and, Of course, this military action was seen as
a huge triumph for, the assertion of American power.
a personal triumph for President Bush, who is seen, surrounded here by, troops.
in the desert in Saudi Arabia.
I want to tell you just a quick story about this photo.
I have used this photo many times in some ways as an example
of US triumphalism and the, the US forces being in the Middle East and feeling
that they were fulfilling their mission. And being successful.
In doing the research for this video, I learned that
this was actually before the war where the President came
to visit the troops in Thanksgiving and President Bush was
not raising his hand in triumph but was actually tossing
souvenirs and trinkets, Presidential tie clips, out
to, the soldiers. What a soldier going into combat was going
to do with a presidential tie clip is another question, but the
story of the photo still remains, that here is an American
President coming into the Middle East, where surrounded by large bases
of huge troops, in response to the first Gulf War.
And continuing this trend throughout the 1980s, and into
the 90s, of increasing larger and larger US military presence.