Remembering

I HAD FORGOTTEN THAT Mr. Bush had "celebrated" his 94th birthday. I must've missed it. Very impressive. My uncle, who died nine months ago, just barely failed to make his 94th, expressing a preference for going home, and quietly dying there. He got his wish, and had indicated that he wanted no memorial ceremony of any sort. Strange, since he was a retired cemetery manager, having worked in a mortuary for years before that. His family decided they wanted to have a memorial service anyway, so they did, and I did not attend, perhaps using my uncle's expressed wishes as an excuse. So at least we have, if we're lucky, a little control over how we go out. I remember when Nixon died, a friend of mine noticed that none of his eulogizers even remotely mentioned Watergate or Nixon's ignominious resignation fro the presidency. My friend wondered when they were going to "come clean". My attitude then was that his funeral was not the proper time to make such mentions. It is conceivable that George Bush the forty first president will be remembered, at least partly, as a war criminal, or, at the least, as an architect of war, a leader who used deception to lead his nation into war. In 1990, Saddam Hussein amassed the Iraqi army on the border of Kuwait, as if preparing to attack that much smaller country. President Bush, through his Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie, told Saddam that the United States really didn't care what Iraq did, had no interest in becoming involved in conflicts between Arab countries. Doubtless grateful for the blank check, Saddam went ahead and attacked, and conquered Kuwait. The rest, as they say, is history. In defense of Bush, it could be said that he hadn't the slightest inkling that Saddam would actually launch his army, and that had he known, would never have been so passive in dealing with the dictator. Historians will be arguing that point, presumably. Its tempting to wonder what would have happened if Bush had told Saddam: "if you attack Kuwait, we will destroy you". Would we have avoided nearly thirty years of war? Who knows? Historians will have more to say about that as well. For the moment, R.I.P. Mr. President.