European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday february 17,1991 the stars and stripes Page 13commentary Walter Mears Congress again faces a a 4 �?~4 Issue a its being called the second front in the persian Gulf War a a coming struggle Over Energy strategy Between a Republican administration that wants Supply and demand to dominate policy and democrats urging a stronger government role. President Bush s economists argue that there a not much wrong with . Energy policy the markets wont fix and say their Case has been proven since the Onset of the persian Gulf crisis More than six months ago. That same crisis is stirring democratic insistence that would Lessen Feli Ance on imported Oil including a standby tax and conservation requirements it Oil imports supplied 44 percent of .consumption in january according to the t american Petroleum Institute. That was Down from about 50 percent a year ear. Lier but up sharply from the 30 percent the Oil shortage a de Cade with it eased the Impact and will keep the downturn Brief. The economic report the White House sent to Congress on tuesday even includes a Good word for speculators in the Oil futures Market a favored target of congressional complaints and of Calls for regulation. V a the available evidence. Suggests that speculation is More Likely to have lowered prices than to have raised them in the aftermath of Iraq s invasion of Kun. Wait a the report said. The report urges primary Reliance on the free Market to determine Energy prices quantities and technologies calling that a the foundation for sound longer term Energy policies and thus for the National Energy strategy the administration is to propose. The White House economists contend ago. A contrary to what you might hear the United states does have an Energy policy a said sen. A Bennett Johnston d a a la., chairman of the Senate Energy and natural resources committee. A it can be described in two words import Oil. Quot Johnston says imports were up 73 percent and Domestic production Down 20 percent in the past five years he wants the Senate to act this Spring on a sweeping Energy Bill to promote production and impose conservation Steps. Rep. Leon Panetta d-calif., chairman of the House budget committee has proposed a Bill that would include a standby gasoline tax to be triggered if prices fell. A one of the primary causes behind this War was our dependence on Oil in the Middle East a Panetta said. A the time has come within this country to open up a second front with regard to Energy a a a a those measures would go far beyond the policies the administration favors. While blaming the recession on the Oil Price Shock that a invasion of Kuwait Bush s Council of economic advisers said Energy markets have coped George will that government regulation of Energy markets worsened the Oil import crises of the 1970s, and deepened the recessions that followed. ,. A it was regulation and not events in the Middle East that forced . Consumers to wait in Long lines to buy gasoline a their report says. Deregulated markets arc More flexible More resilient and better equipped to Deal with Oil crises they say while acknowledging that there will have to be govern me it policies to Deal wit h such Aims As reducing dependence on insecure sources a Middle East Oil. But their report goes on to say that a even the total elimination of Energy imports would not insulate the Economy from Oil Price shocks a because . Energy Security is tied to that of allies and trading partners. T it also says i hat the United states is Mentor old orations in Energy use charting a Sharp upward turn in efficiency since 1973, the year of the Arab Oil embargo a without mentioning the conservation measures imposed by the government after that Energy crisis. The congressional formula would pro Fork Over All your Money or i la Drill you full of super unleaded1 c conservation with. Both incentives a n d n Cru 1 e a / i be Lud i no h ugh e r a ii to Mobile nay is sceptical saying that the goal of Energy policy is to enhance growth not Minimi a Energy use. Those differences will be hard to Bridge although some aspects of Energy policy seem to depend on the beholder. A a Zut amp Wev Al Jap Al t of car pm Fri Johnston says his Energy strategy would undo the damage of Mie Reagan adminis to ration so mystical confide acc. In the free Market that it would soc everything from the common coid to the sen. Malcolm Wallop r-wyo., joined in sponsoring the Mcsame arid said if would promote competitive Parket oriented policies. A i. A a. Tom As s j. A civilian casualties implicit in . Strategy 4 i f i 4 1 7f for Many centuries the West derived its martial ethic from a Book homers a a Iliad celebrated combat in close quarters Between symmetrically armed and tilt male warriors on Neutral ground far from women and children. Individuals Virtues such As strength and bravery not differences of weapons were decisive. Hence the Homeric heroes disdain for the Bow. Quot my Way is not to fight my Battles standing far away from my enemies a but Long Range killing a by gun bomb missile a became approved almost As quickly As it became possible. And it was conducive to a kind of social callous ass. Hie consequences of military action were unclear to the in journalism a that revolution a pictures supplementing and sometimes supplanting print a produces this Paradox journalism supplies information to nourish reason but some pictures such As those of wednesdays carnage in Baghdad stir passion that paralyse reason. A second Paradox is that the pictures of the bombing of what was in part an air raid shelter had an Impact in America that underscores this fact America is waging this War in a Way Superior to the tendency of modern War the tendency of wars against populations to replace wars Between wednesday . Fighter bombers hit the target they sought using munitions that minimize collateral damage. But the target was More than a not other than a what . Targe tee is thought. And americans anguish in the aftermath Speaks Well of them. However moral responsibility also involves facing this fact when americans voted for War As they did through Congress and when they did so while defining the enemy regime As Hitler Ian they embarked on a course of action that had to include civilian casualties. Substantial civilian casualties in spite of discriminating weaponry and targeting is implicit in . Strategy. That strategy was implicit tactics used in the wars first hours. Formally the War is being waged to drive iraqi forces North from Kuwait. Actually the War is being w used from North to South because this War is not territorial. Its aim is not to displace an occupier but rather to damage perhaps to the Point of destruction a regime. Until wednesdays pictures from Baghdad this War had a bit too Bland too entertaining the stuff of brisk souvenir sales. There is something unattractive about Airport Concession stands Selling various desert storm to shirts among those with nil and Aba logos. America May need to be dealing death but almost no iraqi civilian or conscript a a deserves to die. This War like All wars and More than Many is full of tragedy. America enlisting technology in the service of a civilized sensibility has sought to minimize the tragedy by maximizing precision in the application of Force. But although America is resisting the desensitizing effects of this Century a wars a Long distance wars of air Power a we have not been immune from those effects. Today a vocabulary peaks volumes about the callousness War has wrought on the world. A frequently asked question is whether Iraq will use weapons of a mass destruction a meaning Gas. But the two laser guided bombs that struck the Baghdad bomb shelter accomplished what once was called a mass observers of the Battle of Ravenna in 1512, the first Battle decided by barrage considered i mass destruction Ball claimed 33 casualties. A year later at Novara also in Italy Cannon killed 700 in three minutes. When in 17s4 Jen Henry shrapnel developed the first exploding artillery Shell containing sub projectiles a mass at least it was massive compared with the killing of Homeric warfare killing with edged weapons and muscle powder before War was dominated by chemical Energy a. On april 515k5, a dutch ship named Hope pack Cal to the Gunnel with explosives was set adrift to collide. With a to Nhym Bridge packed with Spanish troops. The spaniards thought it was just a fire ship. 1 was a time bomb it May have caused 2,000 casualties a ant Quot loudest Man made noise up to that Point. I certain produced As Robert of Connell writes in a of arms and men Quot the largest number of casualties inflicted by a single weapon up to that time. Indiscriminate Force causing vast collateral damage existed before world War ii when air Power delivered huge tonnages of free tailing bombs from great Heights of ten at night. What happened wednesday in Baghdad was a particular to Leedy in a context of general tragedy but it also was part of americans attempt to Edge Back from the 20th Century a moral abyss. That abyss beckons when Long Range killing gives Rise to abstractness about its consequences. A a. O Tjw Ashington pm want of 3 or up. Is
