European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 16, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page it the stars and stripes sunday december 16, 1990 William Safi re suppose the Wishful thinking sweeping the world turns out to be wrong Rind Saddam Hussein docs not withdraw from All of Kuwait by the . Deadline Date. The major argument against launching an attack against the iraqi regime is not moral a even the sane Pioneer Sam Nunn has asserted it would be a a justified a but is presented As practice id the Cost in casualties of a land War would be top high., but proponents of 1 la Steirt s threat reject the need for an Inch by Inch Trench by Trench Reconquest of Kuwait featuring attacks of massed in Fantry and what is being advertised As history s most fearsome tank Battle. We say that such a conventional land War would be a fight on Iraq s terms. We see no need for the Allied forces to act like the hapless iranian army with human Waves attacking dug-., in defenders. Instead we envision a strategy put Forward by Alexander do Seversky 50 years too soon a Victory through air Power.�?�. Unfortunately for us the argument of the sane pioneers rightly worried about High casualties was bolstered last week by of All people Gen. Colin Powell the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Powell a product of the army derogated the air Power strategy its a Nice tidy allegedly Low Cost incremental May work options that Are floated around with great regularity All Over this apparently he sees air Power As a Means Only to soften enemy defences before invasion by infantry and Armor both Overland find seaborne. Such a coordinated assault spreading participation to each of the armed services would a suddenly massively decisively a in Secretary of state James a. Baker ill s words be of this is the actual strategy and not just a plan made Public to scare the iraqi dictator it is probably designed to avoid the gradual escalation that characterized our failure in Vietnam. That a understandable so is the army a desire to justify its existence by bearing the Brunt of the Battle but such a strategy docs not fit the Mission. The Mission is not to push he iraqi army out of Kuwait at All costs. The military Mission is to destroy the enemy a potential for muss destruction and to break the iraqi regimes will to resist at the lowest Cost in casual ties. It a Quot we have been investing in the worlds biggest and Best air Force for decades to be Able to do precisely that. Within a month we should be Able to drop a Hundred times the tonnage of explosives used against Germany in world War ii with infinitely greater accuracy at closely observed targets. The concentration of the iraqi army in Kuwait creates Tom Wicker opportunities for effective attack from the air and for the destruction of water supplies our enemy would soon be thirsty worsened by the redirection of water away from Iraq by Turkey. R. Air Power May bring Saddam to his Knees or it May not we should treat bombing As the next Sanction and in Sam Nunns phrase in a More cautious context we will never know if this Sanction will work unless we try it. Time enough after Aerial persuasion has removed iraqis nuclear Poison Gas and germ warfare facilities a and after the iraqi War machine has at least been decimated a for the commander in chief to order ground troops to invade. A it May be that Saddam will make that decision for us with a Bullet to his own head or an offensive strike. If the latter better for us that his army Abandons Dugin defensive positions we have the ground forces in place to win. Such a two phase War must be an option with its possibility of never having to move to the ground phase the National Security adviser Brent scowcroft is after All an air Force general. It would not be Nice or tidy but air Power May work if not the allies have ground forces to the South and North of Iraq to follow through. Would it be Worth the sacrifice a if we done to Stop him now a said Richard Nixon in a recent speech a we will have to Stop him later when the Cost in the lives of Young americans will be infinitely even longtime doves have come to respect Nixon a foreign policy views and he sets great store on the need for credibility a if we fail to Roll Back his aggression a peacefully if possible by Force if necessary a no potential aggressor in the future will be deterred by warnings from the . Orby . Resolutions.�?�. Well know in a month if Force is necessary at that time president Bush should give air Power its Chance to be the final Sanction. A a. New York times. A a a a a a a a Public support of Bush in Mideast paper thin Milton Berle is Back on television and Dan Quayle is Back in action. In his appearance before the Republican governors. However Quayle was funnier than Uncle Millie. A by portraying themselves As the party of peace and the administration As the party of w Are the \ ice president solemnly declared some congressional democrats a seem to have placed partisanship above surely was the greatest flip Flop since George Bush forgot to read his own lips. At least since the third and Minisini Ion of for Republican orators have castigated the democrats As a the party of War Quot a Thev were in office when world wars i and 11 and the korean War began a an exercise in partisanship that should make a precinct Captain Blush. Wilh More Justice Vietnam later was adj to the Litany which some Republican candidates still to a partisan audience in a speech Drippin a with partisanship a Republican vice president accuses the democrats of Quot partisanship and Lack of Quot statesmanship Quot a whatever that is a for Quot portraying the republicans As Quot the party of w ar.�?�. The pot Calls the Kettle Black and tails. To recognize the irony. Quayle a remark did serve to make a serious Point he did not intend. Since the republicans Camp to the White House with Ronald Reagan in 19s0, they have been the More warlike of the parties a in Nicaragua Lebanon Grenada Panama now in the Middle East and they boast that their military buildup brought the end of the cold War a plausible argument that nevertheless overlooks the soviet unions now apparent internal problem the last ideological reflect ing a More virulent anti communism. Others on the list Are at least partly attributable to being in Power democrats and republicans depending on who was in the White House have been addicted to military intervention in the Caribbean and latin America. \ since world War h. Presidents of both parties have shown themselves willing a sometimes eager to Quot project american Power abroad. \ in part this has been the necessity of responsibility at least As presidents have a seen their responsibilities. A one of any administration s prime duties is to conduct 3 Strong foreign policy and safeguard the perceived National in t Crest a As h a Rev t rum a a de , tried to do in Korea and As George Bush Republican is doing in the Middle East. In part also a often in larger part a presidents have succumbed to what former sen. William Fulbright d-ark., called a the arrogance of Power Quot. They had it so they used it sometimes with results ranging from unhappy to disastrous a As with president Kennedy at the pay of pigs Johnson add Nixon in Vietnam Reagan in Lebanon and Bush in Panama a a. A a a two democrats three republicans More important five presidents five Corn Manders in chief. A. Quayle regaling the Republican Gover nors with the Lack a of the a other party made still another Point not in his prepared remarks presidents tend to confuse their the will of the people and to cloak their decisions in. The stars and stripes of patriotism a a a a a the fact of the is a the vice. President . That the american people support Tot the people cad support the deploy Tom of . Forces m saudi Arabia to Stop egg . the threat a to Oil arc m of Corres Kicmal. Democrats. A. Quot a a a but the fact of the matter really is that every poll and any Man on the Street investigation discloses that the same american people have deep qualms and Many reservations about launching a War against Iraq a for the above purposes or any Bush has been Able to make Clear. 1 a a Congress solidly United behind the president would strengthen our chances for peace Quot Quayle it might if its assumed that Bush s policies a strengthen the chances Tor peace. To Quot y or Congress might unite behind him it presidents were immune to Challenge or if in fact their policy decisions in some mysterious Way did reflect or become the w ill of the americans have no reason any longer if they Ever did to assume presi dents know Best. In a democracy even presidents never can or should be freed from Emu Lenge. A / a Quot v �.-. A a a and if George Bush takes the nation into War in the Middle East without tur ther cause a particularly since the hostages have been freed a he a Likely to Foo out that its people will be anything on United in his support. A Lew York times
