April 25th 1979. Israeli troops in Lebanon and terrorist attacks by the PLO bring strong condemnation from Egypt of Israeli handling of the situation. Egypt on the outs with just about every Arab nation because of the Peace signing. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are the latest in a long line of nations breaking diplomatic ties with Anwar Sadat's Egypt. Meanwhile, Jimmy Carter commemorates the day (April 25th) the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising took place in 1943. Rhodesia has its first Black Prime Minister with the election of Abel Muzorewa to the post and Iran's President Mehdi Bazargan is the object of an assassination attempt which Iranian News refuses to acknowledge. Gotta love 'em.

And so went another day with completely interchangeable historic parts.

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This weekend, twenty-five years ago, it was all about The Persian Gulf and the U.S. decision to re-flag Kuwaiti Oil Tankers within the next ten days. Amid reports that Iran was mining the Gulf and the U.S. was inching closer to a shooting war. With the Iraqi bombing of the USS Stark, which claimed 37 crewmen, it would seem a showdown was inevitable.

Despite all that, there was no concrete Policy in place, with reference to our position on The Persian Gulf. This episode of Face The Nation was titled "Persian Gulf Policy: A Sea Of Confusion", and it reflected just how off the charts we were in handling crises overseas.

Joining Moderator Leslie Stahl were Under-Secretary of State Michael Armacost and Chairman of The House Armed Services Committe, Les Aspin, discussing what was becoming a fractured and and confusing policy and whether or not the re-flagging of Kuwaiti ships should be postponed.

Here is that broadcast. You get to decide.

And how is this March 7th different from other March 7th's?

Well . . .

On March 7th 1978, news from Tel-Aviv reported a sharp divide, bordering on revolt among Israeli Cabinet Ministers over the matter of Israeli settlements being built on disputed Arab territories. Moderates, headed up by Ezer Weizmann wanted the settlement building to stop. Hawks, headed up by Ariel Sharon wanted it to continue and Prime Minister Begin was stuck in the middle. Meanwhile, in Cairo - Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was looking to the U.S. for some leadership in the area of Peace talks with Israel. As always, the Middle-East was a hotbed of activity.

Back in the States, a settlement of another kind was being sought after. This one having to do with the Coal Miner's Strike, which was having a devastating impact on the Mid-West. President Carter was invoking Taft-Hartley legislation and the Coal Miners were hearing none of it. Meanwhile, the loss of coal production meant severe cutbacks throughout Indiana, Ohio and several other states with electrical cutbacks as much as 50%.

On Capitol Hill, debate was continuing regarding the Panama Canal Treaty with no eye on an actual vote until "maybe May 1st". Jesse Helms introduced an amendment to keep a U.S. Radio facility up and running in the Canal Zone to be used in tracking ships, particularly those of Soviet lineage.

Elsewhere - Continuing border clashes between Rhodesia and Zambia were getting the attention of other African nations who wanted to reach some settlement in the dispute, preferably without Ian Smith involved. Kind of tough since, even though Smith headed up the minority government of Rhodesia, he was still heading up the government.

And Kuwait's Oil Minister was calling for a substantial boost in oil prices, since the U.S. dollar was sinking slowly in markets around the world, and Kuwait was claiming losses of $1million a day as the result. Gee.

And publisher Larry Flynt was recovering from surgery the day following a shooting of him and his attorney by "unknown" assailant(s).

And that's what this particular slice of reality sounded like for March 7, 1978 as reported by Dallas Townsend on The CBS World News Roundup.

Day #7 of Desert Storm, this January 23rd in 1991. The news of the day was predominated by war reports and air attacks, as the full-on invasion hadn't yet begun. Scud Missile attacks in Tel-Aviv. Sporadic ground skirmishes around the Saudi-Kuwait border. Coalition fighters ran some 12,000 sorties so far. Iraq claiming one raid scored a direct hit on a "baby formula factory" - the "factory" in question was well-guarded at the time. Vice-President Dan Quayle was busy decrying anti-war protesters, saying they were getting too much media coverage. The Pentagon was being criticized by the media for being too slow in giving updates on progress. And nobody knew exactly how long this thing was going to last.

And that's what was going on this day in 1991 from the CBS World News Roundup and News Updates for January 23rd.

On this day in 1991 the first combat troops were returning from Operation Desert Storm with more on the way. Meanwhile, uprisings around Iraq were being quickly extinguished by the Saddam Hussein regime. President Bush delivers an address the previous night to declare the war was over with reactions from Capitol Hill. In Los Angeles, viral video tape of a beating by police of motorist Rodney King in the Lakeview Terrace section of Los Angeles sparked controversy and a clumsy attempt at explanation on the parts of the LAPD. An investigation was promised.

And that's what it looked today if you were in 1991.

January 6th in 1991 came on a Sunday and so the news was all about the week before and the impending invasion of Kuwait and what came to be known as Operation Desert Storm. It was all a matter of waiting. So the news was mostly regarding diplomatic maneuvers, the posturing, the threats, the cautions that the war was going to be expensive (but who paid any attention to that at the time). The new Congress and the ever-present promise of handling the deficit. Some things never change, ever, even after twenty years to the day.

The only difference being January 6th is a Thursday today. Other than that . . . .

Busy week, this 13th of October in 1994. Overthrow of the military rule of Raoul Cedras was complete with Cedras being escorted out of the country to exile in Panama with a million dollar plus cash bonus to leave, as well as guaranteed rental of his three houses for at least a year, presumably to U.S. personnel at a "fair market value" of between $4,000 and "several thousand" dollars a month for each.

Robert Berger (CBS News): “A chartered jet is now slowly rolling down the runway here at the airport at Port au Prince, carrying Cedras and his family and (General Philippe) Biamby, both men arrived under tight security in U.S. armored vehicles. They were ushered into the VIP lounge where they had a last meeting with the U.S. Ambassador. Then Cedras walked slowly with his family out to the aircraft. Both men wore blue suits and looked grim as they went into exile.”

The stage was then set for the return of Jean Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected President, to resume power. Ironically, it would be Aristide's turn in the Lobster tank a few years later. Oh, that wacky CIA.

Meanwhile, the never ending saga of life in the Middle-East with an Israeli soldier hostage of the PLO, threatened with execution. The ongoing situation in Northern Ireland with new peace overtures. And Iraq-Kuwait border skirmishes threatening to heat up a new batch of confrontations. All in all, a fun day in a fun week.

And somehow we all (or most of us) survived.

(a rude awakening that Thursday morning)

Twenty years ago this week Iraq invaded Kuwait and started what has come to be known as our odyssey in the Middle East. In what was largely a dispute over oil and profits, Iraq decided on settling the argument the old fashioned way - invading a neighboring country and setting up a puppet government. Kuwait immediately appealed to the United Nations and Iraq countered by saying it was for "the good of the Kuwaiti people" and it spiraled rapidly out of control, with the U.S. quickly getting involved with the aid of the Saudi's who were concerned the invasion would head in their direction.

Over the next six months the U.S. would mount one of the largest invasion forces in recent history with Desert Storm finally getting underway in February of 1991. But until then, it was an almost constant barrage of saber rattling, bluster, bluff and stabs at diplomacy.

Here is a review of August 2-5, 1990 as reported by ABC News World News This Week.