A Triumph of Leadership

Creating a more peaceful and just world

President George Bush has turned the Persian Gulf crisis into a triumph of American leadership. From the day he first mobilized an unprecedented coalition of nations against Saddam Hussein last fall until his surprising statement in February throwing down an ultimatum for withdrawal, Bush has seized the initiative to create a more peaceful and just world.

For years, other countries have wondered whether the United States could be a faithful friend or would cut and run in an hour of trouble. For years, many have wondered whether Bush had enough inner steel to be unbending in crisis. He has now answered both questions and the world is safer for it.

Had the United States and its allies not sent their young men and women into the breach, Hussein would now have his hand at the jugular of every nation that runs on oil. His Army would have savaged and pillaged thousands of additional innocents in Kuwait. And every dictator in the world would have an engraved invitation to rape and steal from his neighbors.

The United States today enjoys greater respect than at any time since an American first stepped onto the moon

The American led coalition has rewritten that story: The liberation of Kuwait, the dismantling of the Iraqi Army, the humiliation of Saddam Hussein. Would be aggressors must shudder at the thought that if they invade another country, a Tomahawk cruise missile could come whizzing around the corner and down their ventilation shaft.

The United States today enjoys greater respect around the world than at any time since an American stepped onto the moon. Its men and women in uniform serve with renewed pride. The prospects for peace and justice are rising again.

Today, while in need of much repair and reform from within, the United States is still the world’s last and best hope for freedom. The Free World looks to us for leadership. And as is the case many times, leadership calls for foresight, courage, and strength, even in the face of the shortsighted and temporary opposition of those who are overwhelmed by fear and greed. We cannot shrink from this role.

It is one thing to grasp for leadership before you are mature enough to handle it. It is another thing to shrink back from the responsibility of leadership once maturity for leadership has come.