European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 29, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 b the stars and stripes Friday january 29,1993 at a glance secondhand smoke has led to 0 $22,000 settlement for Veronica Bland in Britain. See Story on Page 9. Aspin to revamp policy defense Secretary Las Aspin will restructure the Pentagon s policymaking apparatus to direct More attention to such new National Security concerns As promoting democracy. Overseas officials say. A paged fired Man kills 3 a fired insurance claims manager carried a grudge and a gun into his old office building and methodically killed three former Bosses and wounded two others. A Page 6 Farewell to Marshall president Clinton and vice president Al Gore and their wives were among thousands of mourners who filled Washington National Cathedral for the funeral of Thurgood Marshall the first Black supreme court Justice. A pages Sears Catalon question there Are mixed signals from Sears Roebuck and co. On whether it would be honouring Catalon orders from service members overseas. The firm said monday that its mail order sales wifi cease at the end of the year. A Page 12 Index Abby Ann Landers .16 classifieds. 25-28 comics. 16,22-23 commentary. Crossword. Daily Horoscope. Faces a places 24 focus. 17-21 Jumble. 27 letters. 14 Money matters. 12 sports. 29-36 to listings. 35 weather. 13 War on new front  Zadar Croatia apr fighting erupted thursday on a new front in Croatia threatening a  dam that is vital to the Southern coast s electricity Supply. Gen. Satish Nambiar commander of . Forces in former Yugoslavia told reporters in the croatian capital of Zagreb that there was shelling in the area of the Perucca dam wednesday night and thursday morning. A i m afraid it s a very grim situation Quot Nambiar said. V he could not say who was shelling but serbs arid croats accused each other. The Belgrade based Tan Jug news Agency reported that croatian forces at tacked the Perucca dam and Power Plant at 9 45 thursday morning. But croatian to reported that serbian forces from the area of the dam launched an artillery attack on the croatian positions near sin about nine Miles South of the dam. The dam 22 Miles North of the Central Adriatic port of split was taken by serbs during Croatia s six month serb croat War in 1991. Last september . Peacekeepers took it Over from serbian militiamen because it was deemed strategically important although largely crippled in the 1991 fighting the Perucca dam is still a vital source of water for stations supplying much of Centra Dalmatia with electricity. Its destruction would unleash an environmental catastrophe flooding villages and Farmland along the cetina River Valley. Nambiar said the United nations had dispatched experts to the dam but could not confirm the widespread belief it is heavily mined. Meanwhile 13 of More than 20 French peacekeepers trapped in two villages were rescued wednesday by kenyan czech and slovakian troops and taken to Benkovic a serb stronghold. But another 10 or so were still pinned Down Nambiar said in a statement. Going on Eugene Ore. Apr sen. Bob Packwood r-Ore., plans to Challenge the stories of women no have accused him of sexual harassment and won t Rule out trying to use information about their sexual histories if it will help him. A am i not to be allowed to question their stories Quot Packwood said in an interview. I certainly Don t want to give the impression that statements that we now know can add a much broader context to the Issue will simply go  Packwood said he wants the Senate ethics committee to hear from witnesses to whom his accusers Quot told a different Story or a slightly different version of events than they re telling  asked Why his accusers sexual histories mattered if they had resisted his advances Packwood replied a before the ethics committee we will investigate that.�?�. A a the attorneys will make the decision and the ethics committee of course will determine what is admissible evidence Quot he said in an interview in Salem thursday. A is it fair that somebody complains about my conduct but says t Don t want to be questioned and i Don t want anybody to put me under oath and i Don t want to appear and there should be no right to present any other information Quot # in december Packwood called his actions a unwelcome arid insensitive Quot and apologized offering a to take full responsibility for my  asked whether he was recanting his earlier apology for his conduct pack Wood Saia a that will All come out before the ethics  Maura Roche was one of the women who accused Packwood of improper behaviour saying he read sexually explicit jokes to her when she worked As intern in his office in 1989. Reacting to Packwood a comments wednesday Roche said a a he a going to do the same kinds of Behaviours that make women afraid to come Forward. It s the old fashioned Way of thinking that you deserve rape or you deserve any kind of abuse.�?�. Packwood said his statements were not intended to frighten away women who might be called before the committee. But he said he did t mind if his tactics deterred women who would t be truthful under oath. Packwood is making his first trip to Oregon since the Washington Post reported in november the sexual misconduct allegations Fay 10 women who worked with or for him during a 23-year period. The visit has been marked by protests. Many have involved Only a handful of people but wednesday evening 200 hostile demonstrators gathered outside the Corvallis Gazette times where Packwood was giving another interview. Supporters locked arms and escorted Packwood and his chief of staff Elaine Franklin from the building. Ban a a a. From Page 1 signal democrats struggled to defuse a controversy pressing in on. The new president. A but Aspin left open the possibility that the temporary lifting of the ban could be overturned by Congress if a consensus is not reached in the interim. A maybe it wont work Quot Aspin said of Clinton a intentions. If the votes Aren t there he said a it wont  Aspin said that if Congress blocks the executive order the president could nevertheless say he had abide by his Campaign Promise to lift the ban. Gay rights groups praised Clinton s moves. A a it a a major change in policy a Quot said Tim Mcfeley executive director of the human rights Campaign fund. A it is the necessary first step in keeping his Promise. The ban would be lifted. Determined to win approval of pro Grams to create jobs and erect a National health care program the last thing Clinton needs is a cruising fight that could Drain his Supply of political capital. Democrats Promise Senate hearings beginning in March. Sen. Sam Nunn do amp chairman of the Senate armed services committee and an opponent of lifting the ban said a we plan to hear from the men and women in the military a not just the top brass but those that really have to live with these policies in the enlisted ranks and in the Joung officer  Aspin told reporters that Clutton was hanging Tough. A Don t think that anything has been backed off of a the Secretary said. Soldiers from Page 1 worked on the damaged vehicles the Pentagon said. In a Jan. 15 letter to the Gao Victor h. Reis director of defense research and engineering said the Pentagon accepts Gao s finding that desert storm ground troops were inadequately trained in the hazards of exposure to depleted uranium. The army a will implement appropriate training for All personnel who could be tasked with working on this equipment Quot Reis wrote to the Gao the investigative Arm of Congress. A they now recognize the hazards a said rep. Ron Wyden d-Ore., who requested the Gao study. A the army knows that our troops need to be protected from this kind of exposure. Now they have to go make sure their policy gets  Thomas b. Cochran a nuclear weapons expert at the natural resources defense Council said depleted uranium is very mildly radioactive and danger decreases rapidly with distance. He Saia troops Riding in tanks fully loaded with uranium tipped shells might be exposed to More radioactivity than would be permitted for the general population but the Pentagon report said there is no danger because a utne Armor packages Are completely surrounded by thick rolled homogeneous steel Armor which blocks out most of the  a the Hazard from uranium Metal Quot Cochran said a is primarily from its toxicity As a Metal which causes damage to internal  the material is similar to Lead in its physical properties and its effects on the body. As described by Reis the . Troops were in exactly the situation their com i Manders wanted equipped with depleted uranium shells to penetrate iraqi Armor and Safe from iraqi shells because the iraqis do not have depleted uranium shells capable of penetrating . Tanks. But the troops were not Safe from a Friendly fire Quot a shells fired by . Tanks in the confusion of Battle. Abrams tank Crews Are trained on the characteristics of depleted uranium and the hazards of handling it Reis said but other troops a such As the infantrymen Riding in the Bradley and their Drivers a Are not. Nor were the troops assigned to dismantle and Bury the damaged tanks and Bradley. A prior to desert storm Quot his letter said the defense department a did not anticipate the need to decontaminate a Large number of ground combat vehicles Quot