We had tried over, and over, and over again to bring about a peaceful solution. The Secretary of General of the United Nations went to Baghdad because that’s the only place the peaceful solution was going to come from. Everybody else wanted a peaceful solution. Countless diplomats from east, west, north, south, from the then Communist bloc, all went to Baghdad, because that’s where the peaceful solution had to come from.
Secretary Baker met with Tariq Aziz in Geneva, where he came out and gave that pessimistic report and said, “I’ll let the Iraqis speak for themselves.” And then Tariq Aziz came out and spoke for 45 minutes. Didn’t even mention the word “Kuwait.” The country had been blotted off the map as far as the Iraqis were concerned, and that was irrevocable. Nothing else was going to change after that.