Bush Says War May Be Needed

Appearing to prepare college students for the growing possibility of war in the Middle East, President Bush yesterday sent a letter to college newspapers calling the conflict between the international community and Iraq one of "good vs. evil."

The letter was "an effort to provide his view of the Gulf crisis as it relates to college age Americans," according to Deb Amend, special assistant to the President for communications.

"There are times in life when we confront values worth fighting for," Bush wrote. "This is one such time."

"If armed men invaded a home in this country, killed those in their way, stole what they wanted and then announced the house was now theirs--no one would hesitate about what must be done," Bush said. "And that is why we cannot hesitate about what must be done halfway around the world: in Kuwait."

"There is much in the modern world that is subject to doubts or questions--washed in shades of gray. But not the brutal aggression of Saddam Hussein against a peaceful, sovereign nation and its people. It's black and white. The facts are clear. The choice unambiguous," Bush continued.

The letter comes as Secretary of State James A. Baker III is scheduled to meet with his Iraqi counterpart Tariq Aziz in Geneva today, a meeting which Bush described as a "chance, perhaps a final chance" to convince Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait.

Bush's letter framed the Gulf crisis as a "obvious conflict of good vs. evil." Citing atrocities by Iraqi forces documented by Amnesty International, Bush said that the United States has an "obligation to stop ruthless agression."

"This brutality has reverberated throughout the entire world. If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then his lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging New World Order we now see: this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long," he wrote.

"I have been in war. I have known the terror of combat. And I tell you this with all my heart: I don't want there to be war ever again. I am determined toabsolutely everything possibile in the search fora peaceful resolution to this crisis--but only ifthe peace is genuine, if it rests on principle,not appeasement," he continued.

With less than a week before the U.N. deadlineauthourizing the use of force to get Iraq out ofKuwait, Bush said in the letter that the UnitedStates would provide no concessions and nocompromises.

In one passage of the four-page letter, Bushdirectly addressed college students: "In the Gulfyoung men and women are putting their own lives onhold in order to stand for peace in our world andfor the essential value of human life itself. Manyare younger than my own children. Your age, mostof them. Doing tough duty for something theybelieve in.