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Show Wednesday, October 6, 1862, THE HERALD, Provo, 35 Utah-P- age The Herald, its readers, syndicated columnists and cartoonists discuss vital issues Opinions The Herald Comments We Must Find Poison Killer OUT OF It seems reasonable to s;.spect that somewhere, cyanide killer (or ers) responsible for the cern and outrage. The producers of the seven Tylenol capsule deaths in the Chicago area. Evidence indicates the put wallet." Fanner. Law enforcement officers, including the FBI, are pursuing the case, with more than 20 sus- - Iranians used to in WASHINGTON the United States, who live in dread of the Shah's secret police, now apparently find themselves in similar fear of Ayatollah Khomeini's goon squads. Intelligence sources suspect that an undercover campaign of intimidation and harassment Iranians against ni in this country is coordinated, if not directly planned, by Khomeini agents at the Iranian Interest Section in Washington. The interest section, part of the Algerian Embassy, has handled Iranian affairs since President Carter closed the Iranian Embassy three years ago. Intelligence sources told my associate Lucette Lagnado that Iranians living here have contacted the State Department on several occasions to express their fear of the Iranian Interest Section. They are convinced that the interest section is behind some ugly incidents directed at Khomeini's opponents in the United States. Indeed, Khomeini's minions are believed to be modeling their behavior after the "diplomats" of another dictator, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya. Qaddafi has not shrunk from sending assassins into the United States to deal with troublesome exiles. There is no evidence that Khomeini's secret police have gone to that extreme, at least not yet. But the Iranian Interest Section's methods of harassment have been only slightly subtler. Employees of the interest section have been identified on the demofringes of nstrations in Washington. The supposition is that they are there to identify dissidents for future if not directly, reprisal their families in Iran. d incident last In a ni then-agains- t little-notice- summer, Khomeini's thugs came out of the closet. It occurred at the student center of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. SMU students held a meeting to protest the excesses of the Khomeini regime. The lectures and songs were suddenly interrupted when about 75 hoodlums carrying guns and knives tried to enter the meeting place. Quick action by local police prevented a major disaster, but not before three students were injured. The attack served its purpose: The meeting was broken up and the lesson was driven home that public opposition to Khomeini can be dangerous. An investigation of the SMU fracas developed the information that many of the intruders were from various parts of the country and were ni ni considered "pros" who had participated in similar incidents at other colleges. Intelligence sources believe that the melee in Texas was planned at the Iranian Interest Section in Washington. If so, it demonstrates the thoroughness of Khomeini's surveillance over dissidents in the United States. Not an sparrow falls without creating interest at the Iranian Interest Section. 'Khomeini's hit squads have not yet made the FBI's list of most dangerous terrorist groups. That dubious honor is shared by ni Armenian nationalists and Puerto Rican independence advocates, according to FBI sources. This is scant comfort to Iranian students and exiles living in this country. Where once they feared Savak, the notorious secret police of the late Shah, they now fear Svamah, the ayatollah 's version. Footnote: Incidents of terrorism in the United States have made a quantum jump in the past year. As of Sept. 1, the FBI reports, there have been 28 such incidents, in which five persons were killed and 23 injured. In all of last year, one death and four injuries were attributed to acts of was identified as "William who was CIA director Colby" under Presidents Nixon and Ford. In my office, the final version of each story is double-checke- d by myself and three separate editcs, plus any reporter who may have contributed to it. At United Feature Syndicate, it is reviewed by at least two editors and then read back to my office to make sure no mistakes were made in transmission. This was the procedure followed on the Marcos story, and when it was read back from New York, the CIA chief was still Casey. But subsequently, during processing at the syndicate, someone whose mind was momentarily adrift typed in Colby instead of Casey. For the record: It was Casey who met with Mrs. Marcos. Colby, a private attorney in Washington, has my apology. Copyright, 1982, United Feature Syndicate, Inc. About Letters lo provide II intended readers with an open forum ran discuss issues of broad community interest and importance In that spirit. TV Daily Herald welcomes letters to "Feedback" on any subject of broad community interest Letters should be typewritten, about and not esceed 400 words a page and a half of typewritten, enbe will The length limit copy forced strictly Without esceplion. eery letter must be signed in ink Willi the writer's full name, home address and phone number numbers won t be published Phone Names ran be withheld for food reason, but only after personal consultation with the editor The Herald will not accept or publish "Feedback" Daily Hrrald in which they - letters which are duplicated, photocopied or which otherwise five the appearance of being a mass mailing, letters which argue a specific religious doctrine, which attempt a personal debate with I previous contributor rather than addressing issues; which repeat positions previously eipressed by other contributors or letters which are addressed to individuals or institutions other than the Herald The editor reserves the right lo edit any letter lo remove potentially libelous material, material in poor taste and to make letters conform to the length limit As nearly as possible, all letters which meet the above requirements will be published in the order they are received, although handwritten letters may be delayed (or typing, and letters which esceed the length limit or otherwise violate the stated policy may he returned to the writers for correction or revision and inconvenience. Investigators believe the killer poisoned the victims by putting cyanide in Extra-Strengt- h Tylenol capsules off the store premises, then placing the bottles store prominently shelves. As this was the contaminated capsules had been found and each was traced to a different store. Initially, two lots of the capsules were found to be involved. The manufacturer, McNeil Consumer Products Co., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, recalled lots MC2880 and 1910MD na- tionwide. Two batches otler apparently lots 1801MA "tapped and MB1833 have not been recalled. Bill Grigg, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, said the manufacturer has not been asked to recall the last two lots "because all written, five bottles of Extra-Strengt- h Tylenol was or dered recalled from the Chicago area, followed by a nationwide advisory not to use Extra-Strengt- h Tylenol at all." Actually, officials suspect the problem is confined to the Illinois location. Anyone who has any information that might aid police in the probe should step forward with it. A $100,000 reward posted by Johnson & Johnson should increase motivation. Meantime, as a temporary precaution, consumers should heed the FDA'a advice not to use Tylenol Extra-Strengt- h until advice to the contrary is forthcoming from the agency. Foreign News Analysis Spanish Downarade NATO Pact By BARRY JAMES UPI Senior Editor Less MADRID, Spain (UPI) than four months after Spain became the 16th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, that membership and the nation's entire defense policy aro surrounded by uncertainty. The opposition Socialist Workers Party has declared its intention of calling a national referendum on NATO membership if it forms the government after general elections on Oct. 28. Opinion polls give the socialists a good chance of beating the ruling Union of the Democratic Center in the elections, the third since dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975. The socialists also want a revision of the new defense agreement between the United States and Spain, primarily in order to eliminate all references to NATO commitments and to eliminate the possibility of nuclear weapons' being based on Spanish soil. The agreement was signed in Madrid July 2, and now is before Congress. It also will have to be - ratified by the new Spanish parliament after the election. The socialists oppose the NATO commitment primarily because they say it is damaging to East-Wesecurity. Spain formally became a member of NATO June 5. The fact it had been a dictatorship until 1975 had prevented its joining earlier. Membership of the alliance is open only to democracies. st The government also an- nounced its intention of joining NATO's integrated defense structure, and details of military cooperation were in the process of being worked out when elections were called Aug. 28. NATO heads of state and government at their Bonn summit in June said Spain's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty, after its peaceful change to parlia- mentary democracy, "bears witness to the vitality of the alliance as a force for peace and freedom." Despite the socialists' intention to seek revision of the bilateral agreement with the United States, the existing close military cooperation between and American forces no danger. Socialist leader Felipe Gonzalez on several occasions has stated his willingness to continue the cooperation, provided Spanish sovereignty is fully respected. The agreement, which replaces earlier defense treaties dating to the 1950s, provides the United States with the joint use of the Rota naval base in southwestern Spain and the airfields of Torrejon and Zaragoza. The bases are among the most Spanish appears to be in important U.S. military facili- ties in Europe. Rota, not far from where Christopher Columbus set sail for the New World, is a key resupply base for the U.S. Sixth Fleet and guards the entrance to the Straits of Gibraltar. It boasts a concrete tow-wa- y long enough to take the NASA space shuttle and houses about 3,500 Americans and their families. The U.S. Air Force operates three squadrons of F-- 4 Phan toms from the Torrejon base just outside of Madrid, which has one of the longest runways in Europe at 2 xk miles. The base is an important staging post for the huge C-- 5 Galaxy transport aircraft bringing troops and supplies to Europe. Spain forbids use of the base for transporting supplies to Israel, with which it has no diplomatic relations. The U.S. Air Force uses the airfield at Zaragoza in northeastern Spain principally as a base for tanker aircraft that support the Sixth Fleet. Under the existing bilateral arrangements, Spain bans the stationing of nuclear weapons on its soil. Polaris submarines that used Rota as a base had to leave when an earlier agreement expired in 1979. Following an accident in 1966 bomber crashed in which a on the village of Palomares in southeastern Spain, scattering 2 four nuclear bombs, the government also banned overflights by aircraft carrying atomic weap- ons. Lee Roderick terrorism. ANATOMY OF AN ERROR: No matter how hard you try, it's impossible to avoid an occasional blooper. In a recent story on the state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, I wrote that "CIA Chief William Casey personally conferred with (Mrs. Marcos) last July to make arrangements for the Marcos' state visit." But when the sentence appeared in newspapers across the country, the CIA chief product have been on bizarre example of Khomeini's Goons Harass Iranians Here con- ber of establishments pects being checked out. The random killings- -a Jack Anderson aroused national caused considerable num- ney General Tyrone jV" s' families and perpetrator "salted" with one or more bottles of contaminated Tylenol, said Illinois Attor- an' hand me your vic-tim- Tylenol pain reliever are a victim of the tragedy also and consumers accustomed to using the store shelves at a it down. SLOWLY, brought ravity-have deep anguish to the kill- "OK, dep- somebody has information that could help po- lice track down the 1982 by NE A. Inc senseless human Has Blind Spot Towards Israel WASHINGTON, Eleven of the 24 quesD.C. tions tossed at President Reagan at a recent televised press conference dealt with Israel or Lebanon. Yet the President failed all 11 times to express either sorrow or sympathy over the Palestinian massacre. The closest he came was in calling for a "permanent peace solution" that would protect Israel and be "just and fair for the Palestinians." Consider for a moment: Reagan Administration Begun government. Weapons for Israel? Coming "still right up, with more on tap." Is Israel sabotaging the U.S. peace initiative? "No, I F-1- don't believe that." Has the massacre changed anything in our relations with the Begin government? "We.. .expect to be doing business with the government of Israel and with Prime Minister Begin, if that's the decision of the Israeli people." In fairness to the President, it could be noted that his unshakable support for Israel goes back a long way. Reagan, with most Americans, has been fascinated by the saga of modern Israel, created after the Nazi Holocaust and nearly strangled aborning by its Arab neighbors. And he genuinely considers Israel a strategic asset to the U.S. But the President has failed to distinguish between the ideal of Israel and the reality of what Israel has become under Mena- - The will n dolspend nearly a lars this year on the United States Information Agency, in large part to "project an accurate and positive image of the United States and its foreign policy abroad." Yet when the President himself has an opportunity to acknowledge publicly our nation's moral outrage over the slaughter, he refuses to take it. What must this tell a watchful world about America's true values? The President's blind spot is even more babbling in light of the crescendo of criticism over the slaughter, notably in Israel itself. After Prime Minister Mena-cheBegin initially refused to call for a full investigation, an estimated 350,000 Israelis poured into the streets in anger. In a country of only four million people, it was a stunning display of concern the equivalent of nearly 20 millions Americans turning out all at once to protest something. If Mr. Reagan had nary a word of comfort to offer grieving Palestinian families who had been let down by U.S. and Israel assurances of protection, however, he offered more than a little solace to the embattled half-billio- of Me HMO? Begin. Reagan's unwavering support of Israel as a nation has been converted by Begin and chem his defense minister, Ariel Sharon, into a blank check for militarism and expansionism. For example, in October, 1980, on the eve of the presidential election, Reagan took issue with Jimmy Carter and said the Israel settlements of the occupied West Bank were not illegal. This, in spite of U.S. Resolution 242 supported by succeeding American govern-ment- s which calls upon Israel to withdraw from territories captured in the 1967 war. Given Washington's blessing, Begin has continued to defy world opinion and dot the captured Arab landscape with Is- raeli settlements. Reagan's permissive policy has now come home to roost. Israel has thrown the President's words in his face in refusing even to consider his Middle East peace plan which includes a freeze on the settlements. The President set an unquestioning tone toward Israel and his aides fell in line. Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig even Mr. Reagan by telling a Jewish one-upp- m audience in New York is er that "had the credibility" of Israel's invasion of Lebanon "been left undisturbed" by the U.S.,"thePalestinian Liberation Organization would have left weeks earlier, and there would have been less bloodshed." The slaughter in Beirut refugee camps came just days later and showed the nakedness of such an approach. That tragedy stands as stark testimony to the fallacy of giving a blank check to Israel or any other ally led by fanatics. 4 |