The Gulf It's All in the Wording

The U.S. has managed to hold together the worldwide coalition against Iraq. Strains and threats abound, and Saddam Hussein has made adroit attempts to exploit them. But fundamentally, the coalition is still united.

More or less. For now.

George Bush uses much more upbeat language, of course. So do Mikhail Gorbachev, Francois Mitterrand and other leaders of the coalition. And it is true that no one has edged away from the central demand: Iraq must get out of Kuwait. But whether, and to what extent, the other members will continue to back American ideas on how to achieve that goal --...