Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Lessons from Gulf War

Friday, Sept. 21, 2001 | 5:28 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH should be commended for attempting to put a coalition of nations together in our fight against terrorism. When putting together this coalition his advisers should recognize that there are weaknesses in this approach when fighting a war. Sure, when you have friends like Great Britain standing with you it is a plus. The same can't be said about some of the other nations we are courting.

The president's father did an outstanding job of putting together a coalition for the assault against Iraq in 1991. Don't for one minute believe it was a perfect coalition because the heavy lifting was still done by our country with strong support from Great Britain and also a bit from France. What several Arab nations contributed, other than Saudi Arabia, which was Saddam's next target, was of little practical use.

Just to refresh memories, it was Iraq that invaded Kuwait, both Arab countries. Kuwait and neighbor Saudi Arabia screamed for help and Bush's coalition answered their cries. Somehow or another, other Arab countries tried to drag Israel into the fray. Iraq's Hussein threatened to "incinerate" Israel if the United States came to the aid of Kuwait. Then several diplomats let it be known that they didn't want to fight an Arab country if Israel was involved. They didn't seem to grasp how foolish they sounded as they made this known while a large Arab nation plundered and raped a smaller Arab neighbor.

President Bush requested that Israel not be involved even if Iraqi missiles began to hit its people. This is exactly what happened and the Israelis held their fire as 39 scud missiles landed in and around their population centers as the Palestinians on the West Bank cheered when they went overhead. Most diplomatic and military observers were amazed at the restraint shown by that little country.

Even before the ground war began, several Arab nations complained that our bombers were killing too many Iraqis. Then the Egyptians had to be moved off the front line behind the Americans and Brits. Both Egypt and Syria let it be known their troops wouldn't cross into Iraq when the ground war started. Syria's Hafez Assad, in addition, refused to allow U.S. and British combat planes to over fly its territory.

So much for counting on some members of the coalition put together for Desert Storm. Yes, Desert Storm was successful because of our combat units and the leadership provided by Bush and his subordinates.

Danielle Pletka, writing for Insight news magazine, had written earlier that any Arab setback or defeat is always blamed on some kind of conspiracy. Usually, at least one of the conspirators is Israel any time things go bad for them. The results of Desert Storm were no different despite the fact Israel had absorbed Hussein's missiles without flinching.

Last week Richard Lowry, editor of National Review, wrote a warning in USA Today newspaper that a coalition now being put together could possibly hinder our success against terrorism. He concluded that, "In short, the U.S. anti-terrorism drive cannot stall around some Brussels conference table before it gets started. Any international coalition in this war will derive from American power and steadfastness, not the other way around."

Americans shouldn't be surprised when some coalition members begin to make demands and fall by the wayside. When all is said and done, it will be our country and a very few select friends that carry the burden to a successful end. The intelligence skills and Middle East contacts of the Israelis will make them a valuable asset in this coming conflict.

Thursday evening, when addressing the nation, our president left no doubt that the U.S. is going forward to stop international terrorists and their friends. Other countries are either with or against us and he appeared to leave no middle ground. What I heard was that countries joining our coalition shouldn't plan on making side deals like they did during the Gulf War.