When Policy Fails: How the Buck Was Passed When Kuwait Was Invaded
Citation
Roshco, Bernard. "When Policy Fails: How the Buck Was Passed When Kuwait Was Invaded." Shorenstein Center Discussion Paper Series 1992.D-15, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, December 1992.Abstract
Bernard Roshco is a journalist, a scholar, a former government official and once a fellow at the Shorenstein Barone Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. He came here in January, 1992, his mind filled with questions about the Bush Administration's policy towards Iraq prior to the invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990. We all remembered Ambassador April Glaspie's crucial meeting with lraqi President Saddam Hussein days before he ordered his troops imo Kuwait, bur why did the meeting have to be so crucial? Why didn't her superiors in the State Department and the White House give her clearer instructions? Why did President Bush and Secretary of State James Saker misread Hussein's motivations so badly? What was their responsibility? What role did the press play in covering the cover-up, which followed? Roshco is not one to rush to conclusions. He was Phi Beta Kappa at the City College of New York and a gifted sociologist at Columbia University, where he got his M.S. and Ph.D. For a time he worked for The National Observer before becoming editor of Public Opinion Quarterly. Since 1987, he's been a member of the board of directors of the Roper Public Opinion Center at the University of Connecticut, and from 1979- 91, he was director of the Office of Opinion Analysis and Plans in the Bureau of Public Affairs of the U.S. Department of State. He's written many scholarly articles in addition to "Newsmaking, 11 his clear analysis published by the University of Chicago Press in 1975. After reviewing the evidence-the same evidence that was available to any reporter- Roshco tried to answer the questions that were in his mind about U.S. policy towards Iraq. He succeeded masterfully. "When Policy Fails: How the Buck Was Passed When Kuwait Was Invaded" is an insightful analysis not only of scapegoating at the highest levels of the Bush Administration but also of the reporters covering the story. The scapegoating could not have worked if the reporting had been sharp, inquisitive, directed. Roshco's analysis cuts to the heart of the importance of an aggressive press in protecting the people from governmental malfeasance. With each passing day, we know more about the story. The new Clinton Administration will undoubtedly be faced with the need to make decisions relating to its predecessor's mistakes; it will also be faced with similar challenges of diplomacy and policy. How will it respond? Officials of the new administration would be wise to read this report.Terms of Use
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