DESERT STORM: DAY 26 : Political
The White House said Saddam Hussein is scoring points with a “propaganda and P.R. war” that exaggerates the damage the United States is inflicting on Iraq’s civilian population. Presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater suggested that even Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev may have been led astray.
Thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed or wounded by allied air raids, Iraqi Religious Affairs Minister Abdullah Fadel said in Baghdad. It was the first time a senior government official spoke of such high war casualties. Fadel said he could not give precise figures. Previous Iraqi government reports put civilian casualties at about 650 dead and 750 wounded.
President Bush met with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The two arrived home Sunday night from a weekend trip to consult with battlefront commanders in Saudi Arabia.
The Soviet Union has sent special envoy Yevgeny Primakov to Baghdad in hope of discussing the war with Saddam Hussein. Primakov carried no specific peace initiative, Soviet lawmaker Alexander Dzasokhov said in Moscow, adding that the envoy would take up the withdrawal of Iraqi troops from Kuwait and other issues.
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