European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 a the stars and stripes thursday june 18, t992 commentary William f. Buckley . Can t easily ignore genocide in Iraq necessarily the arguments will continue at a lofty level on the theme Quot what do we do about ongoing genocide a a even if that is not exactly the right word for what the serbs Are attempting to do to the bosnian it Al. The beleaguered bosnian begged the . Military to bomb the Hills from which the serbian military was ruining Down bombs on Sarajevo with an intensity not equated in Europe since world War ii. President Bush said that the . Military would not engage in the action in Yugoslavia and there is Strong doctrinal support for his position. If the president wished to act one can to doubt or. Bush has the authority to. It is a masterpiece of irony that the action centers on Sarajevo where in 1914 an assassination took place that triggered a War that ended with 15 million soldiers dead. We Are not going to Sec a repetition of that because the european Powers Are not massed against each other but there Are a lot of people involved if you think in terms of the yugoslav War spreading out into a Macedo Nian Rcck turkish imbroglio. A regional War in that area would involve among other things formal nato allies. It is the purpose of statecraft to abort crisis and the time to act is sooner rather than later though or. Bush has every justification for insisting that responsibility for action belongs to our allies in Europe. France and Germany together could put an end to serbian aggression a and ought to do so. But or. Bush can to easily pull out of our responsibility to the kurd. The latest report to the Senate foreign relations committee brought in by staff member Peter Galbraith gives us an idea of what have been the consequences of our neglect of the kurdish question after we won the persian Gulf War. To remind those with convenient memories or. Bush invited dissidents from the Rule of iraqi president Saddam Hussein to Rise up against him. In the North the kurdish rebels did exactly that they Are called the pesh Mergas by the Wayand what followed is a horror tale that brings to mind Cambodia and other holocausts. Or Galbraith went at easter time to Kurdistan. It was his third trip in two years and he has now developed intimate tics with critical members of the resistance. He went this last time specifically on a Mission. That Mission was to Rescue from destruction a by Iraq or by whomever a a Cache of documents establishing the behaviour of the iraqis toward the kurd during the period when the genocidal activity began. Or. Galbraith succeeded in rounding up by no Means All the relevant documents but one set of them is vast beyond imagination. It is hard to know what impulse causes people to chronicle their barbarities. The nazis were neat on this Point beyond belief and conveniently provided their prosecutors in the Days ahead with All the information needed to document their infamy. Consider for instance this Sample pulled at random from one of the files. It begins with the interrogation of a Shepherd found by the iraqis in the Quot prohibited  this constitutes most of Kurdistan. The order went out in 1988 by Saddam Hussein a Cousin Ali Hasan Al Majid decreeing the area off limits to Man or beast anyone found there would be executed. Rather like issuing an order that no new englander could occupy Connecticut new Hampshire Vermont Massachusetts or Maine. Ali Hasan by the Way is currently the minister of defense of the regime we theoretically conquered a year and a half ago. So the iraqis come upon a 16-Ycar-old boy q How were you captured a i was grazing my sheep. Q what is your connection with Mahadin Ali it Al ? a i done to have any connection with them except we live in the same Village. Q Are there any saboteurs from your area and who Are they a i done to know any saboteurs. Q do you know your presence in these areas is prohibited and you will be dealt with according to the Law a we know it is forbidden but our Only intention is to Graze our sheep. A on the right hand Side of this on Page interrogation Sheet a or. Galbraith reports a is the signature of the interrogation officer. On the left is an Ink fingerprint. As All the shepherds were illiterate All signed their forms this Way. After the confession the file contains a message directing the secret police to carry out instructions. A Little later in the yellow folder is a Green death certificate issued by the local Hospital. It lists execution As the cause of  Iraq signed the genocide convention in 1959. Under its terms All signatories Are bound to punish those guilty of this crime. Thanks to the Senate committee we have the evidence safely in hand in american held archives. So what now c Universal press Syndicate David s. Drop Arclinton takes Chance in fight with Jackson Bill Clinton running third in a three Man presidential race less than a month before he formally claims the democratic presidential nomination has done what politicians do when they find themselves in a losing situation. He has l a Ken a big Gamble. L ast saturday he publicly and deliberately picked a fight with Jesse Jackson the two time contender for the party nomination de Facto Leader of the democratic party a left Wing and most prominent National figure in the african american Community that has been the democrats most Loyal voting base. The specific target of Clinton a criticism when he appeared saturday before Jackson a Rainbow coalition in Washington d.c., was the rap Singer sister soul Jah. The Singer had been invited by Jackson to participate in a panel discussion at the convention despite the controversy about her comments after the los Angeles riots. The entertainer had told the Washington Post in an interview then that in Quot Black people Kilt Black people every Day slip not have a week and kill White people a Clinton said that comment and others in the same vein she made in to interviews showed the rap Singer was a filled with hate and questioned Jackson a Wisdom in including her in the panel discussion with other Young people. Jackson was thoroughly indignant and two Days later in a phone interview he was still steaming. Quot he was invited to our House As a guest and he used the platform to. Embarrass us a Jackson said. As Jackson plainly recognized Clinton had seized the Opportunity to talk past the predominantly Black audience in the room and deliver a message to White America about his relationship with Jackson. �?o1 invited him to promote Unity a Jackson said Quot but he came to establish  on the latter Point Jackson is clearly Correct. The intent was obvious and had been signalled in Advance by top Clinton aides who told reporters that the meeting with the Rainbow coalition would be used to show Clinton a  As a tactic it can easily be defended. Sister soul aha swords were provocative and demagogic. As he has in the past with Louis Farrakhan Jackson finds himself in a morally weak position. He will not defend her sentiments but Nei ther will he condemn them. Some would say too that Clinton was giving Jackson a taste of his own Medicine in 1984 and 1988, after he had lost the nomination fights to Walter f. Mon Dale and Michael s. Dukakis Jackson did his Best to Hijack attention at the democratic National convention. This year Clinton sent a dear signal that not Only will he not allow Jackson to steal the democratic convention spotlight but he Clinton is prepared to play hardball on Jackson a Home turf. For his part Jackson sees it As a part of a pattern of provocations by Clinton a including the refusal of the democratic leadership Council to invite Jackson to speak to its convention last year when Clinton was its chairman and Clinton a emotional denunciation of Jackson four months ago at what turned out to be a false report that Jackson had endorsed sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa for the nomination. The Gamble Clinton is taking is that More White americans will be impressed by his Quot standing up to Jackson than Black americans Are repelled by his showing Quot disrespect to the Rainbow coalition Leader. Democrats cannot win without a big and solid Black vote but Black votes alone Are obviously not enough. Among former Mondale and Dukakis aides it is an article of Faith that these candidates were badly damaged by the perception White voters got that Jackson was jerking their chains. But no one can prove How Many votes that actually Cost them. Meantime the Black vote is at the heart of the democratic electoral strategy a particularly in a three Way race where Southern states with Large Black populations May become real battlegrounds. During the primaries Clinton carried most Black precincts but the turnout was pitiable Small in most places. Privately Many Black elected officials have encouraged Clinton to rely on them and their organizations a rather than on Jackson a to rally Black voters in november. How Well they can deliver remains to be seen. And if Black voters turn against Clinton because of his stance toward Jackson the Gamble could look even bigger. But when you re running where Clinton is today you almost have to take real risks. C Washington Post writers group