IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0099 KCLMA Washington Version
Held at: Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London
Title: Washington Version, television documentary archive
Date(s): 1986-1992
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 11 boxes or 0.11 cubic metres
Name of creator(s): Brian Lapping Associates
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Washington Version is a three part television documentary on the Gulf War produced for BBC Television and Discovery Channel by Brian Lapping Associates, a London based television production company. The documentary was conceived and arranged for The American Enterprise Institute by Richard Perle. The producers were Mark Anderson, Norma Percy and Grace Kitto. The UK version of the documentary was transmitted by BBC2 on 16, 17 and 18 Jan 1992, the US version was transmitted on 17, 24 and 31 January 1992. The US version of the documentary was titled The Gulf Crisis: Road to War, and Program 2 was titled 'New World Order'.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
The collection includes uncut audio cassettes, video cassettes and transcripts of interviews, concerning events leading up to the Gulf War (1990-1991) such as the role of the United States in the liberation of Kuwait following its invasion by Iraq, 2 Aug 1990; US relations with the international community coalition which included Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Soviet Union; the role of the United Nations; and the background to decisions taken by the US government in response to the invasion and up until the ceasefire of 28 Feb 1991.
It also contains related transcripts of US Congress proceedings, research files, news cuttings, video cassettes of the three episodes of the television documentary The Washington Version as broadcast in the UK, scripts for each episode, draft version of scripts and documentary, as well as uncut video cassette footage of television news reports, press conferences and addresses, contemporary to the conflict.
The documentary was advertised as 'a personal history of the Gulf Crisis told by US Cabinet members, their deputies and key allies'. Those interviewed include James Addison Baker III, US Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard B (Dick) Cheney, US Secretary of Defense, 1989-1993; Robert Gates, Assistant to the US President and Deputy National Security Advisor, 1989-1991; Gen Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor, 1989-1993; James Danforth Quayle, US Vice President, 1989-1993; Stephen Joshua Solarz, Democrat member of US Congress, 1975-1993; Gen Colin Powell, Chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gen Norman Schwarzkopf, Commander in Chief; Thomas Stephen Foley, Democrat member of US Congress, 1965-1995, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, 1989-1995; Ambassador Thomas Reeve Pickering, US Permanent Representative to the United Nations, 1989-1992; Lawrence S Eagleburger, Deputy Secretary of State, 1989-1992; Richard N Haass, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director, Near East & South Asian Affairs, National Security Council, 1989-1993; John Kelly, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs, 1989-1991; Robert M Kimmitt, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, 1989-1991; Charles Powell, Baron Powell of Bayswater, Private Secretary to the British Prime Minister, 1984-1991; Dennis B Ross, Director, Policy Planning Staff, US Department of State, 1989-1992; H E Sheikh Saud Nasir Al-Sabah, Kuwait Ambassador to the US, 1981-present; Joseph Charles Wilson IV, Charge d'Affairs, US Embassy, Baghdad 1988-1991; Paul Dundes Wolfowitz, Under Secretary for Policy, US Department of Defense 1899-1993; Sergei Tarasenko, Policy Advisor to Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze 1985-1991; and Martin Indyk, Washington Institute for Near Eastern Policy, 1984-1993.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: Mainly English, some Russian and French.
System of arrangement:
The material has been arranged in sections as listed above.
Conditions governing access:
Open, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies, subject to the condition of the original, may be supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Trustees of the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, attention of the Director of Archive Services.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Detailed catalogue will be available on line soon and in hard copy in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives reading room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Presented to the Centre by Norma Percy, Brian Lapping Associates, in four deposits, 28 Jul 1992, 4 Aug 1992, 13 Aug 1992 and 22 Mar 1994.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Alison Field
Date(s) of descriptions: March 2002