet
with too much oil
and not enough.
A strange music emerges
after a brief respite.
To not lose sight of that.
To keep it within hearing.
1/28/91 #3 Fighting For God
Dead birds in his hair
Oil between his toes
He's fighting for God
Black wind in his lungs
Promising lakes of blood
He's fighting for God
His confidence is absolute
He's fighting for God
The major battle is yet to come
He's fighting for God
He's doing interviews on TV
He's fighting for God
He's moving his airforce to Iran
He's fighting for God
He's got chemical weapons
He's got biological weapons
He's fighting for God
He's got nuclear warheads
He'll use whatever's needed
He's fighting for God
His people fear him
His soldiers desert him
He's fighting for God
He kills his commanders
He's fighting for God
Sworn enemy of Satan
He's fighting for God
1/29/91 #1 Face of Evil
Hard to look at the Dictator
& not like him instinctively.
He looks like an uncle from
Mother's side of the family
or a greengrocer who sells
reasonably good lettuce, not
the kind with bugs inside.
I think he believes in
what he's doing, without
the shadow of a question.
Maybe that's a basic trait
of leaders from which
springs the necessity
for mistrusting them in
negotiation & compromise.
On the other hand, our own leader
is not so easy to like on sight,
though you don't instinctually
want to put a pie in his face
the way you did with, say,
Joe McCarthy or Richard Nixon.
His faith seems facile to me.
Listening to the Dictator,
I can despise the intent
of his words, their results,
the blind self-servingness
of them, but how despise
the apparent faith that
marshalls them into action?
This same simple faith
pitted against the less
simple faith of others
is likely, if anything is,
to cost us the results of
a millenium's experiment
in the possibilities of
culture, art & civilization.
1/29/91 #2 Day Fourteen Begins
Sitting here waiting for
the heralded interview
with the Dictator.
State of the Union
Address was given
and, as predicted,
Star Wars (SDI)
bids fair to jump
back in the budget
leaving us free to rule
the world with integrity,
secure against reprisals.
I understand the rationale but
wings feel mighty good to flap.
Invincibility spells ruination
from within rather than without.
The Dictator feels protected
by the hand of God & dares
his outrageous actions in
the name of righteousness.
Got to wrap this up now.
The Dictator speaks.
I must attend.
1/29/91 The Dictator's Interview
Ouch! Clearing my mind
of preconceptions &
listening to him I find
myself mighty confused.
What can I record except
the confusion? What can
I know for sure? Be honest,
then, to my perception &
let it tumble from my hands.
He sounds
so plausible,
so reasonable,
so honorable,
so right. Yet,
what about Kuwait?
I thought: why does he
blink so much? Nerves?
Exhaustion? Then I realized
the light was in his eyes.
He wore a suit & tie.
He talked about the power
of right against seemingly
insurmountable odds. Like
the father of a country. Yet,
what about Israel? It seems
it's all about the Western
Bank & the Golan Heights.
Yes, but what about Kuwait?
What about the allegedly
corrupt regime he displaced,
allegedly raping & pillaging
the region in the process?
It's going to take a while
for this all to sink in. No
doubt if I turn on my TV
they'll tell me exactly how
to view it all. A master
of deceit; a megalomaniac;
a lunatic living in delusions.
Perhaps all this is true but
what, just what, have I to
base my own perceptions on?
Let me put it this way:
at this moment,
knowing how little I know,
were I armed and
in a room with him,
guards drugged,
provided with a clear
avenue of escape,
I could not
pull the trigger.
Who knows the measure
of these things?
I began to suspect
that this war is about
entirely other matters
than one bereft of inside
information might guess.
Though others emphatically
affirm that point of view,
they speak from agendas
whose bias is diverse
and whose pertinance
is inconclusive.
The appearance of
patent paradox invites
my estimation of mistrust
within a framework of
essential ignorance.
This sounds like a textbook
definition of classic paranoia.
My initial interest and concern
begins to resemble an infection
of some species of viral madness.
1/29/91 #4 The General
The General hits the podium
like a beach head, glances
around the room uneasily,
slips on his glasses, slaps
open his notes & commences.
He leaves no doubt we've
hit 'em pretty hard as usual.
Facts, figures, things it's
important to take note of.
Norman is no actor. What he says
is so, you may depend on it.
This is the horse's mouth itself
replete with charts & videos.
Watching him this morning, I begin
to feel ashamed at the empathy I felt
for the enemy & his plight last night.
An insidious attack of pacifism.
The General is shaped like an egg.
War is a hard boiled affair.
He makes it quite clear he does
not approve of body counts. They
mean nothing. Absolutely nothing,
only tend to mislead people about
what's going on, puts undue pressure
on commanders to come up with
numbers that are essentially unreal.
The General is beyond morality
in his official capacity, though
plainly not as an individual. He
is here to do a job & does it to
the best of his considerable ability.
Morality is left to the Oval Office.
Who can fault him on that account?
'War is not a clean business' he
remarks & takes the next question.
The glasses are off now & he
has a hunted look in his eyes.
What are these reporters driving at?
What are they trying to get out of me?
"Is this a question or a statement,
OK? I need to know!" he chastises.
The warrior steps out of the face
behind the military briefer's mask.
"I would describe that report,"
he snorts "as bovine scatology!"
1/30/91 #1 Strategic Bull Session
Can airpower do the job alone?
Will Iraq crack after a couple
more weeks of air strikes?
Three thousand sorties a day?
.
Is this more of a political war where
failure to secure early capitulation
is tantamount to victory for the
decimated 3rd world force challenged?
Is it ime to get down on the ground
& start thrashing it out? Or just
continue cutting off supplies until
nothing is needed but a mop up?
Should an end sweep be made,
avoiding the Kuwaiti front,
aiming for Central Iraq,
straight toward Baghdad so
Republican Guards must
leave defensive positions?
Are they weakened enough
to consider that tactic yet?
Maybe waiting is no good
for fear the coalition will
fall apart, or some political
surprise present itself to
subvert the orchestration.
1/30/91 #2 Day Fifteen Begins
Why is it being fought?
I mean, this one rather
than some other one?
Why aren't troops down
in Tin Pan Alley fighting
for better music? Or
in the volcano making
snowmen out of lava?
Assuming victory,
what has been won?
A happier Kuwait?
O Joy. Or the right
to participate in
something endless
involving those people
who wear red & white
checkered dishtowels &
are not pleased with Israel?
Is compromise possible?
Can't tell the Palestinians
to go home. They are home.
Can't send Ex-Soviet Jews
home; they don't have one.
Why is the U.S. making this
problem its major thrust of
interest & expenditure when
its inner cities are exploding
& its schools are down the drain?
I conclude that I must be
immensely thick & missing
something painfully obvious.
There are even better causes
on foreign horizons if it comes
to that. Who benefits from this?
Don't give me patriotic reasons.
Wave the flag but keep explaining.
1/30/91 #3 Going For It
Robin Wright says the biggest worry is that we might win the war but lose
the peace because we lack post gulf strategies on a host of issues ranging
from security on Saudi Arabia & Kuwait to the future of Iraq, to the
Arab-Israeli conflict, to the disparity between the super rich & the
super poor. There's commitment but no ideas & clearly no leadership.
That sounds convincing.
People outside a small circle of connoisseurs do not care who writes the
President's speeches or even if he does it himself. Patriot rhetoric has
a chilling sound to my ear in the time of war. Everything sounds differently
here, even the plumbing. It is now the plumbing of war.
How do you get men to agree to possibly give their lives for something which,
if honorable, is only incidentally so, its aim being economic & political,
founded on several fortuitous but tenuous alliances? Iran eyes with a dim
view any coalition with Satan while admitting Saddam is headstrong. Things
would be more implacable if Khomeini were still alive, that is if war had
happened at all, which it might not, balances being different.
An Ayatollah differs from a Pope in that a Pope may not officially order
assassinations. Floggings & stonings are beyond his jurisdiction. He
holds the keys to Hell & Heaven alone, not to the closets of adulterers.
Nor does a Pope dictate state law. Otherwise they are probably very similar.
Except the Pope is an Infidel.
There are also a lot of non-Catholic Infidels in this world. The President
is one. Israelis for another. Dealing with Muslims is not like dealing with
Unitarians.
1/30/91 #4 Late Check-in
The world cut into my war today -
things I'm previously engaged to do.
It's already after dark & all I've
caught is ten minutes of news.
Any significance to the feeling
that the war situation would go
haywire without my attention?
It seems to be rolling on course.
By this time of evening I'm generally
thoroughly briefed. As I write this
I'm rolling tape of the morning's
briefing from the British Military.
Facts, figures, facts, figures, attitude.
In one ear & out the otherp;p;wonder
if the Dicator gave us any footage today?
The PM of GB & the U.S.VP
on the steps of 10 Downing:
PM: The general strategy of the campaign has
been pretty clear. It's pretty clear what we
intend to do in future & we will stick to that.
VP: There is strong & overwhelming
support for the President & our policy.
The American people, perhaps contrary
to international public opinion,
have a great deal of patience.
Commentator: We heard very little new
from the Prime Minister & the Vice
President after their conversations
at the Prime Minister's residence.
The Saudis claim victory in Khafji,
first ground engagement of the war.
Reports of a coup attempt within
the Iraqi airforce probably not true.
Probably some significance to the fact
that senior officials have not been
speculating as to the motivations for
the ninety aircraft which flew to Iran.
Learning how to read what isn't there.
1/31/91 #1 Day Sixteen Begins
A ten mile column of Iraqi tanks
snakes toward the Saudi border.
After a two day lull, an Iraqi Scud
explodes on the Arab West Bank. Why?
Beirut bidding to join the fun
by peppering the "so called"
Israeli security buffer zone in
Southern Lebanon with artillery.
"The Iraqis are not losers & seem to be
able to play their cards rather astutely,"
says the French Ambassador to the U.S.
Irritating pseudo-Wagnerian music
between news & commercials.
Kitsch detail of Television War.
Is it true that Saddam would hold out
to the last Iraqi merely to gain headlines
embarrassing to the West? Or is this an
inscrutably Arabic stroke of consummate
strategy - to sit still doing nothing?
Allies win by pulverizing his army.
He wins by staying in it until they do.
What a nice war. Everybody wins!
If the Iraqi military is destroyed,
Iran, playing the neutrality game,
comes out a significant winner,
possessed of Iraq's air force,
-which the Dictator handed them of
his own freewill for safekeeping-
plus greatly enhanced sovereignty.
Assad is in the coalition for
calculating reasons. Iraq is
mucho pain in the neck to him
& he will gladly hold our coats
while we do what he cannot.
Mid-East balance of power
was abnormal in the mid '80's.
Three of the players were out.
Iraq & Iran neutralized their
forces in mutual warfare &
Egypt was out of the Arab League
after the Camp David Accord.
Assad in Syria & Khaddafi in Libya
had the stage to themselves awhile
but with the Iran-Iraq war over &
with Egypt back in the Arab League,
Libya & Syria must once again resign
themselves to lurk on the sidelines.
1/31/91 #2 Talking About It
Talked to a few people
outside my household
about the war today,
only the second time
in these two weeks,
sequestered as I am,
using the creation of
this document as focus
& semi-excuse for total
absorption in the subject.
Listening more than usual
to the opinions of others.
Since my own seem prone
to fluxuate with fresh
dis-information, I find
it difficult to keep any.
Opinions, that is.
I appear to harbor a vague
semi-resentful conviction
that the war isn't something
about which my opinions matter.
I fit into that tiny segment
designated as don't know
in the flood of opinion polls.
I've never been consulted
on an opinion poll p; perhaps
were I to move to Iowa -
Sometimes it seems the warriors
know what they're up to,
in a larger sense, other times
war seems an ineluctable process -
the hammer fell, the bell was struck
& the bird flew out of the clanger
where it had built a nest & was
hatching eggs in a season of no bells.
Just as there are
ghosts in England
& wee folk in Erin,
there is fate in Arabia.
Those who know prophecy
act to insure that things go
down according to what is
written & incidentally
cover themselves in glory.
- a quest for transformation,
the fruit of ageless enduring,
reward for eating thousands of
years of sand while dreaming
of opulent Felaheen Heavens -
Can they calibrate that
into azimuth & deflection;
learn to lob a shell
where it does some good?
1/31/91 #3 Counter to Intelligence#
What is the Dictator smiling about
in the recent television footage of
himself & his cronies in high humor?
How does he continue to survive
despite intense aerial bombardment?
Not only survive but mount attacks?
The ancient art of deception?
To hide the true & show the false -
8 satellites constantly monitor
the region & can read a license
plate from space. So Iraq buries
communication links under sand.
They had plenty of time while
diplomatic channels were perused,
according to one pundit cynic,
who further leads us to understand
that as far back as '82 the U.S.
provided Iraq with intelligence
reports, informed them of their
vulnerabilities, taught them
reconnaissance techniques and
thoroughly advised them on
how to prepare for such a war.
After all, the Soviets were
the enemy then & backed Iran
in the old neighborhood dispute.
But now the cold war is over.
We are further advised by our
impeccable counselor that reports
of damage to civilian Baghdad are
exaggerated by a bunch of soreheads.
Renewed assaults on the Saudi border
despite earlier claims of Allied victory.
12 Marines died yesterday, unclear how.
Confusion & ambiguity reign as
large Iraqi convoys head south.
Even a minor victory is important.
Tired & demoralized, the Dictator's
troops may need to try something -
anything - is one general's analysis.
14 U.S. airmen missing
after a transport goes down
attempting to prevent the
columns of Iraqi convoys
from reaching the battlefield.
Tank & artillery duels.
"We do not conclude anything
significant is happening."
2/1/91 #1 Outburst
Standing on rubble, a Cruise
missile roaring overhead as
though on cue, an enraged
woman addresses millions of
viewers around the globe.
Dressed in an incongruous
white track suit, shaking an
angry index finger as though
at a flock of naughty children
who've just broken a window,
she harangues the camera -
"Mea culpa! Mea culpa!
All of you are responsible!
All of you!
Bombing the people!
Like a pack of boys!
As if we are red Indians!
We are human beings!
Who made this area like this?
Who is to blame in this area?
It's the West!
Mea culpa!
All of you and
the press as well!
You think it's like a game!
It is not a game!
Not with human life!
WITH HUMAN LIFE!
Children and women as well!
What is this?
The Roman Empire?!"
To offset the force of this
it is explained patiently:
"Allied Military officials
maintain they are doing
all they can to avoid
hitting civilian targets.
They suggest that Iraqi
efforts to shoot down the
missiles may be sending
the weapons off course."
2/1/91 #2 Battle for Khafji
Confusion about just what
the hell's going on. Iraqis
claim they've pulled back
across the border. The AP
reports Iraqi tanks crossed
over the Saudi border 50
miles west of Khafji &
that fighting continues.
U.S. briefers say they have
no details on such a move.
Inside Khafji, charred
Iraqi personnel carriers
contain the incinerated
remains of their crews.
Shock to finally see corpses
after 2 weeks of antiseptic
reporting. Does this mean
we're being prepared for
the actualities of the
coming ground offensive?
Body of a soldier against a wall,
head & shoulders missing,
rendered doubly eerie by the
green iridescence of moonlight
captured through a night lens.
Snipers roam the abandoned town.
Wounded prisoners,
filmed by French TV,
lie thin, apathetic,
bleeding & arrested.
500 captured.
300 killed.
Allied forces say they don't see
any military sense to the assault.
2/1/91 #3 Alpher Talks Strategy
(a précis)
Two hypothesis of Iraqi tactics based
on the assumption the Dictaror knows
he will lose the war militarily.
He'll try to wrest a political victory by
drawing Allied forces into the land war
before they're fully prepared & before
Iraqi forces in Kuwait have been fully
softened up, registering tactical gains
by causing heavy losses & taking prisoners.
Alternatively, given the diplomatic
activity taking place in the UN & in
Tehran, regardless of what he may
feel about the recent U.S.- Soviet
joint communique, he may be thinking
of accepting a cease fire & withdrawing
from Kuwait, but, before doing so,
to achieve something he could claim
to be a military victory, might grab
some Saudi Territory or cause fairly
heavy Allied losses, nevertheless
quitting the field with a good part
of his army intact so he can hold
his head high & claim he is acting
from strength rather than waiting
a few weeks more and withdrawing
due to a position of weakness.
He understood what sort of war
he was going into at the start.
He understands what sort of land
war he's attempting in Kuwait
& that he's not going to win it.
No matter his losses, by surviving
with his regime intact, he hopes to
appear to the Arab world as a hero
who stood up to a world coalition,
to the forces of both imperialism
& Zionism, presenting a challenge
to the Arab masses & especially
the Arab rulers siding against him.
Well, if he never considered these
off the wall strategies before, he's
kicking them over now, since it's
well known he watches CNN in his
hideaway deep underground. More than
likely, he's being force fed some
options in case he has none of his own.
Paradox prevails.
2/1/91 #4 Day Seventeen Begins
Turned on the radio passing
through the kitchen to put
the baby to bed & heard
about various groups getting
together to protest the war.
An AF of L workers rally.
A candlelight vigil for
Valentine's Day.
My head suddenly took a full
tilt & none of it figured.
It all suddenly seemed
on a par with "Citizens
Against the Stars," like
being against the ocean or
the storms that rage upon it.
In a moment of outstanding
clarity which I cannot and
will not justify, I realize
that war is a natural force.
I can't rationalize such
a statement - no more
than rationalize war.
Just suddenly seemed so
obvious & apparent that
no, we don't want it -
it happens, we blame
one another for it,
congratulate one another
during the apparent
pauses in its endlessness.
War is an irreducible
component of change -
runs counter to, but is
the product, of reason.
If radishes could reason
they would go to war. In
our collective megalomania.
we believe we either
start or stop them.
Skirmishes, perhaps,
are amenable to control.
War? I don't think so.
It keeps its own schedule.
I wonder how many others
had that realization today,
faced with the mounting
paradoxicality attended
by the chatter of pundits?
2/1/91 #5 The Choice
The choice now that
even CNN has put
the war on hold is
extended coverage
of an L.A. plane crash
& folks filter back
to normal work lives,
wishing they could
watch the war but
economically unable
to spend the time
(the time, the time)
it takes to do so -
the choice, as I
was saying before I
interrupted myself,
is whether to take
this moment to make
a clean break with war
& get back to normal
enterprises. Surprise!
There are no normal
enterprises. This really
is a war. It won't sink in.
Except in certain small
moments resembling alarm
where it becomes very real
& I'm left in outrage or
bemusement prepared for
another day of propaganda
waged by structuralists with
unerring miscalculation on
both the home & battlefront.
Sifted for a grain of sense
it seems to suggest that palm
trees don't grow in pavement.
2/1/91 #6 Vice-President's Update
(situation, extract & commentary)
Rained like hell all night &
continues to fall straight down
in solid sheets this morning.
Heard it was predicted due to
interference in the jet stream
by radiation from the Chernobyl
meltdown half a dozen years ago.
Such reasoning is frowned upon
by more responsible forecasters.
The Vice President's update
for this Groundhog Day 1991:
"Weeks & months - not years.
This is not going to be another
Viet Nam. It will be brought
to its proper conclusion,
hopefully sooner than later."
If the groundhog comes out
& isn't scared back into his
hole by the sight of his shadow,
Spring will be due very soon.
"We have guided munitions. We
have cruise missiles. We have
weapons that can get to the exact
target with pinpoint accuracy. We
also have carpet bombing, we also
have a lot of bombs that are being
uh - dropped. The difficulty is,
the enemy is dug in & you simply
cannot see them day or night. If
the bombs don't score a direct hit
they can survive. We've been doing
this for days now & I would imagine
that if a ground war comes we will be
able to conclude it quite successfully.
"We are remarkably on schedule.
Viet Nam was thirteen years. This
is going to be weeks & months.
People, quite frankly, were very
patient during Viet Nam. Not only
are they very patient with this one
but they have strong support for
what the President is doing.
"Just as soon as we put out some information
that may be an honest mistake all of a sudden
it will be thought of as disinformation & then
parallels to Viet Nam will be made & that's one
of the lessons of Viet Nam. Our military is being
very careful with the information they're giving out.
"I can't imagine the president would use
chemical or nuclear weapons under any
circumstances. I can't imagine it.
But you never rule any options out -"
Oops. Did he say what I think he said?
2/2/91 #1 Marines at Khafji
Chanting Allah Akbar
victorious Saudis parade
their nation's flag through
the streets of Khafji.
During the battle some Marines,
trapped in a building during a
reconnaissance mission, had
this to say:
Q: Was there a time you thought
you were going to lose your life?
"Oh yeah," says Lance Cpl. Cooper.
"The whole time it was going on."
Lance Cpl. McNamee says,
"I was scared the whole time
it was going on - I mean,
you can't be in a situation
like that & not be scared
but the main thing we were
worried about was doing the job
& getting out in one piece so
we could come back & do it again."
Cpl. Ingram says, "I'd be lying if I
didn't say the thought of dying didn't
come across my mind but I didn't think
about that the whole time. I was just
thinking about what we should be doing."
Cpl. Brown, who took some
shrapnel in the leg, says
the outcome he wants is to
"see Iraq crushed. To tell
the truth, we're going to
stay here till it's done."
Q: Are you willing to give your life?
Brown thinks it over, replies
"I'm not going to go out and
deliberately get myself killed
but I'll be in situations
where I could lose my life.
I don't like the idea of death
- but I can accept it."
2/2/91 #2 Day Eighteen Begins
(extracts, quotes & comments)
Many military members
are highly upset at the
good footage Saddam has
finally managed to provide us.
They're particularly pissed
at CNN for running the stories
over & over & over & over at
all hours of the day & night.
Not only does it upset the viewers
it may be sending the wrong message
to millions of people in the Arab world.
Funny, we don't often think of it
as an 'Arab World' do we? More like
a collection of exotic little hot shots
fond of shooting off their mouths
& mounting suicide missions.
Unlike earlier wars, we're bombing
with extraordinary accuracy. Smart
bombs hit within five feet of target
while unguided bombs on Smart airplanes
seem to be averaging within forty feet.
This war is the best, as far as
minimizing non-military targets.
There will always be bombs going astray,
especially if they try to shoot them down.
Please view all of this damage footage (Iraq's)
with considerable skepticism because
what is seen
may not be what's
really happening.
Imagine that.
How do they
lie with such
clear panning
shots of
utter chaos?
2/2/91 #3 Lull
Radio Iraq said today
they'll fight to the end
using everything from
kitchen knives to weapons
of mass destruction.
Propaganda party on CNN,
courtesy of 24 journalists
of all nations let into
Baghdad 2 days ago ---
"The Dictator seems content
to play the violin. The
playing is convincing,
it's the human hair bow
that's so distracting."
"I think he over-estimates
the power of the people
of a mega-democracy to
influence it's immediate
course of action. In the
long run it gets it together
but by then it's another war."
In the lull between
significant operations,
or at least new phases,
I've read over my
sketches of previous days.
Things that seemed novel
are forgotten now, like
the industrial strength
security at the Super Bowl.
A few things remain engraved.
Oil spill as a weapon.
There's another one today although
it fails to raise much interest.
Been there, seen that.
The Baghdad raid televised from
the Hotel Al Rasheed. The first
Scuds to hit Tel Aviv. Dictator's
live interview with Peter Arnett.
Or the omnipresent paranoia that
the Dictator could inflict
un-named terrors upon humanity.
Many were apprehensive for awhile
but widescale world terrorism has
failed to materialize. The Muslim
world only tolerates him because
they must,, given a choice between
the Dictator & the West. It feels
like he's washed up. Expressions
of Allied military confidence have
shaded into modesty as though on cue.
They admit he may have some military
sense & that his troops are not all
that tacky. Is this to appease him?
An idea sent down from headquarters?
Quiet before the storm?
Tomorrow may tell the tale.
Is he really going to make
the Allies fight a ground war?
He should only try & stop them!
2/2/91 #4 Sunday Morning Update
41,000 sorties flown to date.
Officials confirm seven marines
were killed by friendly fire.
Also confirm some of the 1st
U.S. ground deaths in the war
were caused by our own missiles.
The term friendly fire appears.
A B-52 bomber crashed in the ocean
possibly due to mechanical failure.
Three crew members were rescued,
three are missing, presumed drowned.
A U.S. Marine Cobra helicopter crashed
on a non-combat mission killing two.
Allied commanders believe Iraqi
troops may be regrouping after
defeat at Kafji but no reports
of any movement within Kuwait.
Scud debris injured 29 people
near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Traffic picking in downtown
Baghdad streets despite threat
of continued bombing raids.
Schools remained closed.
Water is scarce - many residents
forced to use the Tigris river
for washing & drinking.
They seem oddly cheerful, withall.
What kind of propaganda is that?
Allied Forces continue to enjoy Air,
Naval & Moral supremacy in the area.
On the subject of Iran's intentions
vis a vis the Iraq airforce sequestered
in their country & their assurance that
they won't allow them back into the war,
the U.S. Ambassador to Britain says
"I think that the Iranians are
practiced, if not talented, liars.
I don't know if I'd trust them
as far as I could throw them."
2/3/91 #1 Code of Conduct#
(summation of daily press briefing)
Nothing to report today.
At least nothing I'm privy to.
Briefings have been blacked out
after the first half hour at the
request of the Saudi print media,
or some such, whatever that means,
leaving me to muse on generalities.
According to latest interpretations,
the Code of Conduct requiring
POW's to give only their name,
rank, serial number & date
of birth is only a guideline.
Implementation is not humanly possible
in light of what has been
learned in the last wars.
Most POW's don't resist
questioning for very long.
Given enough physical abuse &
torture almost anyone will talk.
Those who won't, don't come
home alive. Once a POW breaks
he is overcome by feelings of guilt.
Maybe that's why that Marine said
yesterday that he'd rather die than
be captured. No one can be prepared.
For death, yes, but not for questioning
under excessive duress. There's no more
training for that than for real battle.
The framers of the Geneva convention
covering personal conduct of prisoners
of war was intended only as an idealistic
ethical standard to which prisoners could
aspire & doesn't carry the force of law.
I'd add that depth of conviction of
the righteousness of the cause in
commission of which the prisoner
was captured may have something
to do with how much he's willing to
put up with before he spills the beans.
2/3/91 #2 General Schwarzkopf's Estimation
(an extract)
I don't discount anything
Saddam Hussein says.
He's demonstrated capability
for the most grievous acts
against human beings.
A mass murderer by
any definition, he's
gassed his own people.
I won't be surprised
if he uses chemical or
biological weapons, not
easy things to weaponeer.
Guilty of gross over-exaggeration
in the past, I like to console
myself that his threats are
possibly just more of the same.
Let's face it, what have
they done to date?
Airforce has done nothing.
Navy has done absolutely
nothing. The airforce has
abandoned the army on
the ground & run away
to a neutral country.
They've fired a few Scuds
most of which have been
intercepted, the rest doing
insignificant damage.
They've mounted one small
probing attack (Khafji)
with very heavy losses -
that's not exactly
a distinguished list
of accomplishments.
On the other hand, what does
Saddam say they've done?
Incinerated Tel Aviv. Shot down
two hundred American aircraft.
Glorious victory in - so on -
either he's not getting very
good reports or he's not
listening very well or he's
deliberately distorting results.
I don't pay very much attention
to Saddam's interviews, frankly,
I don't pay much attention to
TV news. I kinda like to think
I have better information.
2/3/91 #3 Finnish Editor Criticizes U.S. Media
(an extract)
The threshold of war is lowered
by presenting a picture of the
clinically clean war. American
media has accepted a very tight
censorship. It is not a military
but a political censorship furthering
the aims of the administration by
making the war look like a nice
picnic on the sand. CNN presents it
as an entertainment, a clean family
show with no bodies on the sand.
Like always, the U.S. media rallies
around the flag in a manner which
astonishes many Europeans. They
seem to have completely forgotten
any other events in the world such
as events in the Baltics. The shallow
coverage of American television only
improves our profile as journalists
because we can present the analysis
in depth which people really want.
I know there are many distinguished
journalists involved but I object to
the way it is run in the programming
itself. Decisions are being made in
the higher echelons of the network.
2/3/91 #4 Day Eighteen Begins
The situation on the ground
is said to be quiet. Occasional
cruise missile over Baghdad;
a Scud or so for the Saudis.
Maybe one into Israel, I forget.
Another U.S. 'copter just went
down. Not combat related.
Nevertheless down.
Sunday sort of coverage on TV.
Lots of people mouthing off,
armchair Field Marshalls &
commentators talking in those
tiresome commentator tones.
Peaceful pro-Iraq demonstration
in Rabat, Morocco. 300,000.
"Assassin Bush & Mitterand
his dog follows his donkey."
Didn't watch the All-Star game.
With a war on I don't need
extra post-season football.
We got all the football we need.
We got a whole load of football.
Not too much on terrorism
making it onto television.
They report it but they
don't re-run it. No need to
get us going ballistic over that.
Nice shots of planes n' things
against the grand Arabian sky
to slip in front of commercials.
A good day for shots like that.
Some decent color in the clouds.
I see no reason not to include
the speeches & the stories
as they present themselves.
If tellingly said, let it stand.
There is no metaphor for war.
Think about it, there really isn't.
Only synecdoche, partial images.
What I'm being led to believe,
not factive verity, is the substance
of what I mean to document.
Starting to keep tapes, erasing
old movies to provide stock.
Probably never watch them
unless I start to get sentimental
about these days and nights
spent deconstructing Television War.
2/3/91 #5 On Hold
Another morning of watching
current developments until
a certain saturation is reached
& I begin to write. Fill &
empty, fill & empty. Is it
time to switch to a policy of
containment, now that the
front seems vaguely 'on hold'?
Is it a logical break point?
Is it time to say no land war?
Pipe bombs found attached
to a million gallon tank
of methanol in Norfolk.
Phone call threat says
there's another one but
so far they can't find it.
First domestic terrorism?
Battleship Missouri fired
it's big guns for the first
time since WWII.
1. Pacifists
2. Anti-U.S.
3. Pro-Palestinian
Linda Chavez, reporting
from Israel, says these
are the three categories
protesters break down into.
What, no rationalists?
She thinks the war is going
so well it would be wrong to
pull out now. The question
of stationing troops to act
as a containing force might
not be an appropriate one.
Oh yeah, sez who?
No pie for you, Linda.
Go directly to the sink
& stick your finger
down your throat.
Investors are very happy.
Dow Jones up 29.5 points.
More banks lowering
prime lending rates but
Dollar opened at a record low
against the German Mark.
Oil prices continue to fall.
Joy in Mudville.
2/4/91 #1 Propaganda Release
Another of those heart wrenching
propaganda things from Baghdad
shows conditions in a hospital
rendered seriously lame due to
Allied raids on water supplies,
electricity & public utilities.
Forced to run on two hours
of generator power each day.
"The babies they need the
special care, premature,
& now this unit has been
closed & the children
which were there all died
because incubators were
off & most of the mothers
taken their children away
& they came back dead."
Economic embargoes have
caused growing shortages
of drugs such as antibiotics,
a dwindling supply of CSF
needles for spinal taps,
lack of reagents & etc.
Shot of a baby in poor shape.
Big black eyes taking it all in.
"This baby is now dying.
Respiration is now very
slow & slow pulses.
There will be some kind of
peace, we hope & pray."
Cut to a shot of a sad looking
woman, presumably Mother.
We of course remind our
viewers that reports coming
out of Iraq are cleared by
the Iraqi government censors.
2/4/91 #2 Iran Makes a Bid
The U.S. reacts cautiously toward
Iranian proposals to mediate peace.
The State Department & Pentagon don't
want to hear about it - but they'll
listen so long as there's no funny stuff.
The administration is playing it down -
should anyone contrive a diplomatic
resolution that achieves the objective
of getting Iraq the hell out of Kuwait,
well & good, "but we frankly don't
expect it," says Defense Sec Cheney.
Turns out, President Rasfanjani
didn't exactly say he wanted to
mediate, only to meet with both
sides. There's as yet no sign
Iran's religious leaders are
willing to attempt any sort of
transaction with the Great Satan
& what they say, of course, goes.
Meanwhile Allied bombings of Chemical
& biological supply depots may be
causing widespread contamination
of nerve & mustard gas & Anthrax.
Traces of neuro-toxins have been
detected in clouds coming from Iraq.
Some contamination is expected from
the meltdown of Iraq's small nuclear
reactors but only locals need worry.
I get the funny hunch that people
in high places are not over-anxious
to end hostilities. Just a feeling,
mind you - how they seem to
hackle at this & that, caustic
remarks that exhibit truculence
where an attitude of exhaustive
exploration of alternatives might
seem a more convincing stance.
Must be careful of these opinions.
Open the oven too soon the cake falls.
But such hunches help convince
me that a summarizing document,
such as this concatenation, might
help serve as an indication of what
the public was given to know -
of the manner in which it was given
to be understood - when this war
is no longer anything but folk tale.
If I didn't
believe that,
I'd stop now.
But I do,
and so cannot.
2/4/91 #3 No Omelette w/o Breaking Eggs#
Did I mention there's been
one Allied bombing sortie for
every minute of the war so far?
Iraq has reportedly started
setting up military headquarters
in schools & mosques to take
advantage of Allied restraint
in bombing such facilities.
Baghdad still insists we're
targeting civilian positions
and we continue to deny it
after yet another massive
bombardment of the city.
As ground war time approaches,
Iraq is beginning to move its
command & control facilities
into heavily populated civilian
areas in Kuwait. Allies, of course,
will not be targeting those areas
but will exercise the same care
& caution which characterizes
the bombardment of Baghdad.Hmm.
Meanwhile the largest oil slick
the world has ever known is
moving toward Bahrain &
may arrive in 5 or 6 days.
Keep an eye on that one.
2/4/91 #4 Day Twenty Begins
Living with
this whore for
20 days now.
At 1st I thought
she was a lady.
Excitement can
do strange
things to your
perspective.
Networks over to talk now.
New national pastime
is following the war.
Comments growing
sophisticated. Opinions
cover more issues.
Settling down for a war.
Not the two week farce
of extravagant victory
promised, though they
point to their disclaimers,
modest enough at the time,
& say they said otherwise.
But everyone knows otherwise.
They promised us a short one
with satisfaction at the climax.
2/4/91 #5 Art of Harping
Thoughtful people asking
thoughtful questions about
a deeply absorbing subject -
quizzing the rock that rose
from the sea where gulls
dart snatching scraps as
we stirred in wonderment.
Nothing more today
could be news. The
footage was too good.
Its evasions were
too obvious. Its truths
too tired to retell.
Why harp on the same
subjects? Anyone who
believes is out harping
himself - which is why
there's no one to listen.
People who are not
even able to believe
in God are caught out
believing in this one
though it's face is
no more apparent,
and, like the Latter,
ubiquitous.
Been out a bit lately.
People don't talk about it
right off the bat because
they're not quite sure
where others stand on it
until after exchange of a
few probing signals.
I'm not alone in this.
Once begun, almost anyone
seems to know plenty,
especially those
who profess to have
stopped following it.
I applaud their decision.
I can't explain what I
find so fascinating in it.
An attraction to the real
- or an addiction to crime?
2/4/91 #6 Situational Talk
A little situational talk here.
We're looking at all these
reasons to delay the attack
by ground. An early start
could cost casualties due
to unpreparedness, turning
off public support, plus
Allies can use more time
to cut enemy supply lines
& destroy stocks of food,
fuel, water & munitions.
Necessary ground fighting
equipment is still in transit
or not yet adapted to the desert.
Newer troops need more time
to train & groove into their units.
On the other hand, Iraqis are
evolving tactics to operate
despite Allied air supremacy.
Khafji was an example &
slowed our preparations.
Studies show troops are
likely to lose their edge after
six months in the desert &
we don't have enough trained
reserves to replace them, not
to mention it's going to start
getting hot along mid-March.
Arabs are anxious to quit by
then for Ramadan. Good idea
all around if it can be done.
Come heat of Summer them
boys be popping like flies on a
skillet. Hell favors the locals.
2/4/91 #7 Blackout?
Watched the coverage.
Even read the paper.
Either nothing is
happening or
everything is.
Is this a news blackout?
Not if you search hard enough.
Something filters
through the sediment.
Lots of name calling,
merited in my opinion.
We're all a bunch of
stinkers, including me,
waiting for something
more drastic than the
last outrage to happen.
Lots of death & injury
in Baghdad last week.
Hundreds, not thousands.
Hundreds, not scores.
"We try to get all our
bombs on target," says
a Brit pilot. "If they hit
civilians, that's tough."
No pie for him
although I admit
a little frankness
is almost refreshing
at this point in the
sanctimonious chatter.
A strange music.
Easy to see from the map,
why Iraq wants to treble
it's inconsiderable access
to the Gulf by taking Kuwait.
Saudi Arabia & Iran seem
to have it all between them.
Such attempts at readjustment
would seem eventually inevitable.
110 Iraq planes gone to Iran now.
Iraq radio broadcasting cryptic
messages which appear to be
instructions to international
terrorists to get the lead out.
Israel has lifted the curfew
on Palestinians in selected
cities, such as Bethlehem,
with a stern warning to
keep their noses clean.
Tomorrow they may start
busing some to their jobs
in Israel. It's getting
expensive to feed them.
2/5/91 #1 Day Twenty-One Begins
(with weary cheek in tongue)
Iraqi military nears defeat as
Allies re-arm for ground war.
As soon as we figure out
what we mean by winning
we're gonna go in & do it.
Allies hit the Dictator's
home town today. Did they
knock over the old malt shoppe
& the drive-in movie where
the SOB learned to neck -
blow up the old schoolhouse
& the little white chapel
beneath the spreading palm?
This one's for the propaganda barrage!
This one's for the fifteen sons
of bitches who raped that Kuwaiti
nurse we all heard about!
This one's for shooting two
boys in front of their mother!
For the black & blue POWs!
We know it ain't part of the war
but this one is for gassing the Kurds!
Last but not least for bombing Tel Aviv!
The rest of our battle plans have
to do with military objectives;
this little side mission is
just our way of saying
Up Yours! Have a rotten day.
His window is very small.
He must surrender soon if
he is going to do it at all.
He can have it if he wants it.
Twenty thousand times his
weight in corpses. His bid.
The historians are going to call
this the six week war p;p;or maybe
the eight week war p;p;possibly
the quite reasonable time war.
Anyway it won't be no
thirteen year fiasco like
the other war. No way.
It'll be a surrender party.
2/5/91 #2 Beginning Week Four
Ending of the third week has
been without defined features.
Am I noticing a coronal effect
from occupying an oblique
proximity to the sun of war?
The shock is wearing off now.
I recognized shock in myself
only through familiarity with
the phenomenon. There are
few extrinsic clues available
to the subjectivity. Shock is
not an emotion. It is more of
an adjacent dimension you
inhabit when the conditions
of your normal existence are
changed negatively & abruptly.
You want to know everything
about what caused it - or as
little as is safe to define it.
All responses are abnormal.
People say & do strangeness.
Are given to flights of fantasy.
Attribute supernatural power
to the agency which caused it.
But soon enough the grifter
is back to grifting,
the tinker to tinking
& all of the spotted sheep
blend back into the fold.
The war becomes the business
of those who are paid
or made to fight it, who,
when they get home, wish
only to learn to forget it.
Another generation of those!
More to know what the decent
folks at home don't know or
want to believe; to walk the
streets with a damaged look,
thoughts far in the clouds
of a foreign land & time.
The beat goes on.
2/5/91 #3 The Great Satan
Last night, on my television screen,
I saw the horror show side of America
in the guise of an elected official,
the smirking self righteousness of the
seasoned back room dealer, plain talker,
vote gleaner, so certain his perception
is entirely correct he sees no reason
not to use atomic weapons to resolve
the situation.
His assurance & demeanor gave the lie
to the proposition that the Dictator
is the major monster of this war - he
is only one among many. The congressman
slathered the airwaves with self serving
pragmatism bordering on lunacy.
The sense of keen pleasure with which
he made his obscene pronouncement at
first incited incredulity, then appalled.
Is this us?
Is this our side?
Are we that?
How many like him
authorized this war
& as many folk to
fight it as strategy
requires? A million
more if need be so?
So certain is he of his rectitude,
the congressman from Indiana
would destroy the righteous with
the reprobate, whomsoever should
display themselves beneath the
jurisdiction of his nuclear light,
yea, and snigger at their plight.
Is this is the Great Satan that the
Ayatollahs fear? I fear with them.
2/6/91 #1 Flood of Doubt
Today the doubts start flooding in.
From humble-seeming admissions
that the Iraqi troops were not so
tacky, revision upward begins,
either at insistence of reporters
or to start preparing us for phase
two of the war. Turns out we haven't
knocked off that many Republican
Guards & they're a lot better
provisioned than previously thought.
Ham hocks, Halvah & Hershey bars
enough for 6 months, by estimates,
hid in places bombers can't detect.
"The task is formidable," says
the Secretary of State, "and no
one should underestimate
Saddam Hussein's capabilities."
With a couple dozen coalition partners,
half a million troops in the field &
congressional permission for another
million, it seems no one is doing so.
How has this managed to escape us?
Another layer of disinformation falls
away, no longer useful to the powers
who shape this situation for the curious.
Starting to look like air raids aren't
all that effective in hitting them
where they really hurt. Looks like
the Dictator may have conceded us
Air Supremacy, knew he was deficient
in that department before he started,
didn't bother to respond by air or sea,
got his jets out of the way, sent his
ships next door for safekeeping and
just keeps digging his fortifications
while we squander bombs and rage
like eagles in the atmosphere. To
pass the time waiting for the ground
war to commence, he shunts a couple
dozen pieces of antique missileware at
Israel, more an insult than an act of war.
I think this is an accurate summary of
the strange new face of today's reality.
Another, doubtless, lies right behind it.
How many layers
of lies ulimately
constitute the truth?
2/6/91 #2 Day Twenty-Two Begins
Iraq broke diplomatic relations
with The United States & six
other leaders of the Allies today.
Two planes were shot down
heading to Iran for sanctuary.
Hussein of Jordan denounced
the war against brotherly Iraq.
Thank you. Now let's get down
to what's really bugging me.
Tightening of coverage was very
noticeable today. U.S. briefings
now triurnal with the second
& third closed to live reportage.
The reporters & correspondents
are said to favor this arrangement,
feeling they can get more candid
assessments if the cameras are off
and the Pentagon need no longer
concoct a full convincing hand
to show a viewing public every day.
Today's available briefing dealt
with the planes shot down and
rumors of Iraq's supply capability.
The usual post-show critique,
often lengthy & informative,
collapsed to a few brief statements
of events. There was really nothing
more to condense or elucidate.
Their gain is my loss.
I feel forcibly removed
one step further from
the fountainhead of
critical information I've
come to feel it's my right
to receive. Limited &
circumspect as it was,
there is now less of it.
Or maybe the two events were
merely coincidental. A day of
slim news plus slim coverage.
Propaganda > Disinformation
Less information > No information.
In this country you cannot shut
down the presses but you can
provide them with disappearing ink.
2/6/91 #3 Scraps of Today's Briefing
(extract of General Neal's talk)
I don't feel there's a discrepancy
between what's being reported
& what we've been telling you.
We're as careful as we can be.
We never said there'd be
no collateral damage.
War is a dirty business.
No, we're not too concerned
about Iraq moving military
operations into "no strike"
zones in Baghdad. Plenty of
other things for us to attack.
It's a target rich environment.
24 hour air strikes
for 22 days now.
50,000 plus sorties,
each carefully planned.
The Republican Guards are a
terrific organization, well
organized & well equipped.
They've been bloodied before
& have the experience of
combat under their belt.
Having said that, I think
we can well handle them.
Regarding friendly fire
casualties, we instituted
some new procedures &
we just kinda restated the
obvious to our leadership -
they have to be extra careful.
It's a very dynamic process,
war fighting is, & it's not
something you get out of a
video game or a comic book.
2/7/91 #1 On the Poetic Front
A radio war is going on
between Iraq & the Saudis
lasting several hours a night
on their respective stations.
Verses are written
& read extolling the
leaders & cursing
their enemies. Saudi
verses say that Saddam
is a bad neighbor, one
who will not share water.
This is a considerable
bad thing for one Arab
to say of another.
The Iraqis counter
with verse suggesting
that King Fahd has
lost the power to
differentiate between
his wives & his daughters.
2/7/91 #2 Day Twenty-Three Begins#
Skip the planes shot down,
POW count & other malleable
statistics of war & get to
something I'm equipped to
talk about with reasonable
expertise: how it affects me.
In Time of War, as in less
catastrophic periods of change,
grab the lessons on the fly,
as though it were going to stop
tomorrow & the chance to observe
native nature reflected in
your personal pocket mirror,
unclouded by accustomed breath,
withdrawn. Then, it may be,
you've done the best that can
be done by a three legged dog
that speaks in scripture with
the voice of a drill sergeant
resounding from caves of
burning sulfur with teletype
rhythms of a strange music
and reedy horns of glass.
Art is a peacetime enterprise.
Re-assessing goals in dawning light
of apparent extended length of the
conflict, refiguring them in order
to continue - deciding whether I'm
writing out of sheer obsession what
was first conceived in liberty -
whether it makes any difference so
long as something basic is learned,
recorded, and sent out as a warning.
Another maniac in a maniac's war.
Hang in there for the ground action.
I know it'll be swell. Shock galore.
Trenchant horror on which cameras
can & must dutifully dwell. Finally,
War on Our Shores, via cable. Will
they black it out when they decide
we can take no more? After all, they
can't recycle the civilian population
Stateside like a burned out Bombardier.
The human psyche is more open
to manipulation than pride allows
the targets of propaganda to believe.
The talking head on my TV
knows more than I; knows
what it can & cannot say,
the politics of the network.
How much freedom is it
reasonable to sacrifice
considering the possibility
that the war is just?
How much is borrowed for
the moment, subject to
return when fighting ends?
That may well depend on
how much we noticed was
taken so we'll know what
to get sticky about later.
2/7/91 #3 Front Line Prisoner Camp
It's near the front. When you're
captured or surrender, you come
here for processing. First you're
searched then segregated, by rank
or disposition, in one of four
10 x 20 ft holes dug in the desert
floor surrounded by razor wire.
Each hole holds 100 prisoners.
You only spend 24 hours here but
the memory should last a lifetime.
What do you expect being an enemy?
You will be handcuffed & forced
to remain seated unless you need
to go to the toilet which you will
certainly need to do eating 3 meals
a day after only 1 a day for months.
You will remain silent.
You will remain sitting.
Search, segregate, silence,
speed & safeguard. The 5 S's.
Get you to the rear away from
the action as soon as possible
to make room for more EPW's.
No facilities for warmth,
shelter or protection from
chemical attack. No blankets
or gas masks but we'll try to
find something for you to hold
over your head if it gets wet
& treat you the best we can
consistent with not caring if
you live or die. You will soon
gather that this is not the
little house on the prairie,
which, the National Enquirer
reports, is among your leader's
very favorite television programs.
2/7/91 #4 Pep Talk
(an extract)
"Make no doubt about it
Saddam Hussein & his
henchman will be held
personally accountable
for their vicious acts"
says VP Dan Quayle,
addressing makers of the
Tomahawk Cruise missile.
"The USA is a peace loving
nation," he says. "We didn't
want this war. We didn't
go looking for a fight. I can
tell you President George
Bush pursued every possible
option of peace that there was.
At every time the President
offered an option of peace
to Saddam Hussein it was
rejected. He didn't choose
peace. He chose war. And
now that war is begun I'm
sure that perhaps Saddam
Hussein hopes that the
ideas of the demonstrators
& the protestors will prevail.
He should not misinterpret
what he sees because the
protestors are a tiny
but vocal minority but the
American people overwhelmingly
support the President of
the United States & our
policy in the Persian Gulf.
"Thank you for what you have done.
Thank you for the contribution
that you are making to peace.
Thank you for giving the support
to our troops in the Persian Gulf
& thank you for giving them
the qualitative advantage that
is necessary to be victorious
in this conflict. Thank you,
goodbye, God bless you & God
bless the United States of
America. Thank you very much."
2/8/91 #1 Scraps, Extracts & Summaries
We are exceptionally
ready to do anything
the President tells us,
says General Neal.
A hundred forty-seven
Iraqi planes are now
sequestered in Iran.
We are certain they
are out of the war.
Execution squads behind
Iraqi front lines will kill
any of their number
who try to surrender.
Jordanian officials moved
quickly to deny reports
that King Hussein is
considering cutting Jordan's
ties with the United States.
The report comes a day
after the White House
announced it is reviewing
fifty-five million dollars
worth of aid to Jordan.
They don't like how we
bomb their convoys
which might be enemy
supply operations but
mostly turn out not to be.
The King would like to
stay neutral but his folks
are a little more basic.
3,000 in the street
shouted pro-Iraqi stuff
& denounced Bush at
a rally in a Palestinian
refugee camp in Jordan.
Blue chips are heading higher
after a slow start on Wall St.
Dow Jones is up 10.65 pts. War
has not been bad for business.
2/8/91 #2 Day Twenty-Four Begins
"The Palestinian question is the
heartbeat of Arab nationalism"
according to Ambassador Seelye.
The converse & the apposite
might also be true in a sense
but the obverse is in doubt.
Arab Nationalism is the Heartbeat
of the Palestinian Question. The
Arab Question is the Heartbeat
of Palestinian Nationalism. But
is Palestinian Nationalism the
Heartbeat of the Arab Question?
Since we're in the area it seems
they must take the opportunity to
do a little special pleading. Having
found there's never an appropriate
place to invoke their cause, the war
seems as inappropriate a place as any,
vis a vis the IRA bombing a war council
meeting at Downing Street yesterday.
House to house combat in Kuwait?
The complexity of such an operation.
Only a neutron bomb could surgically
remove them with pinpoint accuracy.
Would also work well on protestors.
On anyone who gathers. Nothing
stimulates inventiveness like war
except threat of war. We're glad
we were able to see this one coming
half a dozen years. Credit to our foresight.
The so called lull in the war, the vacuum
of uncertainty surrounding the growing
understanding that air power cannot be
decisively effective here, is probably
hardening into a commitment toward
the necessity for hand to hand combat.
Unless we change our objective. This is
also in the wind just now. We say we won't
but that is what we have to say. Rhetorical
loop holes were invented for just such times.
2/8/91 #3 Another British Briefing
(an extract)
The Met Man lied again
this morning. We were
expecting good weather.
Awaiting destruction in
central Iraq was a
large nineteen tank
petrol storage facility.
We safely delivered 32
one-thousand pound bombs
direct on the target.
An Iraqi SAM missile
support area received
the attention of another
Tornado formation. By
the end of that visit two
large storage tanks were
ablaze accompanied by
numerous secondary explosions.
Three Tornados equipped
with the anti-radiation missile
were fired in advance of a raid.
They sat overhead floating on
a parachute waiting for an
unsuspecting Iraqi operator
to turn on his radar. Should
he have done so they would
have gone straight in
but in that event the
Iraqis left their radar off.
You will notice an increase
in the number of ships that
we have deployed in the Gulf.
I can confirm that there are
now eight destroyers on station.
They are as follows:
Her Majesty's Ships Gloucester,
Cardiff, London, Brilliant, Brave,
Brazen, Manchester & Exeter.
The army has stockpiled
enough petrol to take
the average family car
one hundred million miles
or four thousand times
around the world.
2/9/91 #1 Anomaly
Abdulrazzak Al-Hashimi,
Iraqi Ambassador to France,
says: "On the 4th of August
Iraqi forces started to withdraw
from Kuwait & informed the
Security Council about that but
the American Administration
undermined that withdrawal
& the American forces & the
Allied forces started to come to
Saudi Arabia & it's very clear,
the intention to destroy Iraq
was clear from that time."
Somehow in the barrage of
news & events that fact
seems to have escaped me
but, if that's the case,
no hard feelings - let's
shake hands & admit
it's all a big mistake.
Sure is lucky you told
us before we both got
into this over our heads.
2/9/91 #2 Day Twenty-Five Begins
(paraphrased extracts of a talk show)
How much more air pounding before
we move into the groundwar phase?
The more we bomb the less we die but
if you call in a bear hunter's convention,
eventually it's time to go shoot bear.
The planes are mostly good at hunting duck,
especially sitting ones, but bear hunters
are what we got. It's most of what we
brought, including our command structure.
Liberal position switches
from let negotiations work
to let bombing do the work.
Thousands of Americans
dead or wheelchaired
no good for elections -
better to be patient.
Ramadan & hot weather.
It's all got to be factored in.
Minimalizing our casualties
is both a political & a military
concern but winning the war
is the first & foremost priority.
Relentlessly we follow a plan
designed in advance to terminate
in a ground offensive. What we're
doing. Never intended otherwise.
We're warring to remove a menace
to the whole region. Kuwait is an
incidental beneficiary of the war.
Saddam won't go for cease fire
so long as hope lives. Soviets
& Iran meanwhile maneuver
for influence after the defeat,
which all assume to be
unquestionably preordained.
Jordan's monarch is called
the Plucky Little King. Really
gonna get plucked this time.
Saddam has had success
on the propaganda front.
Arab paper says Madonna is
entertaining the U.S. troops,
anathema to Arab morality.
Last week he made propaganda
capital out of the battle of Khafji.
Moves more calculated to appeal
to Arab sensibilities than to enlist
foreign sympathies it would seem.
Protestors would be out on the street
for lesser causes than this. These
people are primed & ready America
Haters. There's a certain group of
people who just go. Relax immigration
barriers they'd be the first over here.
The strongest Arab power is being
weakened, weakening all Arab power.
Less raw force for the League to secure
the common territory against invasion.
Astonishingly uncritical media coverage
but the viewers can see through it,
understand why they get what they get.
Why spend so much time debating such
trivial matters as press restrictions
when there's a big fat war raging?
Right now the question uppermost is:
wheelchairs or air containment?
2/9/91 #3 Good Morning Report
Good Morning. Iraq
rejects any notion
of a cease fire.
Deputy Prime
Minister Hamadi,
now in Aman,
Jordan, urges all
Muslims to join
in a single
Islamic front.
The issue,
he says,
is one of
American & Zionist
aggression which
aims to dominate
Iraq & the region.
Allies chalk up 57,000
sorties since start of
Operation Desert Storm.
Defense Sec. Cheney says
Saddam still retains
a big piece of what
was once the world's
4th largest military
but isn't anymore.
Scuds destroyed an Embassy
in central Israel Friday but
they aren't saying which one.
Raw sewage in the streets of
Baghdad prompting concern
about possibility of epidemic.
Cholera. Plague. The Mayor says
"I cannot say how is it my feeling."
Pieces of a shot down U.S. jet
are being auctioned in Jordan
to buy food for Iraqi children.
Bombs found attached to fuel tanks
in Norfolk Virginia now revealed
to be attempt to collect insurance.
No relation to terrorism. Now sports.
2/10/91 #1 Point Counterpoint
Responding to Gorbachev's:
"at this critical moment I
am making a public insistent
appeal to the President of Iraq
that he weigh once again all
that is involved for his country
& to show proof of realism
which would allow him to work
toward a sure & fair settlement"
Al-Hashimi replies: "You see,
when you give a country the
choice between surrendering
unconditionally or fight then
that country has no choice
- to fight is really being
realistic because no country
in the world accept the
surrender unconditionally."
2/10/91 #2 General Neal's Briefing
Marine shavetail haircut
& desert fatigues, three
sharp lines inderdict his
forehead this morning.
2800 sorties in last 24 hrs
bringing total to 59,000.
One U.S. Harrier jet lost.
42 new prisoners turned
themselves in yesterday.
"We keep hearing how
poorly fed & equipped
the Iraqis a