European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Al a a so Friday August 10,1990george f. Will . Ions unlike those of 1940 Saddam Hussein has crowded his 53 years with action As Hitler crowded his 56. Saddam Hussein at this Point is More a disturbance and Cost than a menace to the United states but he forces us to face facts hitherto sedulously avoided. The wrong question with which diplomats Are comfortable is which nations in the Middle East Are Friendly a More pressing question is which nations arc really nations 5 a retired egyptian Diplomat once said a a Egypt is the Only nation state in the Middle East. The rest arc tribes with  he exaggerated. But when Saddam Hussein said a there arc no Borders Between Arab countries a he used the idiom of political myth pan arabist to express a political truth about the thin pedigrees and shallow roots of Many Arab states. Consider Kuwait a tiny kingdom run by cousins probably these. Things arc hard to sort out from a no triadic past of the thousands of cousins who run neighbouring saudi Arabia. Sixty percent of the 2.1 million residents of Kuwait arc not kuwaitis. This curious sort of nation not yet quite three decades into Independence has a regime that derives its legitimacy from premodern Semi tubal mores. In obliterating that regime Saddam Hussein has enjoyed the  the least kingly King Jordan a Hussein he is we will be assured the Quot moderate component of the pro Iraq coalition that includes Libya and the Plo. King Hussein a spokesmen liken Saddam Hussein to Bismarck the a blood and Iron Chancellor who created a United Germany from a Loose confederation of states. The comparison is to the wrong German. Saddam Hussein a resemblance is to another a Nasty Man with a moustache the financial times words who exploited intoxicating pan germanium the Way Arab demagogues exploit pan arabist. The Germany Bismarck created became dangerous because of something Bismarck neither shared nor encouraged a longing for More than Mere nationhood a Supranational myth of a Adas Volk a a cultural racial existence prior to and Superior to any Mere nation stale. The parallel Between this pan germanium and the dynamism of pan arabist is not exact but is disquieting. So is Saddam Hussein a emphasis riot on the Primacy of iraqi nationalism but rather of the baath party a an exportable entity As Carrier of pan arabist. Hiller remember had an Odd relationship to the German state. He was not a German citizen until shortly before he became Germany s Chancellor. He loathed the nations elites a Legal cultural religious administrative even military. He supplanted National symbols and anthems with party symbols and anthems the Swastika the Horst Wessel song. Oaths were taken not to the state but to the party Leader Hitler. By 1944 even the military Salute had been replaced by James j. Kilpatrick the match Keai Lluc i.4 Ujj p if the Hiller Sal Lei Saddam Hussein is not Hitler but the dynamism of his regime is Hitler Ian. That suggests he will not be stopped other than by Superior Force. A jordanian official refers contemptuously to Kuwait and other Gulf states As a Oil Wells with  but Jordan s Hashi mitc regime can hardly condescend to others concerning their attenuated nationhood. Jordan is a Jerry built state a product first of British diplomacy and then of military Conquest during the israeli War of Independence. Jordan a nationhood has been watery Gruel since 1974. Then King Hussein passively acquiesced in the decision of the Arab Summit at Rabat to designate the Plo As the sole legitimate representative of the palestinian people a the representative that is of a majority of the people in Jordan. King Hussein whose Strong suit is survival not legitimacy is a natural Pilot fish for the iraqi shark Saddam Hussein. A jordanian official says a the colonial Powers i bisected the Arab world to make us weak. If Saddam Hussein can put the Arab map together again who will regret what he did in Kuwait a that depends a or does it a on How Many More Arab Quot a  i i tire to. Map together people Are killed a to put the again a whatever that Means. When was that map together under the ottoman Empire before the tribes acquired flags that jordanian Diplomat expresses a political culture that has passed from tribalism to decadence without a moment of National flourishing. That Diplomat Speaks the language of decadence. The plaintive whine of the professional victim passing out the blame for his condition. King Hussein a treachery during the 1967 six Day War Cost him half his territory. By the time Saddam Hussein has been shoved Back into his Cage King Hussein will have lost a lot More than half his stature. As israelis Tutor on the rights of nations he will be a spent Force. The United states has two icy interests in this simmering crisis. One is material Oil. The other is Prudential the discouragement of aggression generally. What the United states is completely free of is any warm obligation a cultural spiritual Call it what you ii t Sorl a at years ago was sufficient to pull the United states into fighting Europe s dictators in the name of Europe a durable nations. Quot c Washington Post writers group panic Over Iraq s John Kenneth Galbraith who has forgotten More about economics than most of us will Ever learn once took a sardonic look at the prophets of gloom and doom. A we All agree Quot said the old professor a that pessimism is a Mark of Superior  a i or the past several Days since Iraq invaded Kuwait sue i Superior intellects have held Center stage. A on the Brink Quot cried the Wall Street journal Quot iraqi invasion boosts chances of recession in the . This  unemployment is rising so is the Cost of living. Higher prices on gasoline will affect every form of transportation from taxicabs to supersonic transports. Our world is going to the Bow wows. Maybe so but it would be pleasant to say to the professional doomsayers a Stop pushing. A Quot recession Quot by Long accepted definition is indicated by two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the Gross National product. We Haven to had Exen one negative Quarter. Economie growth since the first of the sear has been pathetically sluggish but the expansion that began m is is ill show my tee Halo life signs. Last weekend saw the worst of All re actions to the iraqi invasion panic. The major Oil companies panicked investors panicked the fellow who owns the filling station panicked and the nerd with three quarters of a tank of Gas waited in line for 30 minutes to fill her up. The Knucklehead saved maybe 5 cents a gallon on the four Gallons he Pul in. Big Deal. Let us draw a Long breath. At the moment nothing dramatic can be done about Kuwait it will do no harm to Send additional warships into the persian Gulf but unless we arc serious about a blockade it will do no particular Good. President Bush has made All the right moves thus far. He has taken the leadership in mobilizing world opinion against Iraq a and not opinion Only. Japan for one example would be far More inconvenienced than the United states by a prolonged halt in shipments of iraqi Oil but it is willing to go along with a worldwide embargo. The Best response to Iraq s Saddam Hussein is diplomatic . Exen the Baghdad bully must be impressed by his sudden isolation. The soviet Union has joined the diplomatic of Lori. Exen the United nations that palladium of insignificance has noted its condemnation. Unix the timorous Arab states have trembled at the Prospect of opposing Saddam Hussein to but perhaps they have much to be timorous about. The growing economic coalition is developing muscle. Patience. Let us have patience. Unless we Are willing to declare War against Iraq any blockade must be what is known in International Law As a a Pacific  that is what president Kennedy declared against Cuba at the time of the missile crisis in 1962, our own Navy doubtless could enforce a blockade on kuwaiti ports but the move would be ineffective unless pipelines across Turkey and saudi Arabia simultaneously were shut Down. The turks who profit handsomely from pipeline revenues have barred tankers from taking on iraqi Oil but have done nothing to the pipeline per be. The saudis who have taken no action Are terrified. Quot in will take a while to sort things out. The iraqis insist they Are withdrawing their armed forces front Kuwait the president says they Are lying and the president is probably right. In a in event a paper withdrawal is no More Sompres six e than a paper blockade. The Conquest of Kuwait is Complete. A puppet government is in place. Until we can think or something better us ,0, us think about keeping our Heads. The major Oil companies could assist in this worthwhile Endeavor by cancelling the Price increases they greedily sought this week. Their performance was shameful. One grimly expects american Industry to gouge the consumer while the gouging is Good but this was gouging on a grand scale. At the earliest the Impact of the invasion could not be Felt upon Oil deliveries until october. At that Date if the Price hikes on crude have been sustained a Price hike at the pump would be justified. Easy does it. Granted the Litany of bad news is enough to put even Little orphan Annie in the deep Blue dumps. Housing is Down the Market is Down Auto sales Are slumping and Mcdonald scan to sell its new pizza. Times Are Tough All Over. But keep in mind that the United states remains a great and powerful country. We Are not without resources and As events Haxe proved we Are not without friends. Saddam Hussein will learn this. We ought to learn it ourselves