Quoted Text

At least two transcripts of the meeting have been published. The State Department has not
confirmed the accuracy of these transcripts, but Glaspie's cable has been released at the Bush
Library and placed online by the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.

One version of the transcript has Glaspie saying:

“     We can see that you have deployed massive numbers of troops in the south. Normally that
would be none of our business, but when this happens in the context of your threats against Kuwait
, then it would be reasonable for us to be concerned. For this reason, I have received an instruction
to ask you, in the spirit of friendship — not confrontation — regarding your intentions: Why are
your troops massed so very close to Kuwait's borders?     ”
Later the transcript has Glaspie saying:

“     We have no opinion on your Arab-Arab conflicts, such as your dispute with Kuwait. Secretary
Baker has directed me to emphasize the instruction, first given to Iraq in the 1960s, that the Kuwait
issue is not associated with America.     ”
Another version of the transcript (the one published in The New York Times on 23 September 1990)
has Glaspie saying:

“     But we have no opinion on the Arab-Arab conflicts, like your border disagreement with Kuwait.
I was in the American Embassy in Kuwait during the late 1960s. The instruction we had during this
period was that we should express no opinion on this issue and that the issue is not associated with
America. James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction. We hope
you can solve this problem using any suitable methods via Klibi (Chedli Klibi, Secretary General of
the Arab League) or via President Mubarak. All that we hope is that these issues are solved
quickly.