European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday May 1,1991 the stars and stripes rage i a Mike Royko  three red ribbons Dangle from Trees in front of Dolores Mcandrews Home. As far As i know she is the first to but out red ribbons but i doubt if it will come a National trend. Mrs. Mcandrew who lives in a Chicago suburb says the red ribbons Are her Way of expressing sympathy for kurd and other iraqi rebels who have been slaughtered by Saddam Hussein and her disgust at what she considers this country a indifference. Quot a i was so upset after watching to and Reading about the plight of the kurd and other refugees a she says. A it seems to me that we were encouraging the kurd and the others to rebel against Saddam but when they did we just walked away. A now they re being massacred. I can to see that As being part of this country a. Policy and it upsets me greatly. It makes me wonder what this War was about. Does it mean that Kuwait was worthy of being saved but these people Arentt a it got me mad so i took a ribbon from a Christmas Wreath and Cut it into pieces and put it on the Trees. The red represents the blood being  and what will be accomplished by displaying the ribbons a America is loaded with generous wonderful and very compassionate people. Its time to Start caring about the victims of the War and the people we encouraged to  her compassion is admirable. But in a afraid that she will by disappointed if she expects this country to do anything More than express sympathy for the vie a tints of Saddam a massacre. For one thing there have been no polls that show any popular enthusiasm for helping kurd. And that a to be expected. Until recently How Many americans had Ever heard of a kurd Kuwait was an entirely different matter. As we All know the vast majority of americans have always loved Kuwait. In every War they have fought at our Side. Remember learning in history class How Ellen Goodman now needed smart food. Kuwait sent volunteers to help George Washington Why for years Little american children have said in their evening prayers Quot and god bless Mommy and daddy and Kuwait and the Emir of Kuwait and his three wives and his Young  so it was natural that americans would want to fight for Kuwait.  besides kurd Arentt very smart. I regret having to say that and i Hope i Haven to offended any kurdish readers but its True. If they were smart they  have tried to overthrow Saddam. When president Bush encouraged them to do it just that leading them to believe that we would help them a smart kurd would have said a huh us. Fool me once its your fault. Fool me twice in a the  surely the kurd remembered what happened the last time we stirred them up. _ _ it was Back when Richard Nixon was still president and we were pals with the. Shah of Iran a Nasty corrupt dictator but our hand picked Nasty corrupt dictator. The Shah thought Iraq was getting too Strong and might try to grab some Border land and that made him nervous. So we figured out a Way to stir up trouble in Iraq so it  have time to bother the Shah we encouraged the kurd to revolt and promised to slip them military Aid. A v a a a a a a. A. So the kurd did and we helped. This was All done on the sly of course. But eventually the styx Cut a Deal with Iraq. That meant that a revolt by the kurd was no longer necessary so with out so much As a thank you card we Cut off All help to the kurdish rebels. Almost immediately Saddam Hussein then the no. 2 thug in Iraq went into kurdish territory and really whooped them. Incidentally president Bush probably remembers this. _ _. About the time that we pulled that prank on the kurd he became head spook at the Cia. As the saying goes a you just can to teach an old kurd to spot old  another reason we can to do anything to help the rebels is the it would a really foul up the big show. Right now promis Tion of the big show is night on schedule. Troops Are returning. Gala  and parades Are being televised. A special pow Day has been declared by the White House. There Are medals to be handed out heroes to be hailed and All sorts of special patriotic events leading up to the us per stupendous fourth of july Celo bration. So if we had done anything to help the rebels it would have thrown the entire big show production schedule out of whack. It would be like stopping a movie in the Middle and announcing a we interrupt this show to rewrite the  Hie audience would Hiss and yell and really get mad. Besides there a nothing we can do now. Saddam already has a a crushed the rebels either slaughtering them or chasing them out of the country or into the mountains. Its too late for us to Tell him that Well shoot Down his helicopters or blow up his tanks and artillery if he uses them against the rebels. We let him keep the tools of his Trade and he used them. A. A. . A. So Mcandrews might As Well take Down her red ribbons she should be  her decency but to paraphrase a favorite expression of Jay me Mullen husband of former Chicago mayor Jane Byrne and a keen political observer a her problem is that she thinks its All on the  mrs. Mcandrews it ainu to always on the legit. _. C Tho Chicago Tabuno i Auto dubious Symbol of women s liberation when 47 saudi women staged a a drive in last fall Wheeling their luxury cars around Riyadh for a half hour before the police stopped them i had the some mixed reaction of Many other americans. On the one hand i groaned at our allegiance to a country that  let women drive let alone vote. On the other hand i had a hard time joining a fight for the right of Rich women to drive their own Mercedes. A /. A / As a second generation american woman Driver i Hadnot thought of driving As a Freedom since i was first licensed to take to the Road. For most of my adulthood the car has been a tool to get where i have to go with the people and things i have to take there. American men we Are continually told have a love affair with the automobile. But most american women Are looking for a commitment. I just wanted a car that would be there Tye morning after to help Jake the kids to Schobl. Now months later reports filter Back that these saudi women Are still being punished for their Brief time behind the wheel. They and their movement have been a a chauffeured underground by the religious police. ,. Against this background comes Virginia Scharffs new Book a taking the wheel As a Lively reminder that even in America Auto mobility was once seen As a driving Force for social change. And not everybody was keen on the idea. Her Book is one of those rare and delightful touring vehicles through Histon. It starts almost a Century ago when the automobile was built by and most decidedly for men. Here too the first w Omen who wanted to drive were the wealthy. Here too women started driving before they started voting. _ in the Early years of the 1900s, when cars were still cranked up for action there was a heated debate about whether women should or could drive. The argument reeked More than faintly of the odorous controversy raging then around women a rights. Women As a whole argued one traditional Man a Are utterly unfitted to Pilot ships command armies or operate automobiles through no fault of their own. They were born that  taking to the open Road was in turn a strike for pc male Independence even rebellion. As Scharff a University of new Mexico historian writes,.�?oclimbing into an automobile a woman rejected the cloister certainly and potentially also the female sphere of Hearth and  or purdah and veil. During Teddy Roosevelt a years in the White House his impetuous daughter Alice drove alone from Newport to Washington reaching speeds of 25 Mph. _ this created the sort of National uproar that led her father to admit that he could Rule Alice or the country but not both.  even Henry Ford who put men squarely in charge of family life and family cars inevitably contributed to this change. A sales brochure of world War i Vintage geared to Fords female customers Laid it out succinctly a no longer a shut in the woman reaches for an Ever wider sphere of action. And in this Happy change the automobile is playing no Small part. It is a real weapon in the changing  a a the Prospect of unleashing women on the american landscape a Scharff concludes a deeply disturbed Many observers who worried that Mobile women would Quot be beyond control socially spatially  decades later half a world away a saudi teacher echoes that fear of sexual Freedom when asked Why driving so threatened the Muslim establishment. He answers obliquely that a driving could Lead to temptations that would Hurt the Sanctity of women.�?�. Today americans men and women May feel More imprisoned in our cars than freed by them. We spend As much time commuting to work As our soviet counterparts spend lining up for food. \ a suburban Mother does no to regard her station Wagon As a room of her own. Its the Mobile office she takes on her daily rounds. We re More Quot conscious too of the damage the car has done. The car is to the environment what the cigarette is to the body. Gasoline powered liberation sounds a bit like a Virginia slims and. You be come a Long Way baby. But the bulletins from the Middi East and the past Are echoes of the real and symbolic role of the car. A.  ._/.  a a women Are still trying to take themselves where they want to go. In saudi Arabia when men Are in the Drivers seat it Isnit just a figure of speech. C Tho Boston glob so 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