In 1991, with preparations under way for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Columbus, President Bush ordered the liberation of Kuwait from Iraq. He was sent this letter:

Dear President Bush. Please send your assistance in freeing our small nation from occupation. This foreign force occupied our lands to steal our rich resources. They used biological warfare and deceit, killing thousands of elders, children and women in the process. As they overwhelmed our land, they deposed our leaders and people of our own government, and in its place they installed their own government systems that yet today control our daily lives in many ways. As in your own words, the occupation and overthrow of one small nation . . . is one too many. Sincerely, An American Indian (A People's History of the United States, 627).