European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes column Martin Gottlieb All this political Money grubbing in t necessary in Saddest thing about the r n a a. / the Saddest thing about the Way the politicians grub for Money these Days is that much of the grubbing is unnecessary. Take California democratic sen. Alan Cranston who is saying that the problem is that a senator in California must raise incredible amounts of Money to buy television ads. On this shabby rationale did Cranston attempt to justify having taken Campaign contributions from Charles Keating the notorious financier now under Federal investigation for his role in the nations biggest savings and loan collapse. Suppose Cranston had simply and publicly refused before his 1986 Campaign or in preparation for 1992, to raise Money. He would not have been the first politician to do so. Former sen. William Proxmire a wis did and won big again and again Well into the Era of big Moncy politics. The Proxmire example is generally shrugged off by the political cognoscenti. Who patiently explain that Proxmire was an a a institutions in Wisconsin. Most Likely taking this stand helped him to become an institution but sen. Lawton Chiles d-fla., took basically the same approach to his Only two efforts at re election and won easily both times in a state that was moving All the time toward the opposition party and that had huge numbers of new voters All the time which presumably diminishes the advantage of incumbency. First in 1976, Chiles said he would accept no contribution bigger than $ 10. He spent very Little. Yet his opponent got Only 37 percent of the vote. That example too is written off by some because Chiles opponent had an extremist background. So try this before Chiles 1982 race the National Republican party a be Flora Lewis Lincoln savings and can junk Bono Shaft office of 0ece6olation a. Thrift supervision Chaklos Washin amp run Holdt bks a Lieving the Florida seat really ought to be a gop one a announced that it would massively Aid any gop challenger. In response. Chiles refused to accept any contribution Over $ 100. He bought Only a few ads. His opponent bought massive television time which he used to Point out that the incumbent had voted to raise the social Security retirement age and to trim social Security Cost of living in creases and to hike payroll taxes the gop candidate indeed Ullh k. Ter than his 1976 counterpart-38 percent of the votes. He got. As to Cranston he is As Well known in California As it is possible to be h has always been popular. Did he really Benefit More in 1986 he getting into a frantic tit for Tat Battle of to ads with his opponent or would h have done As Well by simple being above All that two facts a 8 a declaration of Independence from big Money contributors gives a politician a wonderful Issue. With one swoop he makes his Oddo nent the candidate of the corporations the wealthy the interest groups the Dollar the system. Its a particularly great posture fora Liberal Democrat like Cranston. 2 in a race that is covered aggressively by the Media the importance of television ads fades. This fact is lost on the nation s political analysts because in the Early stages of a political Campaign and campaigns do have a measurable Impact on Public preferences. A candidate who is not on the air in those stages is Likely to lose ground to one who is. But the changes in polls at such stages Are ephemeral. The polls Are eliciting shrug of the shoulder views that Are based on almost nothing and can be changed by the tiniest input. A by november that Sall changed. People have done some sorting out. And experience suggests that the first input they discard is that presented in the silly commercials that predominate these Days. Just because the politicians Are obsessed with trivia a what do the ads say and How often Are they broadcast a that does no to mean the Public is. C Cox news service human rights spotlight needs to stay on Iraq Paris a the official murder of a British freelance journalist Farzad Bazot in Baghdad put the spotlight on Iraq for a few Days. It should stay there. Torture summary execution flagrant violation of the most Basic human rights have not been wiped out and Iraq remains one of the worlds worst offenders. It has escaped criticism for Many reasons none valid. For nearly a decade Iraq was at War with Ayatollah Khomeini a Iran. Though its ruler Saddam Hussein started the fight a Broad tacit coalition of countries West and East Felt threatened by the possibility that Iran might win. So Iraq was aided and indulged. There is still no peace agreement but the War is Over. Both regimes survived. Iran remains rightly on the attention list of human rights monitors. A sanitized report on conditions there by an Overly diplomatic . Investigator raised an outcry and there is to be another inspection. Iraq has never admitted inspectors at All neither lion official organizations which can be pressured into discretion nor from non governmental groups. It simply denies All charges however Well documented a or As in the Case of Bazot claims justification without evidence. Of course Bazot was Foolhardy. He was of iranian origin but he thought being officially invited with other Western journalists would be Protection enough in his attempt to dig out facts about Poison Gas production. All Middle East newspaper hands know horrendous stories about the iraqi regimes arbitrary rules the cruelty of its special police its presidents obsession with secrecy and absolute Power. Most watch out. They done to try too hard for proof. And on the whole Hussein has escaped opprobrium. There Are outbursts of indignation when something becomes too obvious killing a foreign newsman gassing Large numbers of kurd wiping out villages. But then the spotlight shifts. The state department issues annual reports with no consequence. Amnesty International is Short on documentation. A new non governmental organization Middle East watch part of the respected new York based human rights watch has just put out a thick dossier on Iraq but it attracted Little notice. It seems to be accepted As Baghdad claims that How it treats its own people is nobody else s business. Credits Loans arms flow freely despite iraqis huge debts and fearsome reputation. It has Oil. A they talk about Romania a said one Western journalist. A Saddam makes Ceausescu look like a  like Nicolae Ceausescu did he runs a very tight shop and trusts few outside his own family. Fear is All pervasive. There Are frequent exposes of rights violations in Morocco in the French press. A we know Iraq is much worse a one French reporter said a but we have a lot of personal and cultural contacts with Morocco. We Arentt much concerned with Iraq and then the government wants to encourage  one of the More despicable aspects of what has become human rights politics is the pot and Kettle game. Criticism is deflected by pointing someplace else establishing a grisly yardstick for the perverse privilege of coming in second or third or Down the list of heinous offenders. Ideology and strategy still weigh on the scale. The United states chooses to focus on Cuba and Over look China in its condemnations. Arab cruelly is no excuse for israeli violations and vice versa. There s no Exchange rate in this currency. But there is a need to inform and denounce whoever the victims. Middle East watch quotes the frequent diplomatic Brushoff that a the iraqi government is uniquely impervious to criticism on human rights issues a which it Calls a at Best  the responsibility is All the greater now that Hope is coming to fruition in Large parts of the world. Human rights Only recently became accepted rights in most of Europe and latin America probably coming even in South Africa. It was human courage and persistence that toppled or tamed familiar monsters. Western support mattered. There a no reason to spare the less familiar. Six years ago an iraqi wandered into my office to ask Why America France and others were so silent on the terror in his country. I had to Tell him that we had too Many other dreadful things to worry about. But i was sorry and i realized that his daring even to raise the question was a sign of stirring and refusal to go on in endless mute submission. He must be More perplexed than Ever Why we Are so selective now that concern for human rights has proved effective. There is still too Long a list untouched by Hope. C new York times the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of i he stars and stripes or the United states government