European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 16, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday september 16, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 5thomas image More blurred a Rice hearings by the new York times Washington a the portrait of Clarence Thomas As an american Success Story is sharply etched by now but a considerably less distinct portrait of Clarence Thomas the judge and Likely supreme court Justice emerged from the nominees four Days before the Senate judiciary committee last week. In fact Thomas image is in some ways More blurred now than it was before his week in the National spotlight began. That is because he took pains to qualify or disavow views that he had forcefully expressed during his years on the lecture circuit As the Reagan administrations top civil rights official. He had been speaking Only As a a part time political theorists and not As a would be judge he said when he appeared to align himself with deeply conservative Legal scholars in calling for a reappraisal of the Constitution in Light of a natural Law a a philosophical principle that some fundamental human rights transcend written Law. His Sharp criticisms of recent supreme court decisions had been offered As a a policy maker a a role he said he put aside last year when at 41, he became a Federal appeals court judge. In striving for the a a neutrality required of a judge he said a you begin to walk away from that constant development of new  some senators suggested he was also walking away from his record. Yet his Earnest at times stoical presentation seemed to convince senators that he would be a mainstream rather than radically ideological Jurist. Early in his testimony for example he said that he accepted the concept of a constitutional right to privacy and that such a right was a a fundamental with respect to the decision of a married couple or a single person to use birth control. The democrats who control the Senate judiciary committee have made acceptance of the right to privacy a Bedrock requirement for confirmation. In 1987, judge Robert h. Bork rejected the right to privacy As supreme court nominee Clarence Thomas confers with his wife Virginia during a break at the Senate judiciary committees nomination hearings Friday. Constitutionally illegitimate and was Defeated. Two subsequent nominees Anthony m. Kennedy and David h. Souter accepted it and were confirmed. Thomas refused under persistent questioning to say whether he believed that the court had properly extended the right to privacy to encompass a woman a right to choose abortion. The hearing left Little doubt about what had been apparent from Thomas record and from the company he kept throughout his Public career he would fit comfortably within the supreme courts dominant conservative Wing. To Label Thomas a conservative is not to say very much Given the courts current alignment. The ideological Battles ahead Are no longer going to be Liberal is. Conservative the conservatives won that Battle even before Justice Thurgood Marshall whom Thomas would succeed announced his  s Rush to get missiles baffles  by the Baltimore Sun washing ton a the army wants to replenish an already enormous Supply of tank killing weapons by buying More than 2,100 laser guided hellfire modular missiles now instead of next year when an improved version starts coming off the production line. The decision has baffled investigators at the general accounting office who were told by senior department of defense and army officials in May that the army would wait for the newer version. Congress had just Given the army $86.6 million to replace Quot the hellfire missiles used in the persian Gulf War. Richard Davis the  Stop army expert said his Agency a attempt to get Complete answers has been met by a shrugs of the  congressional aides said a combination of pork barrel politics and a desire to bolster the . Defense Industrial base had driven Congress to require the Purchase of More hellfire missiles than the army has requested in recent years. The army a current initiative appears to be a response to past pressure they said. The sole supplier of the current hellfire of Iodel is the tactical systems division of Rockwell International corp., which is based in Duluth ga., Home state of sen. Sam Nunn a Democrat who is chairman of the Senate armed services committee. Before the last contract was awarded to Rockwell congressional records show that the Senate panel authorized the army to spend More than twice the amount it wanted for hellfire missiles through 1991. The hellfire missile is the main armament of the army a ah-64 Apache attack helicopter. The army used roughly 3,000 hellfire missiles in the Gulf War and 1,000 in live firc training during the military buildup Industry officials said. The Gulf War appropriation passed in March allows the Purchase of 3,150 hellfire but the army now wants to buy 2,174 of models for $62.8 million and 335 newer missiles with the remaining funds. The army estimates its stockpile of hellfire missiles will exceed 32, k 0 by february 1993 a More than 10 times the number fired against Iraq targets. In the stars and stripes10 years ago sept. 16,1981 a in the fourth attack on americans in 16 Days terrorists using a soviet grenade launcher tried to assassinate the commander of the . Army Europe Gen. Frederick j. Kroesen As he was being driven Home. Neither the general nor the other three people in the Armor plated limousine were seriously injured after two grenades hit the car.20 years ago sept. 16,1971 a new York gov. Nelson a. Rockefeller ordered that the investigation into the Attica prison rebellion be broadened to determine How nine hostages were shot when the facility was stormed by state police.30 years ago sept. 16,1961 a the United states fired its first nuclear weapons test since 1958. President Kennedy said that the United states had been reluctantly forced to renew its nuclear tests because the soviet Union had resorted to its own nuclear tests.40 years ago sept. 16,1951 a the 12-nation North Atlantic treaty Council opened a meeting in Ottawa to discuss the current status of its arms programs and How to pay the defense Bill on a Burden sharing  nominee Gates to face grilling by new Day Washington a Deputy National Security adviser Robert Gates who goes before the Senate intelligence committee today in his second bid to become Cia chief is expected to face questions not Only on his involvement in the Iran Contra affair but also on his performance and integrity As an intelligence analyst. Gates a longtime Cia official was forced to withdraw As Ronald Reagan a nominee during the mushrooming scandal in 1987 when questions were raised Over whether he knew of the secret arms sales to Iran and illegal Aid to the nicaraguan contras. Gates insists that he knew Little or nothing about the Iran Contra affair until two months before it became Public. But critics find it difficult to believe that Gates with a reputation for learning about everything going on around him did not glean some information about it. Sen. Bill Bradley d-n.j., who is expected to be among Gates toughest critics on the intelligence panel said the nominees record on Iran Contra and his performance As an analyst have raised questions about his a judgment and  As Many As 25 current and former Cia officials have gone to the committee staff with complaints and offers to testify about Gates record with the Cia. Critics have charged that Gates analyses on a Range of issues were wrong or tended to support the policies of officials including presidents for whom he worked committee sources say. After joining the Bush administrations National Security Council he said in an april 1989 speech a eight months before the Berlin Wall crumbled a that the popular impression that the soviet system was coming apart was Only a Western historical amnesia and soviet selectivity if not  he doubted that soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev was a genuine reformer comparing him with previous Kremlin leaders who proclaimed Reform in order to seek help from the West and after getting it reverted to Iron Rule. In the persian Gulf Gates and the Cia each misread iraqi Leader Saddam Hussein a intentions toward Kuwait until it was too late according to sources who were at the Agency during the crisis. Talks Between sandinista Congress monitored by the new York times Washington a As the Reagan administration monitored the sandinista government of Nicaragua in the 1980s, it intercepted private discussions involving congressional opponents of the nicaraguan rebels in an unanticipated part of the secret operation former officials say. There is no indication that the information was improperly collected but its eventual use by the Reagan administration May raise questions about whether officials complied with Legal restrictions that forbid using intelligence for political purposes. Several former officials of the Reagan administration said the government monitored meetings and Telephone Calls Between sandinista and members of Congress or their aides. Former Reagan administration officials said the lawmakers included David e. Bonior of Michigan now the third ranking Democrat in the House and Jim Wright of Texas the former House speaker. Within the Reagan administration the intelligence material sometimes led to stunned reactions said former administration officials. I hese officials said they became seriously concerned that lawmakers or their staff members were advising the sandinista to adopt specific Diplo Matic and military tactics to help the congressmen defeat administration proposals to provide the Contra rebels with military Aid. Under regulations that govern electronic monitoring intelligence agencies Are prohibited from targeting . Citizens without obtaining a warrant from a special court. But they Are permitted to collect information about americans without a warrant if it is incidental to surveillance efforts directed at foreign governments. The agencies May Only disseminate information about americans if it is essential to understanding the intelligence or suggests that a crime May have Heen rom Milord