Old Guy:

I missed something in your last post -- what attempt to control the Persian Gulf was Bush responding to under the Carter Doctrine? I understand the earlier annexarion of Kuwait was clearly a violation; it strikes me as odd that Bush pere did not invoke the doctrine as far as I remember; in fact somehow he let Hussein get theimpression the U.S. would consider it a local probelm and not intercede. Never did understand that -- I think it was Rumsfield, but I oculd be wrong about that, who gave Saddam that impression. Or it could have been that lady ambassador (just the thing to send into a Muslim dictatorship for effective PR, eh?).

A