“I have had it with that kind of treatment of Americans,” George Bush said on the campaign trail last Wednesday, abruptly transforming the plight of the hostages into a political issue. For three months his administration had taken pains not to get bogged down in a hostage crisis 20 times the size of the one that did in Jimmy Carter. Bush made it clear that the hostage problem would not shape U.S. policy, and most of the country approved. Then last week, with tensions rising in the Persian Gulf, with his political fortunes sagging and an election coming up, Bush suddenly started to denounce Iraq’s abuse of the hostages.
“They have committed outrageous acts of barbarism,” he charged at a rally in Mashpee, Mass. “Brutality–I don’t believe that Adolf Hitler ever participated in anything of that nature,” he added, in a bit of verbal overkill. The president’s rhetoric served several purposes. It put new pressure on Saddam Hussein, warning the Iraqi dictator that if he does not withdraw from Kuwait, Bush may use I force to drive him out. It alerted the American people that war may be necessary and attempted to drum up the anti-Saddam fervor that will be needed if the public is to support military action. And it distracted attention from Bush’s budget debacle, helping to reverse his steep slide in the polls. In fact, his political advisers had urged Bush to be more “presidential” by talking up the gulf crisis while campaigning for Republican candidates (page 30).
But his message was unclear, contradictory and sometimes shrill. After spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said Bush was trying to “prepare the American people for any eventuality,” the president himself declared: “I am not trying to sound the tocsin of war.” Bush was at his most schizophrenic on the war-peace issue when he said in one breath: “I am not ruling out further options, and I am not trying to prepare our country for war.” When he said he had “had it” with the way diplomats at the besieged U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City were “being starved by a brutal dictator,” he was deflated by the ambassador’s wife. Margie Howell, who talks to her husband, Nathaniel, by phone every day, said on NBC’s “Today” show that embassy staffers “have an ample supply of stored water and canned food.” With water from a newly dug well, they have begun a vegetable garden, she said.
According to freed hostages and other sources, the prisoners are held under varying conditions, and there is no evidence that the Americans are treated consistently worse than other captives. The luckiest, as a group, are the businessmen, travelers and diplomats who were in Baghdad when Iraq invaded Kuwait on Aug. 2. Some, like a group of 200 Irish nurses, worked for the Iraqi government under contract. Most of them have been allowed to stay in hotels and apartments. They live in relative comfort, describing themselves as “swimmingpool hostages” or “guestages.” Some are I even free to leave Baghdad and travel around in what pop-music fans among them call “Jail house Iraq.”
When they found out he was American, “the Iraqi people related in a friendly manner to me personally,” says Peter Timko, a 23-year-old graduate student and State Department intern released two weeks ago. But even comfortable captivity has drawbacks. “The worst part of the whole ordeal is trying to keep your mind occupied,” says Lloyd Graham. a 48-year-old Houstonian who got out at the same time. Bertel Berg, a Swedish doctor who is still a “guest,” says hotel prisoners increasingly suffer from “hostage fatigue,” consisting of such stressrelated ailments as high blood pressure.
The fugitives in Kuwait are much worse off. One of them, a New England man whose family wishes to preserve his anonymity, wrote to his wife that Americans are “cowering here like hunted animals.” in fear of being captured and sent “to poison-gas and munitions plant”. in Iraq." He asked: “What are we to do’? The Voice of America is silent. The U.S. Embassy is silent. Hostage-taking will not determine B.S. foreign policy, but what of American foreign policy–is it to free us or leave us to languish in this hell?”
Many of the fugitives survive on food and shelter provided by Kuwaiti friends. “I don’t think American people understand how many Kuwaitis put their lives on the line for Americans” says Beth Hanken, who returned home last September and whose Kuwaiti husband is still trapped in the emirate. One family of six, including two small children, was summarily executed when a foreign passport was found in their house. Last month the Iraqis chopped off a man’s hand for daring to “feed the enemies of Baghdad”; then they shot him dead.
At least 105 Americans are being held as human shields, according to the State Department. Many of them are badly treated. “I have been in the Iraqi gulag for almost two months,” one hostage wrote in a letter released by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. “Bars on windows. Doors locked. No telephone calls to anyone. You can survive. But one must be psychologically capable of being alone with oneself.” Michel Munoz, a French technician released last week, was penned up only a few yards away from giant propane tanks at a petrochemical complex. “Eight of us had food poisoning, and they took us to hospitals whose hygiene was appalling,” he recalled. Munoz said, “People were becoming deeply depressed . . . You would see the sun rise and think, “Another day with the propane’.”
Paul Merlet, a French doctor, and his wife, Monique, were held at an arms factory west of Baghdad, where one of the other hostages was Richard Sementelli, an electronics consultant from Newton, Mass. He was seized in Kuwait and spent two days in a transit camp where 40 people were crammed into a room barely big enough for all of them to lie down at the same time. Sementelli recalled that Iraqi guards threw rice onto the floor; the prisoners “ate like animals,” said Paul Merlet. More comfortable quarters were provided at the arms plant, but then the hostages were moved into small, windowless offices–“a rathole,” Merlet said. They staged what the doctor describes as a “little rebellion,” waving flags and protesting. Their rations were cut. “The Americans seem to be relatively OK, among the best,” said Jean-Michel Leturcq, a French schoolteacher. “They revolt a lot, and revolt helps you to keep things together in your head.” Leturcq said the Japanese hostages he had seen were “not at all well. They don’t revolt easily; they stay in their rooms,” he said.
Iraq insists the hostages are treated well. “President Saddam Hussein has ordered that if war begins, the guests should get into the shelters first,” said Information Minister Latif Jassim. “You know guests are very important to us.” Saddam plays the hostage game shrewdly and ruthlessly. He parades some of them on television, last week showing them off in cozy surroundings. He doles out hostages a few at a time to visiting celebrities like Kurt Waldheim and Jesse Jackson. Four Americans, all with medical problems, were released last weekend, and this week former West German chancellor Willy Brandt is expected in Baghdad, where he may be rewarded with similar currency.
In an apparent effort to split the international coalition arrayed against Iraq, all French hostages were sent home, except for a few who chose to stay behind. The speaker of Iraq’s Parliament, Saadi Mahdi, hinted that more hostages would be released if other countries promised not to attack Iraq. And Baghdad said the “families of those who are staying as our guests in Iraq can come to visit them during their Christmas and New Year.”
A few relatives said they would accept Saddam’s offer; others defiantly rejected it. “I don’t think he’ll win the humanitarian of the year award for that,” Bush said. The president planned some gestures of his own. He sent Secretary of State James Baker off to the Middle East and Europe to explore the possibilities for a negotiated settlement and to brace the allies for possible military action. The president planned his own trip for later this month; he will spend Thanksgiving Day with the troops in Saudi Arabia.
Some members of Congress were uncomfortable with the president’s harsh language. At a White House briefing, Republican Sen. William Cohen of Maine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, challenged Bush’s assertion that hostage conditions had deteriorated markedly, noting that U.S. intelligence agencies hadn’t informed him of any such change. “Wouldn’t you call being away from your family a form of abuse?” asked Baker. “If that was the standard,” Cohen shot back, “we would have gone to war against Lebanon years ago.”
Democrats charged that Bush had turned jingoistic in order to stem Republican losses in tight congressional races. “If the president wants politics to end at the water’s edge,” said Democratic Rep. Dave Obey of Wisconsin, “he has an obligation to leave events beyond the water’s edge out of campaign politics.” But in the heat of the campaign, the hostages became the president’s issue. By putting their plight into a political showcase, Bush took on the burden of solving the problem–and became a hostage of sorts himself.
War clouds gather. Iraq invades Kuwait, seizing oilfields and forcing the royal family into exile in Saudi Arabia. The West asks: do Iraqi ambitions stop there?
War fever rises: President Bush orders American military forces to Saudi Arabia to defend its oilfields.
Help arrives: 12 out of 20 Arab heads of state agree to send a Pan-Arab force to Saudi Arabia.
Iraq says it will hold Westerners at civil and military facilities as “human shields” against attack.
U.N. Security Council authorizes the use of force by Western navies to enforce sanctions.
Iraq orders all Western women and children hostages freed.
Saddam Hussein threatens pre-emptive attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia “if the Iraqi people are being strangled” by economic sanctions.
A peace feeler: French President Francois Mitterrand offers a fourstage plan in search of a diplomatic solution to the gulf crisis.
Secretary of State James Baker says Iraq talks compromise: withdrawal from Kuwait in return for two islands in the Persian Gulf, as well as a disputed oilfield.
U.S Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney announces that as that as 100,000 more troops will be sent to Saudi Arabia.
Iraq sees “all-out war” if attacked: its toes will “curse their destiny.”
The invitation was for a visit in Kuwait–then a dream vacation in Europe. When Donald Latham and his wife, Maria, issued it to his parents, Eugene and: Lucille Hughes of Albuquerque, NM., last summer, the gulf crisis was already simmering In the United States, Velma Edson of Idaho Falls, Idaho, one of the couple’s daughters, asked them not to go. “Nothing can happen to us,” they replied–and set of: The day before they were to leave Kuwait, Saddam Hussein invaded the country–and the four Americans went underground Lucille Hughes and Maria Latham got out, but the men are still hiding Since the day of the invasion, Velma Edson has been keeping a journal of her family’s ordeal She en trusted it and some smuggled letters to NEWSWEEK’S Jeanne Gordon. Excerpts:
Thursday, Aug. 2, 1990. Little Mike [Don’s son] received a call from Don saying Iraq had invaded Kuwait. Got home from work and NBC in Idaho asked me to come in to be interviewed. They also let me use their phone to try and call Kuwait. Spent all day at work dialing phone–got through to Don at 3:00 p.m. our time. When I asked if everyone was OK, he said, “Yes . . . " Then the phone went dead.
Friday, Aug. 3. I talked with another lady whose husband is [in Kuwait]. She is very upset. Her husband says there are many tanks on-shore in Kuwait and battleships in the water.
Sunday, Aug. 5. Went to church and when I got home, Sen. [Steve] Symms’s office had called and said they were unable to Locate parents or Don and Maria. Said Mom and Dad were probably in good hands.
Tuesday, Aug. 7. The president has ordered troops into Saudi Arabia and [Saddam] Hussein says he will “pluck out the eye” of anyone who helps Arab nations defend themselves against him. Americans ! are being taken to Baghdad. Rumor has it that they aren’t hostages, but I think they are.
Friday, Aug. 10. Called Kuwaiti Task Force hotline. Warning Americans not to travel to Kuwait. Non-essential Embassy personnel and American citizens to depart immediately. Stay in touch with Embassy next to Hilton. Phone service deteriorating. Airport closed. Grocery stores still open. Some Americans able to purchase food. Utilities–water and electricity–are still working.
Sunday, Aug. 26. People who escaped tell us they saw Mom and Dad [several times]. All major companies and shopping centers are burned and looted. Food is getting scarce.
Tuesday, Sept. 4. Sen. Symms’s office told me Maria’s name is on list of women and children who have applied for exit visas. Apparently Mom has decided to stay with Dad. Also, someone has placed Dad’s name on a list of people with emergency medical conditions. He has a heart condition and is low on medication (probably out by now). This is the first time it has really hit me and I feel like crying.
Thursday, Sept. 6. Duffy Dixon [of ABC in Idaho] came out to work. She asked me what was my worst fear in this whole situation. I told her it was that I wouldn’t see Mom and Dad again. I guess that is kind of selfish–should have expressed concern over their future and safety–but that’s what I really meant.
Friday, Sept. 7. Someone called and told me Mom was seen on TV getting off plane in Jordan. 15 minutes later my sister Ruth called and said she heard the same thing. I called State Dept. They confirmed that Mom and Maria were on the plane. Our prayers have been answered.
Sunday, Sept. 9. Everything’s a blur. I’m in Albuquerque and Mom is free! Mom won’t be here until Monday at 6:00. The government is dumping [ex-hostages] in Charleston and they have to get home however they can–whether they have any: [money] or not. The governrnent will loan it but they sign their life away to do this: I don’t think this is right.
Monday, Sept. 10. We decorated the yard with ribbons, rented a limousine to pick Mom up in : [Albuquerque] and a big party is planned.
Saturday, Sept. 28. Don and Dad called Mom and still sounded OK. Think it was a linkup on ham radio.
Monday, Oct. 15, letter:from Gene to Sen. [Pete] Domenici [of Mexico]: My son and I are hidding with two other Americans and one British subject. We are completely surrounded by Iraqi troops and haven’t been out since the 18th of August. We:live in constant fear of discovery, and transport to a “place of strategic v:alue.’: The Kuwaiti resistance have made this letter possible. You can see the risk they willingly take to protect us. This death penalty is not a mere threat, and has been carried out several times. Saddam shows no interest in leaving Kuwait without use of force . . . We can only hope that the talking will stop and the action begin before my medical problem becomes critical, or we are captured.
Friday, Oct. 19, a tatter from Don: To All U.S. Agencies who will listen. The purpose of this letter is to draw attention to the plight of the hostages and of : the Kuwaiti people as well. As shaky as our own situation is, it doesn’t hold a candle to the suffering of the Kuwaiti people. They have fed and protected us and all other foreigners under the threat of hanging. Five: members of one family were shot because the Iraqis found an :American passport in their home on a search. When are our troops going to intervene? Six thousand Kuwaiti youths have been taken to detention camps since Aug. 2 and are being subjected to torture from electricity, beatings, nails, hammers and the like. The Red Cross offices have been closed and its board members captured and subjected to brutal treatment, group torture assassination. All medical equipment from the hospitals has been taken to Baghdad. They are refusing aid to any person other than Iraqis or Palestinians. Saddam Hussein will not leave until he is forced. The sanctions sound good but we see little effect of them.
Saturday, Oct. 27. Called Mom in Albuquerque. She has a letter from Joe [one of the men hiding with Eugene and Don]. She says the letter is very strongly worded because he has no wife to shield from “shattering news!” Mom also received a message via the State Dept. from Embassy in Kuwait: “Dad and Don still OK and still in the same place … please reply.” We’ve never had a request to reply before so we don’t know what this means.
Sunday, Oct. 29. I got a message that the men hope to see us “after the dark moon of November.” Mom says she has heard reference to this also but won’t say from where. A lieutenant colonel at Ft. Bragg says to prepare ourselves mentally because something is going to happen in next two weeks. Of course we have heard this before, too! Mom called tonight. Apparently Don says he would give anything to see the light of day. They are getting angry and I hope my intuition is wrong but it sounds like they may be starting to panic. They have requested a gun.
Wednesday, Oct. 31, letters from Don for Maria and President Bush: Maria, I know these notes aren’t much, but they are a lot better than some of the guys are getting out. We would give anything to be able to get out and take a walk or just breathe good fresh air. All of us are exibiting definite signs of cabin fever. We try to keep from getting bored. Wednesday is poker, Thursday is bridge. The news from the States is depressing. The Voice of America says 66 percent of people polled say they want a diplomatic rather than a military solution. In Britain 86 percent favor war. Somewhere along the line the U.S. has lost all [its] guts, and a good bit of [its] national soul. The Kuwaitis still hope for us to give them the help they need to stop the destruction of their country, but I can give no further assurances of help coming. I just won’t lie to these people.
Dear Mr. President: I am hiding in the state of Kuwait to avoid becoming a “Guest’ of the Iraqi government. We need help, Mr. President. Have you ever been in the position of having to sit helplessly by and fear having to watch your father die? He will not allow us, at this time, to consider surrendering and being forced to Baghdad. He fears, and rightfully so, that we may be stuck there for years. All of us remember Teheran. At least in Kuwait we have a small chance. I’m sure that the sanctions will eventually work, but we do not have those months to wait. Please help if at all possible, while there is still a Kuwait left to send help to.
