European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 21, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 1d the stars and stripes thursday january 21,1988 James j. Kilpatrick Bush Dole gain Little by attacking each other sen. Bob Dole is doing himself no Good by his feckless efforts to beat life into a dead horse. George Bush gained link by demanding that Dale disclose his wealth. Whal docs he have and when did he gel it this pc try sniping makes Boih republicans look worse than they Are. Come on Guys Knock it off the Iran Canara affair Long ago ceased to get the Public adrenals pumping. Not one person in 10,000 is hungering to learn about inc role of vice president Bush in the fiasco. The president fathered i baby hush was t even an Uncle. Nevertheless for reasons that must seem to him Lac locally sound. Dole Viceps Harpine on a tired theme what did Bush know and when did he know it who gives a Damn Bush has said Over and Over that he was generally informed of the arms Deal that he was not kept advised of particulars and that he solidly sup ported the president s Aims. This May not be enough for Dole and the pcs Monics Register but it is More than enough for voters who Long ago got bored with such penetrating questions As was the meeting of the National Security Council on Jan. 7, 1986, a meeting of the full Council maybe a handful of political junkies still care deeply about the Iran mantra affair. The most Savage Cagan Halcus still slaver at the Prospect of pulling Ollic North behind bars. The rest of us accept inc lamentable Rulh thai Reagan s Road to political hell was paved with his Good intentions he meant to free the no macs to improve relations with Iran and to prevent the establishment of a soviet base in Nicara Gua toward these ends inc president and his aides cled Holly but unwisely. The president repeatedly has expressed sorrow for his mistakes. Bush has publicly rued them. If in arc is political advantage to be gained by chewing on this dry beef i cannot perceive 11. No juice remains. Negative campaigning rarely succeeds in american politics. To be sure politics 11 a body Contact sport. The press bored by issues loves nothing so much As let s you and him fight. When inc hoots have barbs and the shafts have witty Points the fans whoop and holler. Bui a Lille of this Bare knuckled stuff goes quite a Long Way. Dole should be especially aware of thai truism. He is a naturally witty Man nobody has to write one liners for him. In nagging at Bush Over the Iran Contra affair. Dole runs a serious risk of reviving old images of he Dole who loves to Cut and slash. By the same Token Bush will gel Little mileage out of Anthony Lewis personal attacks on Dole. The senator would be Well advised to disclose his assets and gel that distasteful business Over and done with but i have a Hunch that the Public is gelling increasingly sour on what May be perceived As invasions of privacy. The two leading republicans. Bush and Dole have in obligation to move this Campaign to a higher level of information and debate. This does t mean an end to inc fun and games. Humor always will have us place. What is most needed is a serious exposition by the candidates of where they would Lead the country if they Are Given the Chance. Social problems have id be addressed. By general agreement current programs of Public welfare Are a mess. What would Bush and Dole do about them sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah who is Noi even a candidate. Has dared to propose a conservative approach to the troublesome business of child care. What would Bush and Dole propose what of the homeless people is there a Federal obligation Here i would be constructive to hear inc candidates on inc plight of Public education. One study after another hos documented the shortcomings of our schools. Yet education historically has been a primary responsibility of inc states and the localities. Mow do they see a Federal role fiscal problems arc no less grave. What can be done politically and realistically done about our imbalance in Trade about Federal deficits about inc weakening Dollar Are we spending too much on de sense or nol enough if higher taxes mull be imposed what taxes sure candidates in both parties have addressed these issues in debates and in position papers but they must keep pounding away. T could t care Lesi about where George Bush was on the afternoon of Jan. 7, 1986, or whether Bob Dole has Assels of i million or 12 million let s get to things that Mailer. A Dubrul pm1 syn Kilb brutal techniques of White control in South Africa for All thai americans have Learned Aboul South Africa in recent years we remain largely unfamiliar Wilh the mechanisms of while control. How does a government representing a Small minority of the population actually a scr. Cite totalitarian Dominion Over the vast majority an exceptional insight into the techniques is now available. It is a report by the lawyers committee for human rights on whal in rightly Calls a tragedy of car Ordinary dimensions the destruction of four Black communities at the squatter location of Crossroads near Cape town. The four communities were burned to the ground in May and june Isth. Resi dents who tried to protect their Homes were assaulted and shot. Fifty three were killed and 70,000 left homeless. Even by South african standards it was an event of exceptional savagery. Yet the world has paid in Lille attention and the South african government has inc Govch Manl Fias Mere Louig i largely escaped responsibility. The Epi statement said lode has been treated As an example of Blat con Black  president Reagan for example said at the time what actually happened i that officials of the White government encouraged factionalism at Crossroads. They supported group of right Wing vigilantes in attacks on opponents of apartheid. They armed the vigilantes. Government Security forces were on hand helping when inc vigilantes it lacked and burned the four communities. All thai is documented in the report in chilling detail. Legal organizations in South Africa collected hundreds of statements from residents doctors and other witnesses. They provide Over whelming evidence that policemen and soldiers supported the vigilantes and were themselves involved in burning and killing. Many witnesses described both the vigilantes and the police As using an incendiary weapon that shot whal looked like a grenade Al the Crossroads shacks when in landed it would explode and ther would be flames one sworn men in Blue uniforms knocked me to inc ground and started kicking  one of the confusing things about South Africa is that it has courts and an Independent press institutions that we rely on to prevent abuse of government Power. Why do hey not work in South Africa As they do in Western democracies again the lawyers committee re port is informative. After the first round of destruction in May 1986, residents in one Crossroads Community that still existed actually went to court. The Legal resources Cen Ter a Public interest organization produced massive evidence of official participation in inc destruction. The court convinced enjoined the army and inc police from assisting encouraging or Al lowing an attack on the remaining Community. What happened the court order was simply ignored. Two weeks lain the last of the four communities was destroyed. And the report finds. The participation of the so curly forces was even More Bla  the police and the army did their it is Blacks fighting against Blacks be cause in arc is still a tribal situation involved there in that  armoured cars were in and around the shantytowns while they were destroyed Beil to keep the press from seeing abuses. One Man described Bow he we attacked some Douma lists were Bra Lally a a by five vigilantes with axes and clubs. He one. A cameraman George de ath died ran to a nearby armoured car for help of injuries from a vigilante attack a col when he reached in he said four White league charged that the police failed to help him promptly As he Lay bleeding before them. And the Crossroads events were before the real crackdown on the press. The emergency regulations now in Force for bid journalists even to be present at any violence. And the government is threat ening to close the few newspapers that have tried to keep reporting official re  is a particularly Lellig example of the human Reahm of apart Heid. Black families put up their pathetic Little shacks Here in the first place be cause the rules of apartheid barred them from Legal residence in the whole Cape town area which was the Only place they could find work the government wanted urgently to remove the Crossroads settlement be cause in was such a visible Symbol of racism s Cost but too Many people were watching for a direct assault by bulldozers. The solution was to Art through the vigilantes and then deny any part in the  vigilante have now been Given official status. Their Leader has authority in Crossroads and a number of vigilantes have been made special Consul Bio. In is a new Lum in an old pattern of governance in South Africa Divide and "