European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday july 11, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary Sydney h. Schanber Media s Gulf Effort earned snicker response we have partied and we have paraded but As All can see we have not put an end to the Iraq War and the a a vanquished Saddam Hussein. The iraqi tyrant still in Power taunts his so called conquerors by refusing to turn Over his nuclear weapons making equipment. Thus the nagging feeling begins to spread sourly in Washington that after All the celebrations and euphoria the United states and its allies will have to go Back in and do something to eliminate this Man whose Rise to Power had been assisted by the very same United states and its allies. Put simply the persian Gulf War is not Over. Also put simply president Bush is having a hard time bringing himself to admit it. To do so would Lay Bare embarrassingly the hype and hypocrisies and stage managed imagery that were at the heart of the . War policy. Over the weekend i watched a videotape of a documentary that exposed All these warts a Bill Moyers. After the War. I had missed it when it aired on Public television three weeks ago. Moyers and his gifted team at Public affairs television develop two Basic themes in this piece. One is the awesome havoc that this War and the forces it has set in motion seemingly without foresight continue to visit upon civilians who were caught in its path. The other theme is How the Bush administration controlled and deodorized the information emerging from the War a and How the major american news organizations the television networks in particular cooperated in this a rectification policy. And Are still cooperating. For example after the War contains powerful footage that the american television networks have declined to show. It included scenes of the mass destruction from the a Turkey shoot on the Road to Basra where Allied air Power descended upon the legions of retreating iraqi soldiers who had pulled out of Kuwait and were heading Back into Iraq. Bodies and vehicles lie twisted and charred everywhere along the Road in a Long and winding ribbon of incineration. Other Strong footage shows iraqi planes after the Allied a Victory a strafing the kurd who were fleeing North into the mountains after their uprising against Saddam Hussein had failed an uprising that Bush had encouraged and then turned his Back on. You see people running and hear them screaming As the bullets tear into the kurdish throngs which included not Only the lightly armed kurdish rebels but women children and the elderly. But perhaps what is most stunning about the videotape in after the War is the fact that All of it was available to the american networks and they have disdained it. For instance Moyers team got the footage on the strafing of the kurd from Frank Smyth a free Lance reporter who was working for the Village voice a and for lbs. A a. The Highway of death footage came from the bbl. Other videotape came from a documentary made by Britain s Channel 4, a commercial Independent station. And still More was obtained from Jon Alport a television journalist who was working for Abc but whose material was rejected by the network. None of the explanations the american networks have offered for their supine behaviour before during and after the War holds any water. As the War loomed they a and the major print Media As Well a put up the thinnest of complaints before surrendering and going along with the rigid controls imposed by the White House and Pentagon on press Access to the persian Gulf Campaign. When the hostilities began at least one television network news executive openly expressed satisfaction with the sanitized videotape being spoon fed to the networks by the military. When a Senate committee held hearings on the controversy surrounding the shackling of the press the networks a looking More and More like an Arm of the governments executive Branch a chose not to Send representatives to testify. Now Many months later the country a Media establishment would have us believe that it has woke up. About a week ago top executives of 17 news organizations sent a report and letter to Secretary of defense Dick Cheney asking him to change the Pentagon a press policy. They said the restrictions imposed during the Iraq conflict a made it impossible for reporters and photographers to Tell the Public the full Story. There was virtually no coverage of the Gulf ground War until it was the news executives asked for a meeting with Cheney. That a exactly what they did. After Grenada after Panama and after they got their first look at the restrictions planned for the Gulf Campaign they met with Pentagon officials. The officials pretended to negotiate while privately snickering up their sleeves. The news executives knew they Werc being stonewalled but they had read the Public opinion polls about the non popularity of the press so they rolled Over. Now they say they want their Birthright Back. But ca19? i it will take a lot More than a request for Tea and biscuits with Cheney to get the Pentagon to Stop snickering. Maybe if they started running the War footage they be been sitting on All these months a the kind of stuff that Bill Moyers laudable gave us in after the War a maybe then the Pentagon would begin taking the press seriously. C Cox nows Sonvico Walter r. Earsdon t expect Thomas to give abortion views not so Long ago a democratic Leader who supports abortion rights reminded the Senate that it is not going to get pro Choice supreme court nominees from president Bush. That reality Hasni to changed As a new Bush appointee seeks confirmation to the court. But neither has the ritual in which abortion rights supporters press for answers they can to get and seek commitments that wont be made. Conservatives say such itemized demands Are out of line although they used to seek them on other issues Back when democratic presidents were choosing the judges. Bush a nomination of Clarence Thomas was formally submitted to the Senate on monday. Thomas the Black conservative named to succeed retiring Justice thur goof Marshall began his confirmation quest with a round of Courtesy Calls on Senate leaders. This is the fifth court vacancy in the past decade Ronald Reagan appointed justices to fill three of them Bush two. Each time abortion has been a confirmation Issue. Directly or indirectly each nominee has been asked in Senate hearings to spell out a position on the abortion rights the court guaranteed in 1973. And each has declined. In different words the nominees have replied that they would judge cases on the basis of the facts the Law and the Constitution. That was the pattern when the Senate considered Sandra Day of Connor Antonin Scalia Anthony m. Kennedy and David h. Souter. Thomas is not going to break with it by saying in Advance How he would Rule on abortion. Nor should he sen. Orrin g. Hatch a Utah said monday because commitments on abortion or other topics would threaten the Independence of the judiciary. A this is not a Liberal or a conservative Issue a Hatch told the Senate. Hatch said americans do not want judges making decisions based on express or implied commitments to either the Senate or the president. But abortion rights advocates say that in this confirmation they Are going to insist on Clear answers. Sen. Timothy e. Wirth d-colo., said a majority of the Senate will want a Clear signal from the nominee on abortion. A there is no Way we Are going to go through the ambiguity that we went through before a he said. A i will not support yet another Rea Gan Bush supreme court nominee who remains silent on a woman a right to choose and then ascends to the court to weaken that right a said sen. Howard m. Metzenbaum a Ohio. Their complaints grew out of Souter a confirmation last year. He had no record on abortion and would not discuss his position although he did say he believes in the constitutional right to privacy that was the basis of the 1973 abortion decision. Souter testified that he had no Agenda on abortion. A i would listen to both sides of that Case a he said at his confirmation hearing. A i have not made up my mind and i would not go to the court saying i must go one Way or i must go the other Souter sided with the 5-4 majority when the court upheld regulations forbidding abortion counselling in federally subsidized family planning clinics but his View on the Basic question of abortion rights still is not known. With a president who opposes abortion uncertainty May be As much As the abortion rights activists can get. Before the Senate confirmed Souter on oct. 2, sen. Joseph r. Biden jr., d-dcl., said that if it were to reject nominees who weren to committed to abortion rights the result would be an impasse a for As Long As the president is Biden chairman of the judiciary committee and a supporter of abortion rights said Bush a obviously has no intention of submitting and will never submit a nominee who adheres to my very different Point of View on this Thomas now an appeals court judge has neither rulings nor writings that spell out his abortion views. Bush said he did not ask. There certainly Are clues in Thomas roman Catholic schooling in his conservative philosophy and in his Praise of an anti abortion essay As a a splendid example of applying natural the associated press a
