When pResidents listen to Bakers

NY Times headline: Baker, Bush Family Fixer, Will Advise President on Iraq. Wonderful. James F***ing Baker, who stole the 2000 election, works for the Carlyle Group of terrorist arms merchants, and who once sent some great advice to the president of Iraq back in July 1990:

[US Ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie:] But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.

I was in the American Embassy in Kuwait during the late 60's. The instruction we had during this period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with America. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction.

Now it has been pointed out that Glaspie didn't specifically tell Saddam to go ahead and invade Kuwait, as he did the following week. But Saddam sure makes it sound like he's planning military action, and that he is accepting Glaspie's words from Baker as a green light.

Saddam Hussein: We want the others to know that our patience is running out regarding their action, which is harming even the milk our children drink, and the pensions of the widow who lost her husband during the war, and the pensions of the orphans who lost their parents.
...
They reached an agreement which did not express what we wanted, but we agreed.

Only two days after the meeting, the Kuwaiti Oil Minister made a statement that contradicted the agreement. We also discussed the issue during the Baghdad summit. I told the Arab Kings and Presidents that some brothers are fighting an economic war against us. And that not all wars use weapons and we regard this kind of war as a military action against us.

Also in that Glaspie/Hussein interview is this priceless bit of irony:

Saddam Hussein: We do not ask people not to be concerned when peace is at issue. This is a noble human feeling which we all feel. It is natural for you as a superpower to be concerned. But what we ask is not to express your concern in a way that would make an aggressor believe that he is getting support for his aggression.

Okay, I'm getting a bit off track here. My point is: If you ever want a bad situation to get a whole lot worse, just throw in a little James Baker.