European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse How pm it is on tube it Jolt it Winter evenings,t0$nu66le Down in rent of to and watch the Warwar in the Gulf America s mood conflicting images competing feelings analysis by Peter Applebome new York times by its nature War is a journey Down a dark Uncertain path. With the Road ahead often becoming More twisted and unnerving the farther the journey progresses. A. A but As the War in the persian Gulf begins to look less like a Jaunty Cross Between Nintendo and top gun and More like an extended foray into an ominous desert environment the sense of uncertainty throughout the United states is almost palpable. In the Short run the deep divisions that wracked the country before the Start of the War have been largely submerged in patriotic Fervour As reflected in soaring poll ratings for president Bush and. In a flurry of Impromptu expressions of patriotic support around the country but in fact the War that americans see is marbled with conflicting images that give Rise to competing feelings. People at dinner at the office i sports bars hear the alarm sirens Wail As people hear them in Riyadh or Tel Aviv,.but what television shows is a curious disembodied War that is seemingly All. A. A. Menace but no death. 1 Vav there Are other disconnections. Only months. A ago the nation was said to Bea a virtually broke with More will than Wallet. Now the War costs a half billion dollars a Day and there s less talk of who pays the Bill. This is a conflict in which a group formed to support the War Effort answers its phones by saying Quot peace committee and an anti War group Calls itself the military families support network. The traditional political labels often provide no clue As to who supports the War and who opposes it. Quot the american people Are starved for a Victory but aside. From that its probably easier to predict what Saddam. Hussein is going to do than How the american people Are going to react to every jiggle and turn Over the next few. Months Quot said Harrison Hickman a democratic poli taker Quot it s like Reading Tea leaves that Are almost the color and texture of the Quot still responses to the War provide some clues to How the country has changed in recent years and How it has a remained the same. A \ although anti War demonstrations have attracted the most attention a More representative phenomenon May have been a groundswell of Small spontaneous demonstrations in places like Alvin Texas Gainesville and Alameda a Calif that were meant to support the troops. Quot this will not be like Vietnam the support will grow and grow no matter How Long the War digs on Quot said Stevie Johnson 32, a court reporter who organised a rally that brought out about 1,000 persons in Alum. In fact even As millions of americans turned from the Gulf news last week to watch a pcs series evaluating changes in the country since the 1960s, it was Clear that much of what is happening in this War is a reminder of How much seems utterly unchanged in the nations culture. Like All modern american wars this one is fought by a nation that expects to do Battle abroad and then return Home to a land that is removed from the hostilities and physically a scarred. Similarly the War conforms to the nation s sense accurate or not that it fights Battles that Are struggles Between Good and evil More than instruments of geopolitics. A. A religion is such an essential ingredient of the american character that when you get into a War As during times of peace americans want to have a sort of moral a Enterprise moral imperative which stands at the Center of what they do Quot said Robert Dallek a professor of history at the University of California at los Angeles. A. Still there is much that is extraordinary and revealing in the edgy jangled omnipresence of the current War and much that reveals disturbing things about where he United states is As a nation. A a the War is unlike any in history in the Way it is brought Home live a minute by minute on the Cable news network with its running tally a Quot a of winners and losers and its schizophrenic mix of doomsday scenarios and videotapes of bombing raids. Patrick t. Malone., an Atlanta psychiatrist says he finds something profoundly disturbing in the Way the War is being conveyed by television. A. Quot its the ultimate in life As entertainment instead of life As reality and As a therapist i find this extremely disturbing about our culture Quot he said. A this unreality is manifesting itself in that vague underlying fear that Many feel about the War that sense of uncertainty. You can get a blow by blow a running tally of the War while being advised on How you can invest in it. Its . Also unprecedented was the initial scepticism about the nation s ability to carry out the Mission with which it entered the War. For now anyway the scepticism has melted away. Few seem to recall the budget meltdown and throw the bums out. Rhetoric of a few months ago or the questions about whether America can do anything right whether in running the space program or the Economy. And unlike in Vietnam there is much common ground. Between those supporting the War and those opposing it and a sense of common peril. War opponents for the most part Are horrified by Saddam f ussem. Polls indicate Many of those now voicing support for lie War opposed military action before it began. A poor person s War ? by Sharon Cohen associated press in a Corner of Chicago where Young men face the lure of drugs and gangs and a life of struggle the Rev. George Clements Long has preached a strategy for survival the military. A but the supposedly Safe Haven to which he steered so Many is no longer Safe. The Road to the Good life could become the path to death. And the priest fears that his flock a and other Blacks a could pay an unfair Price in. The persian Gulf wan. Quot we Are victims just like we be been victims since slavery Quot Clements said. Quot there was an enticement for these kids to join the service. They could t find jobs. They were just wandering. No one Ever suspected they would be caught in a shooting War. Quot i be always Felt this quasi despair in this Community he said. Quot you have despair from infant mortality from the narcotic wars. Now there s a much deeper one these Are people who really had no idea what they were getting into. Now they re in there s no Way of getting is pastor of holy Angels Church one of the nation s largest Black roman Catholic parishes. Of its some 4,000 members 103 have one or More ones in the Gulf. Many enlisted for the Security of a Job the. Promise of an education and a crack at a life they d never get at Home. A a ��.-. A ,. Quot the military has probably been the most equal equal Opportunity employer in the United states Quot said rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington . A Quot Many Young Blacks perceive that they will get a better shake in the armed forces than in their own Hometown. That is a comment on american society not on the a. Military Quot she said. A a. Quot we ought to be troubled that such a Large proportion of Black youngsters. Would rather risk War and All it implies than stay at Home.�?�. Although less than 13 percent of the . Population is Black Blacks account for 21 percent of All . Military personnel in All branches. About a third of the army forces in the persian Gulf Are Black and almost half of . Servicewomen in the Gulf Are Black. A some Black leaders in the United states Call this a poor person s War and question whether minorities will Bear a disproportionately Large share of the casualties. At holy Angels that question takes on a More urgent Heartfelt tone. Quot when i get depressed and i cry i say a the persian Gulf or the streets of Chicago what Choice does a poor person have Quot said Carolyn Robinson whose 20-year old son Shomali Franklin is in the Navy. A Quot if you die in the persian Gulf you re serving your country you die with dignity Quot said the Mother of seven who attends holy Angels. Quot if a Young Man Dies in the streets of Chicago that s worse a you re another number another Black kid in the . Robinson said Shomali quit College because of Money troubles and Bleak prospects. A a Quot he could have stayed Here in Chicago and sold dope on the streets joined a gang and died Young Quot she said. Quot but he chose not to do those things he joined the service to get . military is in fact a Quot Road of upward mobility Quot said Charles Moskos a Northwestern University sociologist. A those who enlist Quot already have overcome a few hurdles to get in. They re almost surely High school graduates they score Well on tests and show enough gumption to go into the recruiting office these Are not the Bottom of the . Holy Angels on Chicago s South Side is a hand to Mouth Community folks pay tins week s Bills with this week s checks. The latest census statistics from 1980, offer a Bleak portrait of the area about two thirds of the people lived in poverty and had no High school diploma. But there Are Many hard working educated folks who believe in the military. John Thompson a parishioner and Veteran said he encouraged his son Jonny Patterson to enlist. Quot i just Felt it could be a better Way of life and another Way out Quot he said a. A. A a. A Thompson said his son a member of the 101st airborne div was 13 hours Short of a College degree. Quot his Mother was paying his Bills. I said you should do something better than what you re doing. That s not the a Manly thing to a. A. But Thompson s wife Sharon an anti War protester during Vietnam said that while she proudly supports her. Stepson she does no to believe he should be there. A i wrote to the president a she said. Quot i said it was an Arab issue.-. People Are saying things like about All the injustices done to Kuwait. Things like that happen in the world. Things happen in South Africa. I done to see them a sending troops there. Its real hypocritical and we re real selective when we decide to take a stand Quot she said of the United states. Soldiers of the 24th inf div during morning exercise in the saudi desert before the outbreak of War. S8.s Filo Vinco cowl Fly mysterious mrs. Saddam by Martha Sherrill Washington Post s he s a clothes horse she s a bottle blonde. She s the headmistress of a girls school. She a a jealous wife and with Good reason. She a the Mother of a killer. She a her husband s first Cousin. A she s Saddam Hussein s wife. Veiled in mystery totally overshadowed behind. Every megalomaniac Al dictator is a woman we hear. Nothing about Sajida Khayrallah has somehow endured a 32-year marriage to Saddam. ,. Quot our Story was like that of Many others Quot the iraqi president told a women a Magazine in the late 70s. But their lavish violent Clannish lifestyle Calls to mind scenes from the godfather described As Saddam s a favorite movie. A a. A their marriage like so Many in the Arab world was arranged when Saddam was Only 4 or 5 years old Sajida the daughter of his Uncle Khayrallah was two years older. They did t actually meet until Saddam was 21. Reports vary but most state that Saddam and Sajida a a schoolteacher at the time a were married in 1958. After the baath party took Power in 1963, Saddam returned to Baghdad from exile in Cairo to take his place in the new regime. He started his career As an interrogator and torturer. In Baghdad after he founded the iraqi secret police the couple was known for being status conscious and socially Mobile. They wore expensive clothes and Matching jewelry a the Brilliant stones in his cuff links and her earrings were Cut from the same Rock. The silk lining of his suits matched the silk of his ties. Sajida Over the years was drawn to Geneva and Paris to buy Western style designer clothes and her hair a Brunette at first a a became blonder. She bore him five children a two sons and three daughters. Meanwhile in 1968, Saddam became Deputy Secretary general of the baath Paity the no 2 spot in the government in 1979 he was named president. A a. E a a a a a a a Arab leaders Are not traditionally open about their personal lives but when stories about Saddam Hussein s philandering slowly started appearing in newspapers the president of Iraq released More information about his family life a As any Good politician would. Pictures began to appear of Saddam the devoted father. Saddam helping the kids with their Homework. Saddam motorboating with the family on the Tigris. A. A Quot the most important thing about marriage Quot he told Al mar a Magazine in 1978, Quot is that the Man must not let the woman feel Downtrodden simply because she is a woman and he is a year Sajida threw her husband an extravagant party on his birthday a april 28, the same Day As it happens As Secretary of state James Baker s. Hundreds of iraqi artists would present the ruler with portraits they d painted of him. Over time newspapers reported that Saddam had one special mistress a Samira Shahbandari. She is described As tall Blond and from an old and. Distinguished merchant family of Baghdad. A at the time Saddam fell for her Samira was married to somebody else a Nuredin Al Safi an iraqi airlines official who quickly agreed to step aside and let the notoriously hot headed president claim his wife Al Safi was later promoted to director of the airline. Some believe Saddam secretly married Samira without going through the formality of divorcing Sajida she is described As Saddam s Quot second wife Quot in both the London daily Telegraph and in the quickie biography of Saddam by Judith Miller and Laurie Mylroie Quot in either Case Saddam s relationship with Samira surely strained life. Sajida by All accounts was overcome with jealous and humiliation when Saddam began making Public appearances with Samira in the late �?T80s her brother Adrian Kha Nailah a also one of Saddam s closest friends a complained bitterly on her behalf about the open affair. The complaints stopped though when Adnan was killed in a helicopter crash attributed to Quot mechanical failure Quot on a recent 60 minutes to show a former Saddam bodyguard admitted planting a bomb on the Craft at the presidents bidding Saddam s oldest son Uday also was reported to to distressed by the news of his father s mistress. Uday 26, smart businessman according to some reports and has already made millions with his a company super Chicken a food processing Chain and another company called the wave that makes ice Cream. A a a but he s also Quick temp tiered like dad supposedly Saddam s Valet had been a go Between for Saddam and Samir and so at a parly in Honor of egyptian president Hosni Mubarak s wife in october 1.988,. Uday bludgeoned and kicked the hapless servant to death. Uday it seems had Felt his eventual inheritance was jeopardized by the love affair. A since there were Many witnesses to the killing and because it became so Public Saddam announced that Uday would be put on trial for murder. But the parents of the murdered Man bogged that Saddam s son be Given clemency. A a. And so he was Uday was then banished temporarily to Switzerland according to the London Independent i until he was deported for repeated Drunken brawling he has returned to Iraq arid is running the iraqi olympic committee mrs Saddam Hussein meanwhile having lived through eight years of War with Iran is probably no big. Fan of Bunker life last november the times of London reported that Sajida was believed to be in Switzerland some said she was shopping. Others. Wrote that she was depositing Money and Gold ingots stolen from Kuwait Saddam s Swiss Bank account. Now Sajida is believed to to far from the rubble m Baghdad. She is said to have id it. Iraq hours before t a bombing began and is retaking on the coast of Mauritania in the Cap fal City of Nouakchott presumably she s got the of the s Bank account close at hand a a. Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes wednesday january 30, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15
