Hostages. Airlift. Blockade. Showdown. As the crisis in the Persian Gulf entered its fourth week, the words used to describe it came almost entirely from the passionate lexicon of conflict and national pride. And with the accelerating pace of events, the path to a peaceful resolution became increasingly difficult to find, let alone follow. The region seemed poised on the brink of war, a prospect made all the more horrible by fear that chemical weapons might be unleashed not only against troops but also against hundreds of thousands of defenseless civilians.
The use of poison gas would be contrary to conventions ratified by virtually every nation in the world (including Iraq). Yet as American and Egyptian troops tried on their chemical-warfare suits in 110 degrees heat -- and as civilians as far away as Tel Aviv clamored for similar protective gear -- it was impossible to forget that Saddam Hussein had used poison gas against Iran and against his own people. Nor could anyone be unaware that some in the U.S. were arguing for eye-for-an-eye retaliation with chemical, perhaps even nuclear, weapons. King Hussein of Jordan, who managed to become trapped between Iraq and the tightening economic and military vise the U.S. and its allies were clamping on Saddam, sensed a "world gone mad." The greatest danger, perhaps, was the rush of it all. In the jittery atmosphere, it was not always clear whether events were driving rhetoric, or vice versa.
At his family retreat in Kennebunkport, Me., George Bush walked a fine line between the determined vacationer, zipping about in his fuel-guzzling speedboat, and the grim-faced Commander in Chief facing the greatest challenge of his presidency. Bush ordered the first call-up of reserves since Vietnam and approved the sale of more F-15 fighters to Saudi Arabia. He declared that in the face-off with Saddam nothing less than America's "way of life" was at stake. He abandoned his earlier fastidiousness about how to describe the thousands of Western civilians, including 3,000 Americans, held by Saddam and finally used the only accurate word: hostages. But he insisted that despite his concerns about their safety, the United Nations food and trade embargo "must be enforced." He won a significant victory early Saturday when the United Nations Security Council voted 13 to 0 (Cuba and Yemen abstaining) for a strongly worded resolution authorizing nations with naval forces in the area to use "such measures . . . as may be necessary . . . to halt all inward and outward maritime" commerce. It was the first time in its 45-year history that the U.N. had authorized force to back up economic sanctions.
For his part, Saddam sought to break his increasing isolation by portraying himself as a man of peace. His first move was to draw attention to the plight of his captives, whom he referred to as "guests of the Iraqi people." He paid a grotesquely avuncular propaganda visit to 25 British hostages, inquiring about their welfare and explaining that they were being detained to prevent a war from breaking out.