European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday May 18, 1991the stars and stripes page�?T13 commentary am. Rosentha geography s revised Middle East peace role a a we be Learned in the modern age geography cannot guarantee Security and Security does not come from military Power alone.�?�. President Bush speaking March 6, 1991. He was addressing Congress but that comment was aimed at Middle Eastern nations particularly Israel. Like the Buck inane simplifications should Stop at a presidents desk. Bush is a president whose country has not been under foreign attack since 1812 precisely because of geography a two blessed Ocean buffers. He is a commander whose armed forces just won a War because of a strategy based on military Power in relation to geography. Modern Middle Eastern history teaches israelis a lesson that dominates the present. But it is conceivable just conceivable that out of Secretary of state James bakery a travels another geography lesson May begin to emerge. If it does it May make Israel palestinian peace possible a maybe. Beginning of historic lesson the arabs have turned geographic proximity into the critical weapon threatening israelis very existence for almost a Hal Century. Even before their formal Independence the israelis lived within gun Range of their sworn enemy. Four times the arabs have pulled the trigger. That is the end of the lesson. Geography is the reason the israeli military studies the persian Gulf War More closely than anybody outside the Pentagon. Israeli commanders say that the american Victory showed two things the importance of a strategy based on geographic room and that for Israel that strategy will be no More possible than it Ever was. Israeli generals note carefully that Gen. Hnorman Schwarzkopf resisted All Saddam Hussein a enticements to come a Little closer. The general knew Saddam Hussein was eager to take Hea casualties in order to inflict heavy casual ties not having to worry much about press or Public opinion. The american strategy wistfully admired by the israelis was to use the de 2 Cuiper Sertz a depth to Lay Back opt of iraqi artillery and tank Range until Saddam Hussein was sufficiently pounded to keep coalition casualties minimal a the father of All strategies. Israeli generals knew even before Bush told them that the narrow West Bank does not guarantee Security. But they also know that it gives them both their Only Chance to avoid mass casualties and the few minutes of warning time needed to strike Back. These men arc not very hawkish. They know almost every Young Man or woman who fell in action they can fight like hell but standing at arms forever is not what they dream of for themselves or their children. They would take military risks for peace. A but of tit any that might destroy their country. That hawkish they Are not. Lesson for tomorrow in All the talk and mane vering of the Baker travels there is one sign of Hope and that seems to be agreement that at any peace talks there would be a joint palestinian Porcho Nian delegation replacing palestinian insistence on separate delegations separate delegations would acknowledge an approaching separate palestinian state. In a few years that could be the pathway for an Arab attack. A joint delegation could be the sign that palestinians Are ready to acknowledge that a state exists on palestinian territory with a palestinian majority. It goes under the name of Jordan one Israel and one Palestine seem quite enough. A it. Tho  tits Showard . Always willing to help other nations a Canadian named Gordon Sinclair once called americans a the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people in All the  now As thousands of . Marines and other personnel arrive in Bangladesh to assist with Cyclone Relief efforts there it might be Good to recall the Canadian radio commentators broadcast observation in 1973. Sinclair was concerned that the . Dollar was taking a pounding on world markets a and that the world was gloating. He referred to terribly costly flooding along the length of the Mississippi River and of a wave of brutal Spring tornadoes that smashed into 59 american communities. He saw America standing far above the world of nations when it came to giving of itself a and receiving nothing in return. He told his audience on june 5, 1973 a was Long As 60 years ago when i first started to read newspapers i read of floods of the yellow River and the Yangtze but who rushed in with men and Money to help the americans did that a who. They have helped control floods on the Nile the Amazon the Ganges and the a niger. / a. A / \ v a when Distant cities Are hit by earthquakes it is the United states that hurries in to help. I can name you 5,000 times when the americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me one time when someone else raced to the americans in trouble a it is not certain that we need much if any help in this nation. We have enough resources to help ourselves although at times it appears we Are More willing to help people elsewhere than in our own country. The plight of our homeless and poverty stricken Are Clear examples. Yet a and for All the grief we get from other countries and or Radical groups within those countries a we continue to reach out to help others. The sending to Bangladesh of thousands of marines and other support personnel including engineering and water purification teams As Well As ground troops whose sole role is to distribute food and Medicine has no strategic value that i can detect. It simply is a matter of assisting people in trouble. Suppressed by the glory of the military Victory in Iraq is the work done by our remaining troops in assisting the victims of that War including the kurd. It Sinclair who died in 1984 at the age of 83, spoke in his broadcast of americans generosity in Victory in the Post world War ii Days when we reached out to those we vanquished by initiating the Marshall plan and later with the Truman plan to assist countries fighting off communism. Not Only has the . Government been benevolent toward disaster and War stricken nations but so has the civilian population. The people reacted generously toward earthquake victims in Central America Mexico the soviet Union and even in Iran which has held our feet to the fire for More than a decade. When the disaster at chernobyl occurred american doctors rushed to the soviet Union. A Story in the new York times suggested that americans Are beginning to suffer from what it called a International disaster  a combination of economic problems in our own country and a frightfully High Inci Dence of International disasters is diving up the Well of Charity. Earthquakes cholera famine and War have taken a toll. Within our country established Domestic charities such As United Way Are feeling the effects of our economic shortfall while civilian ability to meet the disaster needs of the world pauses to catch its breath and to Check its purse the Federal government continues the missions of  diverting thousands of . Troops from the persian Gulf to the ravaged Southern coast of Bangladesh we again Tell the world that we Curry to thought of colonialism and recognize our responsibility As a wealthy nation to help others. We As a people always have been Good winners. We always have had compassion for the risers and or victims of natural  often i hear that we do not help enough either at Home or internationally. Perhaps that is so but the Point Here and the one that Gordon. Sinclair was making 18 years ago was that we make the Effort that we do reach into our household and Federal pocketbooks a and give until it hurts. Much of the rest of the world including the now Rich nations that we put Back on their feet after world War ii do not. A Cox news. Service 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