European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 5, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Paga 10 the stars and stripes columns James j. Kilpatrick whales created Bond for All god s creatures now that the whales have gone and we can took Back on what happened the whale Story seems preposterous absurd. Almost embarrassing. In one View a least the talc of the Gray whales or Point Barrow Speaks volumes about misplaced priorities and the goodness of Man. But there is another and i think a belter View of the Rescue Effort that occupied so much attention during the three weeks the Story stayed alive. For these few october Days people everywhere were moved by a deep sense or something beyond compassion. I cannot put a name to it. Psychologists and dream doctor would relate the feeling to the fear of being trapped a fear that constantly recurs in the worst of our night mares. In some curious Way we identified with the whales caught under 1ft inches of ice struggling to swim free. The Story began around oct. 7 or s when Roy Ahmaogak an alaskan whaler was returning la his Home from a nearby Village. In an open Patch of water he saw three whales spouting and jostling. They had overstayed their time in the Arctic. In the subzero temperatures their escape routes were swiftly freezing. The Story could have ended before i began. Ahmad Galt might Well have summoned a few friends with gaffes and ropes shot the whales and butchered the for the coming Winter. No one would have said a word. The Grays once nearly extinct have recovered to population estimated at 20,000. The three would not have been missed. Perhaps it was a sense of sportsmanship a manifestation of the loony ambivalence observed by Hunters everywhere. One shoots Only at Birds on the Wing. Inthe Blue Ridge Mountain county where i live one May kill a Deer on a Saturn apr a monday but no Man of Honor kills on sunday. The meat is the same but the Pride is different. Or possibly it was said by Way of explanation Eskimo palates prefer the Bowhead whale to the Gray whale. Blubber from a feed lot is tastier than blubber off he Range. Something Pika thai. In any event Ahmaogak spared the creatures. He notified wildlife officials. Local radio and television stations got onto the Story. The wire services picked it up by mid october the Story had taken on he kind of irresistible momentum that defies objective analysis. Around the world in Tokyo Moscow Mexico City new York people everywhere began to worry about the whales. Here in Washington the Story ranked wit the world series and the presidential race. To viewers watched in anxious fascination As the whales surfaced gasped for air and Sank again in the Black water. A cast of characters appeared. We came to know the inupiaq eskimos their smiling faces As round and Brown As new potatoes. The whales acquired names . Rosenthal and the Odd thing is that the whales were not lovable or cuddly they had none of the Charm of dolphins. We saw nothing of them but their bloody and barnacle snouts rising and falling. These were not old whales but they had the mottled look of great age and the were very tired. On oct. 21 the smallest of the three gave up the fight. Reporters sped to the scene and because thesis America local snowmobile taxis began charging up to $200 a head to take the press to ringside. The top of the world hotel in Barrow filled ail its 40 rooms to overflowing. Oil companies saw gushers of Good Public relations As they donated men and equipment. An enterprising manufacturer in Maryland sent an awesome machine propelled by an archimedean screw to Roar and snarl at the resistant  morning and evening on the to news we swathe glory develop. There were the eskimos with Chain saws cheerfully sawing ice holes like scatter rugs. Across the Frozen waste and a giant five ton wrecking Ball slamming at the ice. Great helicopters came fluttering to the site scattering a Small band of watchful Polar bean. The designers of to shirts magically produced appropriate souvenirs. Finally As in a Well plotted play came the Sovie icebreakers to heighten the drama. Could they smash through a 35-foot Wall of ice would they be in time the surviving whales were growing weak. Daylight was waning. And on the night of the 28th, the whales disappeared. They had found Freedom. In a Point Barrow bar soviets and americans toasted the Rescue in sour Mash Bourbon and excellent Vodka. The whole affair reportedly Cost a million dollars i Public and private funds but most of the expenses would have been incurred anyhow. The million doubt Lessly could have been spent More efficiently for saving More whales. But so what the Money was beautifully spent. In a Century that has seen much of Humankind at its worst for a few ticks of the clock we witnessed something better a time in which god s creatures knew a common Bond. The whales have gone. Maybe they will make it to lower California maybe they wont but they left a Lovely legacy behind in Vul ton 5yktk � there s another election no one sems to notice the president of a delicately balanced country critical to the United states is killed. His lop military officers die with him so do the ambassador and the military attache of the United states. There is at the very least the Strong suspicion that they were murdered and political logic indicates that the murder was committed by the same foreigners who had been threatening the president for years. This month there will be an election to replace him. Whatever happens it the country will affect the peace of a continent and the con tiding Security interests of the unite states and the soviet Union. Altogether it is pne of the most dramatic and important episodes taking place in the world. The american Public pays no , the death of president Zia. Of Pakistan and the 29 others who were. Aboard his plane when it crashed in Paki Stani territory on aug. 27 and its consequences would have disappeared except for the persistence of a few reporters like Elaine Sciolino of he Newyork times and Lally Weymouth of the Washington Post yes of course americans Are wrapped up in their elections. But that is not the whole truth. If the president of a european or Middle Eastern country and his chief advisers had been lulled in what so Many diplomats and intelligence specialists be Lieve was an assassination Iacre would have been unending uproar. The Zia Case i simply one More sign that even after fight ing three wars there americans still have strangely and unpleasantly lackadaisical attitude toward Asia and its people. When the news came the government of the United slates fumbled. The Fri was prevented from carrying out its function of investigating deaths of americans where sabotage is suspected. The slate depart ment and Uin White House were plainly nervous about a crisis suddenly blowing up that could touch the soviet Union. Pakistani invest Cathos have filed a report that eliminates the possibility of mechanical malfunction in the carefully maintained c-130 or of a missile striking the  leaves open Only one logical alternative sabotage. It is becoming More and More accepted in diplomatic an intelligence circles in this country and abroad As the Only reasonable conclusion. The belief is that the afghan communist government engineered Zia s death be cause he nude his country the essential Supply link that allowed american arms to reach the resistance. It is unlikely that an successor Wilt have the will and the strength 10 keep the line open and to continue giving Refuge to the 3 million afghans who have crossed the Border into Pakistan. The russians also had delivered warn Ings publicly dial the pakistanis could expect to pay a heavy Price for their continuing suppl of the resistance. The soviet Union has withdrawn half its troops from Afghanistan and has promised to withdraw the rest presumably by mid february. But the russians now show a deliberate. Hesitation about the  diplomats believe they will eventually put out but not without trying to install a new and More respectable puppet government in  would leave the resistance in control of the mountains and valleys but the soviet Union and it afghan supporters still Strong in the Forti fied capital. " diplomats Tike to say the end game i approaching in Afghanistan. The soviet Union can be expected to use All its Mili tary and diplomatic Powers to turn its de feat into a substantial political Victory Mikhail Gorbachev was astute and courageous enough to see that the War for Mili tary control Wai lost. Bui it would be naive almost to lunacy to expect him to give up soviet political influence without a Strug Gle. He will do his duty of using every Diplo Matic and military leverage Point. Diplomatically Moscow ii presenting a new Choice to head the Kabul government prime minister Hassan share a longtime soviet agent who is anathema to the resistance. Militarily the soviet Union sends new advanced jets to Afghanistan and hints of a slowdown inthe withdrawal Ovici diplomats quietly tic the two together by urging westerners to help Moscow get out by accepting a. Kabul government under the Friendly share. Of a the afghan resistance ii we armed and Hiis its own plans in mind which do not include a soviet sponsored regime in Kabul. So the Story goes on. In the telling should be remembered the president of Pakistan and the 29 who died with him