European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 4, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday decembers 1992 commentary the stars and stripes Pago 11somalia sacrifice justified to spare us shame William f. Buckley or. There we have it finally. A Stark naked Challenge to the new world order. How will encyclopedias of the future define it As a  of George Bush after the flush of the Gulf War Victory something that went on to have in fact no meaning at All or did the seeds of a new order fertilize bringing us by the end of the Century to some idea of How the responsible heavyweight Powers in the world would confine National disasters Bush is floating the idea of sending 30,000 . Troops to Somalia with the single Mission of seeing to it that the great supplies of food and Medicine assembled for Relief of the somalian people actually reach them. The figures being used Are that to Date 300,000 somalis of All Ages have starved to death and that the prospects under existing circumstances Are for 2 million More to die before. Before what before the race becomes extinct As very nearly happened in Cambodia there is Strong disagreement about the proposed Mission but let us take the give Quot ens in the situation. 1 an intrusion into another country must clearly be a disinterested act whether designed to arrest Slaughter relieve hunger or contain military aggression. There must not be a concealed military imperialistic or economic design among the intervening Powers. In this respect our operation in Panama three years ago was exemplary. Its final Success was not striking the government there is still corrupt and the drug traffic flourishes but to relieve Panama of a cutthroat dictator unrelated to International conspiracies was a disinterested act. 2 the intrusion has to be feasible. Tacticians will continue to argue that intervention was was not militarily feasible. That there was Strong doubt about it is very nearly a negative veto. There is no Point in undertaking an intrusion that overtakes either the resources or the will of the intruding Power. 3 excluding the Savage forces in the world which Means now primarily the government of Beijing and Here and there communist diehards and under civilized concentrations there has to be International Sanction of the Effort. If conditions 1 and 2 above Are met there is Likely to be e.g., . Approval. It is however True that the so called soft prestige of the United states depends heavily on How we Deport ourselves on the International scene. The hard prestige has to do with our military and economic strength but the International a a feel of the United states is an emanation that can affect policy. The great Effort to feed Europe led by Herbert Hoover after world War i gave us a prestige that Many historians persuasively contend accorded us palpable leverage in the years to Home. The most important question to ask Given that Somalia Isnit a strategic identity in the sense that Gibraltar or even Quemoy and Matsu were is How deeply do the american people care to intervene what risks Are we willing to run what sacrifices to effect Relief granted that there Are Many situations in the world in which the . Military could perform invaluable duties one thinks of Liberia Mozambique and Kurdistan what distinguishes Somalia from the rest the arguments Are raised that what is going wrong in Somalia is the absence of an effective government stronger than the warlords and stronger than the tribal barbarians who would be cannibals except that there is too Little human flesh left to feed off. Suppose that in order to deliver the food and the Medicine the . Military suffered 50 casualties. Would that be acceptable what if the figure were 250? More often than not leadership consists in directing the Public will. Here is an exception the people should be Sovereign in respect of the exposure of american troops to sacrifices unrelated to the safety of the United states. How would a National plebiscite go my guess is that it would resoundingly approve the venture. Because the alternative would leave us feeling sick and ashamed and to spare ourselves that debasement sacrifices Are justified. C univ Oral Pross Syndicate Nixon just following Washington s example the new York times which incenses easily became especially incensed last month. Richard the despised had won a round in court. It was As if a Mountain lion meaning the times had suddenly seen its pretty plump Rabbit slip away. This is what happened after 18 years of litigation former president Nixon at last secured a decision that his presidential papers Are his own personal property. The government which has seized the papers must pay for them. A . District a court will calculate the amount of compensation next year. To the times and to Many Nixon haters the opinion of the . Court of appeals for the District of Columbia was an affront a scandal and an outrage. Richard the despised would sell some of his papers for personal gain he could prevent others from Ever making use of them without his permission. The times sputtered and choked. The courts opinion written by circuit judge Harry t. Edwards was a Little on the Long winded Side but it was soundly based in history usage and Law. The court ruled in sum that every president commencing with the immortal James j. Kilpatrick George has regarded his papers As his own private property. This was the settled Law when Nixon abdicated in 1974. In 1974 Congress passed the presidential records and materials preservation act with the express purpose of seizing Nixon a property. The act thus triggered the takings clause of the fifth amendment which says that private property shall not be taken for Public use without just compensation. The government contended strenuously that Nixon a papers a amounting to 42 million items in All a had not been a a taken they had merely been regulated. The three judge court was not impressed. The 1974 act a effectively destroyed the most essential attributes of  not All of the 42 million items now in custody will revert to Nixon a personal disposition. He already has donated much of the collection to the National archives. Indeed the papers have now been so pawed Over and publicized that one of the governments arguments was that Nixon has no private interest left to protect. George Washington established the precedent. When he left office he took All his papers to mount Vernon with him and then bequeathed them in his will to his Nephew. In 1834 Congress bought the remaining collection from the estate for $25,000. Thomas Jefferson followed Washington a example. He bequeathed his his widow Dolley who fell upon hard times. She sold the papers to the government. The government thought it was buying everything but the dear lady delivered Only those papers written by Madison himself. Dolley Nold Back the others bequeathed them to her son and it Wasny to until 1855 that the Library of Congress bought them. So the history has developed. Some presidents have proved to be orderly Fellows. John Adams built a fireproof Library at his Home in Massachusetts and neatly stored to his grandson who subsequently sole the collection to the United states for $20,000. James Madison a papers went to no Arsia suit Jmc his papers there. Fillmore and Buchanan said judge Edwards were assiduous in collecting every presidential scrap. On the other hand Andrew Jackson exhibited a Quot Cavalier attitude about presidential papers. Van Buren apparently had so Little regard for the historic value of his papers that he destroyed incoming correspondence while he was still in office. Garfield destroyed his records during the 11 weeks that he Lay dying from an assassins Bullet. Cleveland had no scholarly concerns. Harding a widow destroyed most of his White House papers. In every instance the papers unquestionably belonged to the president who accumulated them. Franklin Roosevelt said that when he came to the White House Hoover had left him a not a scrap of  for left nothing for Truman and Truman left for Eisenhower Only a single Page of instructions for use in the event of a National crisis. Ike in turn left to Kennedy Only a Satchel of orders and instructions in the event of nuclear attack. One of these years after the District courts settlement has been appealed remanded again appealed and again remanded Nixon presumably will be awarded just compensation for the governments taking of his property. Richard the despised May be reasonably despised at least in the View of the new York limes but fair is fair. Let the Leonine l Imes find somebody else to kick around. C univ Raj pre is synd Calo