– News reports and joint Press conference – Bush-Gorbachev Helsinki Conference – Sept. 9, 1990 –
As the crisis in the middle east continued to heat up and as the U.S. was continuing to drum up support for an armed confrontation with Iraq and Saddam Hussein, the fourth summit conference between the U.S. and the Soviet Union concluded on this September 9th in 1990.
Hailed as a success, but with no groundbreaking agreements, the Conference between President Bush and Soviet Premier Gorbachev was a show of solidarity. And even though the Conference didn’t get military support for the crisis in Kuwait, it did get tacit approval from Gorbachev that there would be no objection to a troop buildup in the region for what would eventually be an invasion of Kuwait and an expulsion of Iraqi forces.
The significance of the Conference was that it showed two former adversaries in the position of allies, looking for a solution to a problem. It also showed the Soviet Union was capable of assuming the role of peacemaker and that, despite Bush’s hardline adviser’s position, continuing the Reagan-era position of peaceful relations with the Soviet Union was doing the trick.
As America was gearing up for another war, any signs of peaceful settlements were eagerly watched and listened to.
And that’s what was going on this September 9, 1990, as reported by CBS Radio News and Special Reports.
