European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 14, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Thursday january 14,1993 commentary the stars and stripes Page 15 . Rosenthal pretty. Soon it will be two years since Saddam Hussein lost the War against the United states and the Coli Tjohn it put together now he a being bombed again. We All know he lost the first time. The president of the United states said so and anyway we no saw it and read it some of us wrote it. A but Saddam Hussein a he docs not know. It. He will not know until his dying Day. He is still in Power which is one Way he knows his Triumph. As president Bush says his goodbyes Saddam reviews his troops stands on the roof of his land and cries Victory revenge and holy War unending. For Saddam As for All dictators there is one other Way he can savor the Victory of survival a killing All who Ever opposed him particularly Nis own countrymen. He has never stopped. Why did Bush allow Saddam to remain in Power when he him in his fist the Story that the arabs put on pressure to save him has not been proved. Perhaps the Pentagon pressured him How so in want of any other demonstrable reasons As always the simplest Hay to be chosen. They Are two Bush lost his nerve or thought an iraqi officer would put a Bullet into Saddam a head. Perhaps the real reason is fuzzy even in Bush s mind by now overlaid by regret and rationalization. That happens a lot to leaders. But there Are things we do know. We cannot escape that knowledge. We know that Saddam for years before the War tried to wipe out the kurdish people and culture. Kurd arc non Arab muslims who live in several Mideast countries among them Iraq. Their crime was that they would not submit to Saddam so he bombed them shelled them gassed them. He put fire to. Their villages thousands of villages. A Judith Miller in a historic article in the new York times Magazine reports on a Mountain of evidence gathered by kurd the documents were brought to the United states by them and by Middle East watch of new York with american government help a preparation for a War crimes trial. But even without that evidence the West knew of the killing and pillage. The human rights Bureau of the state department then headed by Richard Schifter who would add tested the Clinton administration reported in 1989 about the use of chemical weapons and mass eviction against the. Kurd a a cleansing it is called now. But the West then was arming Saddam stuffing him with credits holding him fondly Forth As the Hope of the Mideast god help us so you can see that kurdish lives could not be considered in that grand scheme. Together Arab governments Western foreign offices and world journalism have created the myth that the great danger in the Mideast is the Pat Stiman Lar Ali conflict. Dangerous it is chiefly because it is the excuse for arms buildup and hate propaganda. But so far counted in lives the palestinian israeli dispute is a sideshow compared with Muslim Slaughter of muslims. The Iraq loan War of devastation. The syrian Conquest of Lebanon. Egyptians against yemenite. The Slaughter of their own countrymen by the syrian iranian iraqi sudanese Ana libyan governments and by fundamentalists nationalities. A and now we should know this Saddam continues the War against the kurd those who survived the flight into Northern Iraq. They Are subject to constant military harassment and their lifelines of food and Medicine Are being blocked. Congress has appropriated $48 million for food and Medicine. But the supplies have to come by Way of Turkey into kurdish territory through roads controlled in part by Iraq. The United nations has about 30 guards in the area a not nearly enough to protect the trucks from attack and sabotage. So the kurd suffer from a double embargo a the against Iraq and Saddam a against them. They ask for help urgently. Warnings to Baghdad to Stop ambushing the trucks or face air attack against iraqi positions plus helicopter cover for Relief convoys would do it that will not change Saddam a goal of wiping out the Kurtis but it will allow More kurd to live to see Spring return to the mountains and to go on fighting the Man who docs not know he lost the War. C Tho now Yolk Timothe shameless year of nobody s responsible Mary Mcgrory the year 1992 is dead and gone but it should not be forgotten any time soon. It was called the year of. Various things but what it really was was the year of the shameless. A stretch of time that gave us sen. Bob Packwood a trashing victims of his pawing and then kind of apologizing is typical. The Senate has always been shameless. So has Madonna this year peddling a fake sex Book that costs $50, Madonna is Madonna but the publishers have said no a nobody s responsible was the motto of the year just closed do your own thing. Just look at the Chicago couple who left their two children Ages 9 and 4, Home alone while they went off to Acapulco what about the 17-year-old thug who killed a contemporary on an escalator at Union station in Washington apparently for saying a a his to the shooters Girlfriend odious individual acts were reflected on the grand scale by nations. Remember How the germans were never going to do it again remember now they told us that nazism had been uprooted destroyed Root and Branch pan now to the violent anti fore Ign attacks is it Kristal nacht All Over again so soon or Are they just kidding try ing to scare the world out of its wits in Pursuit of More melancholy evidence that we Are not making any Progress As a human race let us travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina where cruelty is Kina there is a thick ethnic brew serbians bosnian croats christians muslims old grievances Are kept alive As in Northern Ireland. The West has no idea what to do. Europe can Only wring its hands. The Ideal of european Unity of Conti Nen twide diplomacy of concerted action is slowly sink ing in a sea of blood hunger and Heartbreak. In Somalia Mankind has returned to its natural state. People kill starve and terrorize their fellow humans in a totally uninhibited manner. President Bush sent in the marines and they have comported themselves in a commendable Way. They have taken pity on the children they feed them and try to Comfort them. We Are very proud of them. The Only people on the ground who seem grateful for their presence however Are the Relief workers from Many nations. They look sunburned worn harried. They Are trying to save people from starvation while other somalis do everything in their Power to Stop them. These workers were there before the marines came be there after they have gone. Medals should be struck for them. To see just How far �?T92 went in bringing out the worst in the world you need Only watch on television the a a technical a the armed thugs who hold up reporters who pass into their territory working to bring so in alias a plight to the planets attention. The technical Somalia a teen age mafia ask themselves Only one question a a what a in it for me a their clan leaders and warlords done to seem much better. There has been much discussion about whether we have the right or the obligation to disarm Somalia a gun voters. Caution said for weeks that we a. While . Secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali said we must. But when Bush announced he was on his Way the babble abruptly ceased. The marines suddenly began going door to door and demanding the residents turn Over All firearms. Lets Hope they take careful notes so they can repeat the exercise Here. Washington desperately needs disarmament. The District got some cold Comfort which is the Only kind �?T92 gave out. It seems we have reduced the number of killings this year. Only 450 people were killed. By contrast 489 went Down in 1991/ not to worry a we re still the homicide capital of the world. We Hope our new president will notice. These events Are reported. But across the world in Indonesia a silent Slaughter continues. The people of East timor who wish to be Independent Are being exterminated by indonesians. They recently jailed the East Tim Orese resistance Leader banana Gusmao. He is held incommunicado. Interrogations with torture and disappearances continue. Nobody except amnesty International the human rights group pays much notice. Yes 1992 took away our illusions about civilization and the gradual improvement in human behaviour. And just for spite up the end of the year it snatched away the most charming creature in Washington Ling Ling the Panda. Thanks for everything. C Una Virsal pms syndic it Ita a
