European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                . Rosenthal the enemy of our enemy in t our Friend consider please this Story of two Middle Eastern presidents one of them murders and tortures his people invades his neighbors swears death to Israel trains terrorist gangs and dispatches them to foreign lands. The planes tanks and missiles of mass destruction he commands were sold to him by the West and the soviet Union. The United states recognizes him As a deadly threat marshals a world coalition against him threatens him with War crimes trials and debates How to end his life and Rule a quickly through War or slowly through the hunger of his people. The other Middle Eastern president murders and tortures his own people invades his neighbors swears death to Israel trains terrorist gangs and dispatches them to foreign lands. The planes tanks and missiles of mass destruction he commands were sold to him by the West and the soviet Union. The United states sends its Secretary of state to visit him embraces him As an vital ally and talks about his role in the great new Middle Eastern order. But there is one difference Between Saddam Hussein of Iraq our enemy and Hafez Assad of Syria our ally. The dictator of Syria bears inescapable responsibility for the deaths of far More americans a including 189 blown apart in the bombing of pan american flight 103 Over Scotland. Relatives of the americans whose lives ended Over Lockerbie now bristle to see their country Consort with and make an ally of Assad a Syria. Kathleen r. Flynn Mother of John Patrick Flynn murdered in the air at 21, wrote to John h. Kelly an assistant Secretary of state a am i missing something is Syria not on the state departments list of countries that sponsored terrorism is not president Assad the same Man who has protected and supported Ahmad Jibril the terrorist responsible for the bombing of pan am 103? Are not the atrocities committed by this syrian Leader Well documented by our state department a Kelly is the Middle Eastern expert who is infamous for trying to quiet congressional fears of Saddam just before iraqis aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. No reply has come yet from Kelly. But when secretant of state James Baker Iii visited Assad he did talk to him Howard Kleinberg to you want to watch sap Pam h055�/m with je55e mck50n., 5appam Hussein with pan rather or sap Pam Hussein quest h06t1ng the to amp night show a about pan am 103. The United states has asked before that Syria expel from Damascus the palestinian terror gang headed by Jibril. Around the world intelligence agents Are convinced that this gang destroyed the plane with an iranian contract and syrian contrivance. Straight faced Assad said that if sufficient evidence is presented he will take action. Maybe. The evidence is in his Mirror. For years Assad paid and trained the Jibril gang. Someday Assad May order the death of Jibril to shut his Mouth. But in any Western court of Law the president of Syria would be convicted As an accessory to murder before and after the fact. Yes i know the official answer a . National interest is to gather As Many Arab allies against Saddam As possible. This is the Washington version of the old Middle Eastern cynicism that the enemy of my enemy is my Friend. The problem is that time after time this a a pragmatism works violently against american National interest not for it. The reason is that the . Refuses to Tell the world the truth a we need this particular dictator for a while but he is no less a murderer today then yesterday and soon will be a threat to us again. So after a Short while the rationalizations begin Well he May not be so bad after All you cannot hold a grudge forever you can do business with this fellow he is not like the others. Already it is said about Assad As it was about Nasser Saddam and a procession of iranian politicians. The new and inexperienced israeli foreign minister David Levy is sending Shiv ers into some of his colleagues by whispering that maybe Assad will turn out to be a reasonable Type. There is a Long list of american and israeli politicians who were willing to ignore Assad a River of blood for the dream that they could pacify him. They Are gone Assad is not. Saddam and Assad Are creatures of the Only form of society the Arab Middle East has known a dictatorship. They hate each other because of their colliding ambitions each wants to be the biggest Arab dictator. Dictatorships Are inherently unstable. Unstable dictators with huge armies Are inherently dangerous. We forget that and Arm them to kill us. We ought to have Learned that lesson again with Saddam. One Day we will learn it still again from Assad. C new York time looking behind the East bloc smokescreen Moscow a i am not making this up my wife and i Are seated on the left Side of a Malev hungarian airlines flight from Budapest to Moscow. Shortly after Takeoff we Are attacked by Clouds of cigarette smoke coming from the other Side of the narrow aisle a heavy russian Type cigarette smoke far More offensive than american cigarette smoke. I Call to the stewardess and Tell her that we chose seats in the no smoking Section. She says we Are seated in the no smoking Section. I Point across the aisle and ask Why those two men Are smoking. A the right Side of the plane is for smoking and the left Side is no smoking Quot she says with a straight face. Welcome to Eastern Europe a where the human lung is under a constant state of siege. It is not necessary to maintain troops and missiles As a deterrent against the Eastern bloc any More and it has nothing to do with the new wave of democracy sweeping through the Region. If the pronouncements of researchers and doctors about smoking Are Correct then just about everyone East of the old Iron curtain will be dead As a result of cigarette smoke inhalation before the turn of the Century. Smokers and exposed non smokers alike. Those who do not succumb to cigarette smoke surely will to other forms of polluted air in Eastern Europe. The Warsaw pact nations it would appear have been More vulnerable to smoke supplied carcinogens than they were to any of natos nuclear tipped mis Siles. One cannot have a meal in a restaurant or stand in the lobby of theater without being overwhelmed by the amount of cigarette smoke filling the air. My introduction to a nation smoking itself to death came in Israel in the late �?T60s. Seemingly every israeli i came in Contact with had a cigarette in his or her lips. Golda Meir was a pacesetter. When i had the Opportunity to interview her i could not help but notice that she was a Chain smoker a unfiltered Chester Fields no less. Returning to Israel in the mid-�?T80s, i did not detect any decline in the amount of cigarette smoke wafting through the air. It was rationalized that Israel is a nation always on the Edge of destruction and israelis smoked that much to relieve the tension. A similar situation May be Why Eastern europeans Are smoking themselves to death. An uncertainty about the future can be blamed for this As Well. I am told Eastern europeans and russians have been on this smoking Binge for decades a which is approximately How Long communist governments have been plotting their futures. Smoking is so significant in the soviet Union that cigarettes Are now a form of Wampum a goods to be traded in lieu of Cash. A cab ride in Moscow May Cost $5 or it can be arranged to be paid for with two packs of Marlboro. There Isnit anything you can to buy on the soviet Black Market with the proper amount of cigarettes. Meanwhile russians stand in line for hours a some times smoking As much As a pack while waiting a to Purchase cigarettes that currently Are rationed to five packs to a customer. One reason for this a the official reason a is that half the soviet unions cigarette factories Are closed for repairs causing a severe shortage of the dubious commodity. The other reason a the one i consider More plausible a is that the russians Are smoking faster than the factories can produce cigarettes. In the spirit of glasnost perestroika and the almighty Buck America is Rushing to Rescue the soviets from their cigarette problems. No we re not sending Over teams to help the soviets withdraw from their overwhelming dependency instead american Industry is Rushing billions of cigarettes to those in line waiting for a fix. Philip Morris and . Reynolds have made deals to Supply the soviets. Earlier this month . Reynolds announced that it had signed an agreement to ship 14 billion cigarettes to the .s.r. That would appear to me to be just a Days Worth Philip Morris Hasni to said How Many it will Send but did say it was the largest single cigarette Export order in its history. In its Way this is a warlike act a not unlike the gift of the Trojan horse. Or As the american comedian Jay Leno has observed about the Sale a a it a goodbye Iron curtain hello Iron  Cox news service