European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday september 4, 1995 commentary the stars and stripes Pago 13not people to blame for shoo Down Leonard Larsen top Pentagon officials digging further to spread blame for the f994 shoo Down of two . Helicopters Over Iraq still can to or wont a get it right. A principal culprit sits with them but Hasni to yet been identified and brought to Book. It is they the collection of top Pentagon brass and an unexamined shoot first policy that in Iraq As before brought tragedy and shame on the nation and its military. A certainly there were failures in judgment and performance at the scene of the awful Accident that killed 26 people 15 of them americans who were inspecting an enforced peace in Northern Iraq. Certainly two air Force fighter pilots should be grounded As they now have been a for failure to make positive identification before firing on the american helicopters As enemy certainly officers a three so far a who were aboard a radar control plane Over Iraq deserved to be grounded for their failures in identification and communication. And certainly two generals in Overall command of air Force operations enforcing the .-imposed a no Fly zone in Northern Iraq were due official reprimands for mistakes of aircrews they supervised. But the matter is not it be a closed with career ending actions and official criticism against seven officers after review of an initial Whitewash a review conducted by Gen. Ronald r. Fogleman the air Force chief of staff. The immense responsibility in. The tragic and totally unnecessary deaths of the 26 victims has not been resolved by Fogelman with his punishment of seven officers All of whom had shares of that responsibility. It was and apparently still is a foolish shoot first Pentagon policy of engagement a seemingly any engagement in peace or War a that helped Lead the seven officers into the Accident Over Iraq just As it has led other american military men to other shoot first tragedies in re cent years. The worst of those the worst that can even be imagined was an unprovoked 1988 missile attack by a . Navy ship on an iranian Airliner flying on schedule on a known commercial route Over the persian Gulf. A driven by Pentagon policy the Navy Crew a in haste that appeared to approach panic a misidentified the Airliner As an attacking hostile aircraft and in an instant blew the plane out of the sky killing All 290 men women and children aboard. A -. An accompanying misfortune in the shoo Down of the iranian Airliner a unlike the final blame fixing in the shoo Down of the . Helicopters a was that no Navy personnel on or off the ship were held responsible for woefully bad judgment and performance of duty that shamed America and littered the Ocean with innocent dead victims. And never so far As its known did the Pentagon or the White House a then led by president Reagan re examine or discuss changes in the shoot first policy As it produced the mass killing of passengers aboard the iranian Airliner. The Pentagon review and the new round of punishment for the air Force officers involved in the shutdown of the american helicopters smelled suspiciously like a Public relations ploy. As easily As it could be seen As a round of tardy reprimands it could be interpreted As an at tempt to recapture some Public Confidence after one officer a Only one a was tried in a military court martial procedure which resulted in his acquittal. Personally punishing As it must be for the officers whose air Force careers have been terminated by the late arriving disciplinary actions against them the victims of the iraqi shoo Down and their families deserve More. And so do All americans and members of the must live with the consequences of a hair trigger policy that repeatedly kills unnecessarily while saving no american lives. As certainly As the. Seven air Loice officers. Were due punishment Jar the is they played in the shoo Down of live american helicopters the hair trigger seemingly Blind shoot first policy is due re examination anti change. If As its now. Clear civilian and military leaders at the Pentagon wont act president Clinton ought to. He a the commander in chief. He a in charge. He a responsible. C script a Howard Lovvo Sori Clabor Day no longer just for working Man labor Day was created to Honor the working Man but we done to have the working Man anymore. Instead we have the working couple. A Why has the working couple replaced the working Man Uncle Bob a two reasons dear Peterkin one the Cost of living has risen relentlessly while the pay for working has relentlessly stood still. Obviously the working Man could no longer maintain the famous american Standard of living. America had to switch to the working couple. A Uncle Bob is that Why Young couples say two. Incomes Are no better than one used to be in 1950, but they can. Live almost As Well on their two As Grandfather grandmother and three children lived on one in 1950?�?�. Hush child. The Young should eschew pessimism. Anyhow there is a second nobler reason for the Rise of the working couple. It shows that while the Standard of living May be going downhill the Standard of Justice is on the Rise. A talk nobility to me Uncle Many women you see thought it unjust for women to be unemployed while men worked so they demanded a Chance to work too. Employers have been Happy to give them that Chance. A because women could usually be hired a lot cheaper than men right Uncle Bob a. If you had read your Wall Street journal editorials Peterkin you would never Harbor such a cruel suspicion of the business mentality. When thinking labor Day remember that the working couple a useful though it has been As a replace ment for the failed working Man a is not a perfect paradigm of today a working world a what is a paradigm Uncle Bob a dear Peterkin when will you Ever grow up nobody cares what a paradigm is. A a paradigm exists to be said not thought about. It probably does no to mean anything at All. _ just say it now and then and easily bullied people will probably think you know what you Are talking about. What in a talking about is this the Ideal family capable of producing a working couple is becoming scarce. Divorce and single motherhood Are producing strange mutations on the old fashioned working stiff. A like divorced mom who can to get by because Deadbeat dad wont pay his child support Uncle Bob a _ that san example. But done to forget unwed Mother who supports self and kids on welfare checks. More importantly however is the great work Force spread All around the planet toiling to serve the american Market. A. Nothing could be More misleading than to think of the american working Community As american. The labor that does so much to nourish american iffy is done All Over the world. By steel puddles in Malaysia circuit Board welders in Korea Auto workers in Japan. Russell Baker Quot and done to forget the slave labor m China Tuncle Bob that puts All those Good things in the local stores so cheap. Should we give China a slave labourer a big labor Day Salute a yes dear Peterkin but do not dwell with undue cynicism on the word a you mean Uncle Bob slave labor in China Isnit half As bad As the child labor in South Asia where kids spend their childhood in factory custody turning out terrific Cut rate clothes for the american ladies garment Trade a Fife skin Peterkin. How Swift is youth to look on the dark Side. Quot of course we disapprove of americans enjoying the fruits of child labor. And slave labor too. But we live in a hard world. The american working couple simply cannot produce As cheaply As asian child and slave skilled asian labor works much cheaper than his american counterpart. This is Why american Industry ships out More and More of its computer jobs to operators and programmers in taking advantage of these extremely cheap labor rates around the world we Are Able to compete in the global Market. So America is blessed with a steady decline in Middle class population happiness in Wall Street and Ever rising pay for our corporate Bosses. A you mean labor has had it Uncle Bob a a word to the Wise dear Peterkin ceo is where its at
