European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 letters to the editor sunday August 14, 1994 the european edition col. Steven s. Hoffman Usan commander publisher. Bernard a. Zovistoski editor news and editorial Deborah Absher news editor Bui Walker eur Peart editor Bob Wicker sports editor George Manes City editor to write us unit 29480 Apo a 09211  1437 64 273 Darmstadt Germany -. News Tel fax 06 \ 55-601416 to Call us dial c6155-601 plus Extension or on 348-8 plus Extension As follows news ext. 237, 255, 282, 226,326. Sports ext 225, 269, 263,332,321,221. Features ext. 230, 245,341. Letters to editor ext. 208. Education Jimi Jones ext. 226. Business news ext. 326. News bureaus Heidelberg Germany room 117. Rome str 10a wish Heidelberg chm 419, Box 1318, Apo a 09102 Telephone Dan 370-7010 or civilian 06221-23421 or Contact that City desk it the european stars and stripes Postrach 11 1437, 64278 Darmstadt unit 29480, Apo a 09211 Telephone Dan 348-8237 or civilian 06155-601237 Tel fax 348-8416 or civilian 06155 001419.  Germany Kevin Dougherty John Bohmer and Doyle Tillman bulking 2899, Pulaski bar sucks Apo a 09227-3717 Telephone Dan 489-6585 or Callan 0831-52104 Tel fax 0631 -59654. Nor Nkru Germany Ron Jensen. Building 21, wit Nam o. Darby Cavern Apo a 09222 Telephone Dan 480-7256 or civilian 0911-712563 Lef fax 091v717130. Wor Zbura Germany Dave Melancon. Building 220, room 109. Faulenburg Cavern Apo a 09036 Tele phone Dan 350-6770 or civilian 0931-286956 Tel fax 0831-6896770, Mediterranean sue Palumbo arid Marian Hamilton Naples Italy pc 810, Box 56, Fpo a 09619 Tele phone Dan 625-4600 or civilian 0817624049/4547 Tel by 0039-81-7624049. Northern Italy j. King Cruger pc 54, Box 473 Apo a 09601 Telephone Dan 632-8176 or civilian 603t-4346-6176 Tel fax 0039-434-668222 United kingdom Nancy Tornor Marc Mcfann and Dave Ldla building 464 Cess us Raf Mildenhall Apo a 09459 Telephone Dan 238-2228 or civilian 0838-642226 Tel fax 0638-718013, new York City Timothy Ca Holt room 638, 201 Varlock St. New York 10014 Telephone 212-620-3333 Tel fax 212-620-3268. Washington do Chuck Vinch Cindy kill lion Oast a the Pentagon roorri2e756 . Box 46095, Washington . 20050-6095 Telephone 703-697 6695 Tel fax 703-693-6306. Business departments maj Richard. 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United kingdom Cirencester civilian 0285-713-637, Dan 247-4445. Advertising display Germany 06155-601247 or 601309. Dan 348 8247. Classified Germany 06.155-601349, Dan 348-83-j9. Advertising Tel fax 06155-601412 please Recycle this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication Lor members of the military services overseas. Contents of the stars and stripes do not necessarily reflect the official views of or endorsement by the . Government the department of defense or the . Cd Rapuan command. The appearance of advertising in this publication including inserts or supplements does not constitute endorse ment by the department of Delessa or the Slars and stripes of the products or services advertised. A 6slap for police i am interested in knowing exactly what priorities the writer of a recent letter wants the police to straighten out before he feels they will be on his Side. In his letter he states that the acquittal of sgt. 1st class Jeffery Brady is the reason people such As himself have come to View the police As hostile and disrespectful. Was he on the panel in that Tase did he even go to the trial to hear the facts and reasons from both the prosecution and the defense i have been in Law enforcement for More than five years now four As a military policeman. Letters and attitudes such As those of the writer Are a slap in the face to me and every Man and woman who serves in Law enforcement. Every Day and night soldiers and airmen put their lives on the line with Little or no gratitude shown them. Every time a traffic Stop is conducted or an officer responds to a Call there is a very real possibility of him her being injured or killed. It is extremely stressful work that our people Han dle with skill and professionalism. It is very easy for someone to play Mon. Day morning quarterback with the Benefit of 20/20 Hindsight. Our military police and Security police do the same Job As their civilian counterparts and Are subject to rules and restrictions that would make civilian Law enforcement agencies laugh. Police officers Are not perfect. They Are human and they make mistakes. Indeed there Are some who misuse their authority and position and do not deserve to Wear the badge. That is Why the actions of police officers Are subject to extreme scrutiny especially in the event of a shooting incident. If the investigation afterwards proves that the officer acted wrongly then he she is punished by the criminal Justice system just like any other person. Brady was found to be inno. Cent by a military court of Law and does not deserve to be slandered As an unpunished  the Job of a Law enforcement officer is hard. We uphold the Law and try to help those in need. The reaction a police officer receives from people when responding to Bacall is often  sometimes hos tile. No one wants a cop interfering with their lives but when you need one we re like the second coming of Christ. There Are Many people who support and care for our police officers and the Job they do. My Heartfelt thanks and gratitude go out to them. 2nd it. Arthur p. Roche Frankfurt Germany new hours protested i think the players of team Span Dah Lem need to Bench the manager of Pur army and air Force Exchange service. The recent decision to change the operating hours of the Pitburg base Exchange to close at 7 . Or 8 . Is undoubtedly the second worst idea 1 be seen the worst idea is carrying a Complete line of rolex watches at a store that caters to the Low paid military. Additionally the other service centers such As the copy cat plaque and engraving shop close at 5 . For some strange Rea son i thought cafes considered military service members the  Well in Case someone forgot to Tell the cafes managers in the Pitburg Span Dahlem area most of us work from 7 30 . To 4 30 , in order to. Accomplish any business at Pitburg a person at Span Dahlem must try to Rush Over during an extended lunch hour or leave work . I hate to think about the amount of Man hours wasted by our military members be cause we must use duty time in order to conduct typical everyday functions such As shopping renting or returning a videotape or ordering a plaque. Master sgt. David d. Schwartz Span Dahlem a Germany " � Mes in helpless rut lately there has been a lot of cafes bashing in the stars and stripes. Army and air Force Exchange service employees in turn write in to dispel the accusations in a. Polite professional manner. I live in Katterbach and i have noticed a decrease in services Courtesy and respect toward service members in the last six months. If you want to shop in the Post Exchange make a Purchase Cash a Check or pay your deferred payment plan Bill you Are guaranteed at least a 10-minute wait in line. Usually the wait is 15 minutes or  if you want to Stop at the shop Pette and pick up something Quick and simple forget it. The shop Pette has a sign posted that reads if there Are More than three people in line we will add baggers or open another  yesterday i bought a bag of ice at this same shop Pette and there was one Register out of three open. There were 22 people in line for this one Register. What. Nappe cd to cafes policy the Burger King drive through is never open and the last time i ordered inside the employee who took my order and the manager openly and very loudly complained about the special order i had made. For those who Don t know cafes does the hiring for Burger King our sight and sound used to have a com Puter Section comparable to the one at the Iirth Exchange. In the last six months the selection has dwindled to nothing. The same software has been on the shelves since january. No one is buying and cafes refuses to order new Stock. I be asked to add to this list the automotive cleaning supplies were moved to the shop Pette and the selection also dwindled. Also they moved All furniture refinishing products to the Firth Exchange. Not All of my Katterbach experiences with cafes Are bad though. The four seasons is Well stocked and the employees Are always ready to go out of their Way to help. I be really enjoyed the stars and stripes bookstores Over my last 2vi years in Germany. I m sorry to see them fall under the control of cafes As the selection and Quality will surely fall into the helpless rut that the rest of our businesses Are in now. Richard s. Hol Katterbach Germany More than cheap Oil judging by recent letters in this column it seems that the controversy Over Why we fought the Gulf . The no blood for Oil banners were in great Evi Dence during operations desert shield arid desert storm arid there Are still those who charge that the War was fought for nothing More than cheap Petroleum. Even if it was As simple As All that the outrage would be misplaced. Fighting a War for say cheap chinese take put would be a truly frivolous Endeavor fighting to protect the availability of the fuel that runs the West Ern Industrial world is More defensible. If the iraqi occupation of Kuwait had gone unchallenged Saddam Hussein would have been left to dominate the entire re Gion including saudi Arabia. If memory serves me correctly that would have Given. Iraq control of something like 28 percent of the world s Oil Supply clearly no Small matter. But cheap Oil May have been an important consideration for More than the obvious reasons. Peter Schweizer s recently published Victory charges that soviet communism did not just crumble on its own the Book outlines a Reagan administration secret strategy of Covert eco nomic warfare against the soviet Union that according to Schweizer May have hastened its demise. Saudi Arabia was a key part of this successful Campaign. Lowering Oil prices was a vital part of the strategy. The administration s reasoning according to the Book,.was this the United states was the world s largest Oil importer the soviet Union one of the would s biggest producers lower Oil prices could Only harm the soviet regime. To achieve this end the Reagan White House began courting saudi Arabia Long open s swing producer in Hopes that it would increase Petroleum production and thus lower prices. These efforts included among other things the 1981 air borne warning and control system Deal the 1984 Sale of stinger missiles and a Cia program to help modernize saudi in. Eternal Security. According to Schweizer there was never any quid  quo presented to the saudis but the strategy worked. Saudi Arabia increased production of Oil and prices plunged from $30 a barrel in no vember 1985 to $12 a barrel five months  the result for the soviet Union was according to former senior communist party committee staff member Yevgeny Novikov devastating. Tens of billions of Oil Sale dollars were wiped away helping to further cripple the col lapsing soviet Economy. If one can believe the theory presented in Schweizer s Well documented Book it would seem that the United states had More of a stake in cheap Oil and More reasons to feel indented to the saudis than just lower prices at the Gas pump. In a sense the Gulf War May have been a last Battle from the legacy of the cold War. Joel d. Smith Darmstadt Germany Comfort Kart toppled in december 1992,1 heard of the com fort cart program in Hillesheim Germany. This program had american red Cross volunteers visiting american servicemen Bers and their families who Are patients in German hospitals. The Niernberg ils. Hos Pital was due for closure and i thought this program would be perfect for our area. I raised funds recruited a program coordinator and volunteers had training ses Sions and asked and received the backing of the Hospital command and the patient Liaison. Our american red Cross com fort Kart visitation program had volunteers visiting american patients in the German hospitals taking them books per Sonal Hygiene items and most important a Friendly face to ease their stay in a foreign place. This program worked for Over a year. We had 20 volunteers visiting patients on a daily basis. The Only problem we had was in getting the names of the american patients in the Hospital. The Niernberg Hospital patient Liaison had said they would give us the names but getting them to follow through with their Promise became difficult. The Hospital command had asked us not to Call the German hospitals ourselves As this had caused problems in areas where the  Gram was being used. This month the cur rent health clinic commander decided to Stop giving us names. In this time of draw Down where  Grams Are being cancelled because of Lack of funding Volunteer programs such As the Comfort Kart Are needed. Not Only did it help the Community and the patients it eased the patient Liaison s workload. I would like to thank All of the volunteers who put so much of themselves into this program. I would like to thank the Niernberg health clinic for putting volunteers Many of whom Are retirees out of work and effectively destroying a valuable and much needed program. Pam Mcfarland Nurnberg Germany editor s note we encourage our readers especially those who have never submitted a letter to write to listeners expressing readers View Points Are published Dally on this Page. All letters must be signed and include address and Telephone number. Prefer ence is Given to Shorter letters so that More can be published in a timely Man Ner. We Reserve the right to edit tetters for clarity length and taste. Send to let ters to the editor the stars and stripes unit 29480, Apo a 09211. Or fax coun try code 49 06155-601-463, Dan 348-8463