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- DATE: FEB.23, 1991 14:40 REPORT: 6
- TO: SPL
- FOR:
- CC:
- BUREAU: WASHINGTON
- BY: CHRISTOPHER OGDEN
- IN:
- SLUG: WAR NARRATIVE
-
- The follow-on Fitzwater statement poured cold water on
- any speculation that Iraq might have agreed to anything
- acceptable.
-
- He said that Centcom reported no Iraqi pull-out action.
- On the contrary, Iraq was still torching oil rigs. In a
- defiant nose- thumbing gesture, Iraq launched another
- SCUD attack on Israel precisely at the deadline moment.
- As a result, "the coalition forces have no alternative
- but to continue to prosecute the war."
-
- He reiterated the White House dismissal of Aziz's
- acceptance of the Soviet proposal because it was not "an
- unequivocal commitment to an immediate and unconditional
- withdrawal."
-
- Bush had been working the phones from Camp David,
- speaking to Kaifu of Japan, Ozal of Turkey and once more
- to Gorbachev. The Soviet called Bush 45 minutes before
- the deadline to say that he had asked the U.N. to look at
- his proposal. The two talked for 28 minutes, but the
- president was not swayed from his own ultimatum. Bush
- thanked Gorbachev for his "extensive efforts" and blamed
- Saddam for not responding.