European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Columns . Rosentha american might Bush freed the Hussein  no it was not Saddam who freed the hostages held in Iraq was George Bush f Lis instrument was not the United nations or economic pressure. It was the threat that if they were not released american armed Power would be used to destroy their Jailer lets understand that now before history is rewritten by Saddam a allies and apologists. Already stories Are being broadcast about How King Hussein of Jordan and Yasser Arafat talked him into it. Seems they looked deep into his eyes and told him that for the Sake of peace he must release the hostages. Saddam clapped his forehead and said a boys i never thought of that i will do  the gilding of Saddam will begin any Day now a a a he a not such a bad fellow of have to understand  it already Las started with Saddam a terrorist twin i Lascz Al Assad of Syria. We Are told by liberals and conservatives that we should actually thank Assad for making Lebanon his Colony. All those lebanese he slaughtered All those years Well what were they doing standing there in the Way of syrian shells silly people. Bush himself while opposing Saddam gives Assad respectability. Consistency a who needs it so before the process of turning Saddam into a Teddy Bear begins lets learn the lesson of the hostage re say  bom re Law How s your Domestic i Bush said american goals in the persian Gulf were to reject aggression liberate Kuwait restore the Royal family a and free the hostages. Somehow the objectives of stopping one More Arab against Arab foray or restoring the Oil Prince Lings of Kuwait to full use of their Bank accounts did not fire the american imagination or psyche. The Only one of those goals that moved americans was liberating the hostages. About that Bush neither blustered nor wimped. He assembled a powerful american Force of troops tanks planes and  a a a he made sure publicly and through every Back Channel that Saddam knew he would pay if the hostages were not freed not just with his face but his whole head. For Saddam the hostages became a vivid danger instead of an asset. Their release would bring him two connected benefits. One was to remove the certainty of the use of american Power to release them. The second was to Stoke . Congressional and Public opposition to use of Force to a a punish a aggression by restoring the kuwaiti Royal family. Still a if Bush had done what other presidents did about the hostage taking just Wail the hostages would still be in Iraq. So when the toasts Are raised about the hostages save one for the president. But he made an initial mistake from which he has not recovered and which can be Saddam a salvation. Bush did not give americans the. One overriding reason Tor using Force other than the hostages. The one other goal americans might have accepted if put to them and con Gross was the destruction of the chemical Power nuclear potential arid missile capability of a dictator for whom terrorism aggression and expansionism Are the very breath and bread of life. V a so after a kidnapping thousands of foreigners costing the world hundreds of billions of dollars virtually wiping out Kuwait As a National entity Saddam will have paid no Price Zero eventually he will offer to retire from Kuwait on the understanding which probably will be accepted by Washington and the Arab world that he then a a negotiate with Bis Arab Brothers about get Ting an o in Fie id a and two go if Island s from Kuwait. A \ saudi Arabia Kuwait and the other Oil states will then pour billions into Iraq just As they did before the invasion of Kuwait. Syria will allow the West to replace the bankrupt soviet Union As its arms supplier. A it a a a the  will make a big noise about keeping a coalition a a presence in the area. But never again will the Arab nations Muster to oppose. Saddam. He will not need to Send his tanks to control the Oil Supply of. The Gulf and thus the world he can do it by Telephone. If the Bush administration is unwilling to ask the american Public and Congress to act now to prevent Saddam a control of the Gulf and consequent domination of the Arab Middle East there is no Point keeping american troops in the desert to watch him enjoy his Cost free Triumph. V r and while we give Bush deserved Praise for rescuing the hostages Saddam can put up his boots and also raise a Toast a to himself. .11 c new York times. A. 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 the stars and stripes or the United states government. Jim Fain. F a a Quot. 1 a a a 1 a i ? a a a better heed warning to Reform two cheers for the most scorned anti hero of our time a the . Congress. You heard right. The 101 St has been bum rapped. Like the african wart hog it was far from Gainly but performed useful functions. The budget Brouhaha a Messy partisan demagogic a dirtied its face yet produced the first honest attack on the deficit in years As Tough As practical with the Economy in a Basket. A obviously this should have happened years ago when times were Good but How with presidents Reagan and Bush insisting lunch was on the House this years clean air act was the first decent piece of environmental Law in sons. Sure it should have gone further but the perfect does not rebut the Good. Child care got a foot in the door after All this time. Completely unnoticed among the last minute fireworks Congress also passed a military base closing scheme to eliminate the infighting that historically has made these defense decisions a por Burrel. Chairman Les Aspin of the House armed services committee Ramr Odded the plan. Bused on a 1988 one shot Compromise it sets up an ongoing bipartisan commission to review the Secretary of defense a list of recommended closings. It requires the Secretary to Send up a multiyear manpower plan in Advance so the base Structure can be rational. V a the secret weapon to make it work is an All or nothing provision. The package has to be voted up or Down As a whole. Congress can to add delete or tinker. The administration was no help on any of this. Secret tary Dick Cheney sent up a list of proposed closings in january that was a memorial to everything done wrong in the past. All but one or two were in democratic districts a an obvious tool to be used As Carrot and stick in lobbying Pentagon pets through Congress Aspinw a legislation amputated the politics. Cheney began his watch with no strategic plan beyond continuing everything Caspar Weinberger had started. It took a series of speeches by chairman Sam Nunn of the Senate armed services committee to Wake the administration to the fact the cold War was Over and it was time to shrink the armed forces to meet new Chal Blouse made sensible cuts the Senate was More reluctant to pare and insisted finally on hanging onto the r-2. Had the now wildly popular term limits for congressmen been in effect neither Nunn nor Aspin would have been around to make a modicum of sense out of the elephantine out of Date spending plans the Bush people sent them. Nor would Senate majority Leader George Mitchell have been on hand to Climax his decade of painstaking work with the new clean air Law. So Why Only two cheers because the 101st also Laid a ices. Even then Cheney fought hard to retain such Platinum plated systems As the b-2 stealth bomber a deployable Star wars and two new Mobile missiles. The Tolfe reason voters want to limit congressional terms is that astronomical Campaign costs plus special interest financing for incumbents make it almost impossible to vote out turkeys. Reform is badly overdue. It ought to include spending limits free to and Public financing. A a. A. Neither Congress nor Bush wants to touch that but they a better. There a a revolt brewing. If times get harder it could grow bitter a. Cox news service a