European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Richard Pyle military salutes new persian Gulf approach Many i a. Navy officers Iii the persian i Ulica girl had await i the lop level policy change Ihil now Willnus them i my Ncncy in iranian quacks on Neutral Nice Chan ships. Stimi1 Cit Mcd ill Rajic in the Pam nine or miss Over Iran s juju Boal  on unarmed shipping and la Weir own inability to do anything Arioul Ihm. It s like being a world class aili.li.ml1 who s always ready for the event hut never gets to  cmdr. Paul x. Firm. Skipper of the . Frigate Samuel i. Roberts sail recently. The sweeping policy change May encounter wrong objections in Congress. Many lawmakers have opposed any step that could draw the United Stales inn More confrontation with Iran which has been fighting neighbouring Iraq fur seven and a half years. Tin1 . Naval summand in the Middle East had no official reaction saturday to Hie policy swing. A spokesman for the . Juanc task font Middle tast who Spolec on condition Ufano Zymny. Declined com ment saying in was a Mailer fur discussion Amone in i  optic gals. But Manv . Oltie ers have Pri Vail made their feelings know 11 in past Mouths.  Hoo Days Hefner the Ken Jan aum Nistra Tion announced i lie i l c change Friday a senior Navy commander described an incident in which he had to older me of his frigates to pull Back from an iranian attack on a non-. Flagged vessel. I he Captain knew Ilie Ruks. Hul he really wanted to to after the  said the officer who spoke Pri vate ,. He asked list permission. Loll him no Back off in was prom unhappy. I Hail to say i  Sui h officers hau1 spoken hopefully of a policy change that would enable them to bring their firepower in Bear. If the iranians were going to attack one of our Cui Mijs Ihen d probably have done it by now one senior officer said. Rut it s pretty discouraging to Wake them attacking these other people and not be Able to do anything to Slop  under a policy in effect since july when the . Navy began escorting 11 ref jagged kuwaiti Oil tankers american warships could defend Only ships flying american flags. The policy included in so called rules of engagement allowed inc warships to provide humanitarian Aid in a non-. Hogged vessel in distress but Only if the ship asked for a they could nol intervene against the a Stacker. Thus. . Warships bristling Willi weapons were William f. Buckley or. Forced in hand off while iranian gunboats like Hie saharan the frigate Nasty As one norwegian Cap Tain Calls in Haj de away at unarmed vessels Wilh virtual impunity. The Sab Alan. Which usually goes for the Ere quarters of its Large is. Was severely damaged by . Bombs in clashes. Monday indeed Lite plan for a More Active role in the Gulf is a direct result of inc mining of a , frigate and Mon Day s extensive lighting Between iranian and . Forces administration officials said Friday. , forces Sank or crippled six iranian vessels thai challenged Ghent after they destroyed two offshore platforms in retaliation for the mining of the . Vessel. The Washington officials stressed thai Hie policy change docs not mean the . Navy will assume a broader role a scoring merchant ships. It s a random Targal of upper Unity approach de signed in throw the iranians olt guard said one Washington official who spoke on condition of Ano nym ily. This will give a of of authority to local command ers and a lot of leeway to do As they Sec  said another. Some officers say hints of a policy Shilt had been in the wind for months. They speculated that Hie move came As a result of other High level Channel including Frank Carlucci replacing Caspar Weinberger As do Fonse Secretary. Rear adm. Harold bin san. Former commander of inc . Middle East Force in the Gulf was reported last year o have been denied zip nailed operating a  officers fell thai rear adm. Anthony a. Less a two Star Admiral who replaced Bernsen in late february was in a position if he wanted to argue the Case anew with Morec Loul. One senior officer speaking on condition of anonymity said he believed a policy reappraisal was necessary because the . Presence had not effectively discouraged iranian threats to International shipping. The Kuwait convoys have been a big such Sci. But the Gulf is still a dangerous place for any ships not under that kind of escort he said. If ditch s note rth for. Nam a f"1" wtp""11 sad the government out of about $4 million the jury has ruled. There arc certainly no extenuating circuits dances. They did t a Croutc inc Money to save inc boat peo ple in Indochina. They used the Money to buy one More swimming poo and a dance Hall in their private residence. If they had paid inc taxes due. They d have Ion much less than 1 percent of i hair estimated net Worth of Between Sibil lion and $1 billion. The jury polled by the press showed no inclination to mercy. If Ever anybody deserved  one juror was quoted this couple  and the Public s reaction was. Well Ston hearted. You see Lcona Helmsley in particular has had much publicity and she was a Leal Impe nout lady i mean out Ali arc in Lite kitchens in the lobbies in the offices giving Ordyn to her huge staffs hiring and firing Wilhour any apparent compunction. That is a part of the Public mood. Anti her part is inc slut contempt for the stupidity of Lett harder icy fall. The trouble with this ii thai to Send the Helms lays to jail is just Plain stupid. There arc  inmate in Federal and stale prisons designed to hold less Ihan half that number. Every week 750 More people arc being Send to jail than Are leaving jail. The California prison population was 24,5o1 at the end of 1980. His now 68,139. And the big cry is id crack Down on crack users. If we succeeded in locating every one of them and pulling them All in jail we would need to multiply our jail facilities by 800 Dorcent. Yes there Are an estimated 4 million people who use crack. Thomas rep Ocllo. The presi Dent of the cilia cons crime commission of new York City reports in the new York times Hal Only 16 percent of All drug Selling felony arrests result in imprisonment and Only 41 percent of drug prison resources More or less As � Given. If More people arc convicted than Minnesota hns room for then More people arc released id make room for the new Comers. And the sentences of judges Are adjusted in accordance with inc stale s penological reserves. Thai s one Way to do it but not the smartest Way to do it if you think of Pris on As accomplishing two purposes the Fibril the punishment of the offender the second inc Protection of society. If there in t enough room in Minnesota for the people who Are Likely to murder _ or maim More room should be made. It s a big slate. The Helmsley Case is a locus classics Here will never again be a couple easier id punish instead of two years in prison Cost to the la Payera nol count ing court costs of gelling them there about j2j.ooo per year or about the Cost per year of a Small Helmsley hotel Roo the judge could sentence them to own. Whose Manger they can fire at the Hick of a Finger. Bui they could work a janitors in another hotel. Perhaps that Job for half the san Lenny for inc other half icy might be asked to perform duties in a municipal or Racli Sioui House for the homeless. The judge i imagination Here should be Given All the Kope he wishes. But the objective would be Plain to punish inc offenders to satisfy the Public thai restitution has been  and punishment raced out sad id save prison space for rapists murder in and mugger. As Fob the iif.ia1sleys tax lawyer it s Good that the  own the Empire slate a building the lop floor of thai building would he an appropriate place from which that lawyer could be instructed by the judge or the i1clmsic s Loump