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Show Sunday Letters: pobttihed). Direct I Sept. yrtim to Fltt StqfeM, 10. 1989 D iJltortoJ page editor, VMSk. SHolaHora f righds .eontinuo' in &mma 6 Kg The winds of democratic change that I were blowing through Burma just a year jaeo have given way to the still, dead air Herald comment of depression. Tm tragedy for backward Burma's 40 'million people will be compounded if the 'outside world, including the United ; States, remains indifferent to the government's increasing violations ft of basic human rights. 1 Leaders of the popular movement, who seemed ready to topple Bur-me- Burma's long-rulin- g se dictatorship last year, are now mostly in jail. So are J many of their followers. Worse yet, 2 there are persistent reports that political .prisoners are being tortured. The stubborn generals who rule Burkina these days paid heavily for their 'brutal suppression of last year's protests. The regime has been shunned diplomatically and lost most of its foreign aid, including $300 million from ; Japan, $100 million from West Germany and $12 million from the United States. I Regrettably, this appropriately stern reaction may now be weakening. Japan !j reportedly is considering resuming some it aid. South Korea is renewing its odd ;; friendship with the Burmese regime. 'Neighboring Thailand, seeking increased h trade opportunities, exchanges Rangoon and forcibly repatriated about 300 Burmese student -- pleasan-triewit- For its part, the United States keeps relations with Rangoon properly chilly. But the State Department could do much more. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, routinely rejects requests for political asylum from Burmese students fleeing the dictatorship. This policy of nearly automatic rejection should be reversed. Then too, the Burmese government continues to misuse helicopters provided by the United States for opium suppression. Instead, the helicopters are frequently used against Burma's multiple insurgencies. The United States could, and should, insist that the millions it provides Burma annually for suppression of the drug trade be used only for that purpose. Beyond these specifics, the United States and other democracies should be looking for ways to encourage Burma's budding democracy movement. By some accounts, the movement came close last year to overthrowing the dictatorship. With a little help from foreign friends, democracy might yet have a future in Burma. v . 3 a - JESUS MC6ESRN35 WALKS JIMBNCKER ON AfJJEE. KMOWITCOSTb iNVASiOM" SPENDING FOft DETENTE 15 PROTECTING ojfi shores fsom nvluOm5. 8ut TEARS UP A WATER RED SEA EVEflV ;'M TaLwfj-- about PTL BONUS CHECK . w Bel 6l h wiltt pwerxpn fcfM wmv KIWI I CBK-Hfi- CAMFftiGM. , blm. y, Mkl.i XCC I'DtMlkai.S '1 I Vyj lhv,' 1 I Wffi AN Feedback Geneva Steel has the right to defend itself ! Editor: I am appalled but not surprised at the 'reaction of the "Clean Air" people (report-Je- d 'Sept. 3) to the new study of valley health commissioned by Geneva Steel. They have shown once again that they are terribly good at making accusations and threats but become enraged when their victim dares to defend itself. pid. Arden Pope invite Geneva to read tiis&udy and respond to it before he went Rublvc, long before its official publication? J)tdWnyone consider whether its timing would be "convenient?" i County Commissioner Brent Morris denounces the money Geneva has spent 'responding to aggressive attacks by the '"Clean Air" group. If he and his cronies J would stop their harassment, Geneva 'would have more money to spend on the 1 mammoth clean-u- p they plan and have ; begun. ; There is a significant contrast between 'the positive and calm position taken by ; Mr Cannon and the negative and emotional tirades of Mr. Rushforth, Mr. Morris, et ial. Geneva could cry "foul" every time it j ' is falsely accused, foallowing the example of "Clean Air," but instead goes quietly to work to disprove its detractors. If, as your lead article states, this week's hearings concern only vehicles and g stoves, how can a clarification of health effects of industry affect the hearings? Everyone will have until December to consider and evaluate the various reports. Why the great upset now? 1& wood-burnin- And if, as now declared, the hearings are only about wood stoves and vehicles, why has this not been made clear to the public? The article in the Aug. 23 Herald under the headline "Coalition urges hearing attendance" does not mention any restriction of topics, but does contain quotations like "The community will do away with that industry if it doesn't clean up its act." And now Geneva is blamed that its workers want to come defend their jobs and their company's integrity. In Commis- sioner Morris' immortal words, "This stinks." Patricia B. Grey Provo Seven Peaks would damage local mountains Editor: The time is drawing near when the iForest Service will either give approval or tfenial to the Seven Peaks project. You have until Sept. 18 to voice your opinions hy writing, phoning, or visiting the Supervisor; Uinta National Forest, 88 West 100 North, Provo, Utah 84601. I Most of us were shocked recently with .thejaging fire on Mapleton mountain as it marred its slopes. The damage is incalculable. The reforestation and the healing of to the terrain will take many fie wounds to mend. Two youths, through their jvears carelessness, were apparently to blame. .Can you imagine what 750,000 people, the projected number of visitors to the Seven Peaks project each year, roaming unsupervised, could do to our environment? e to the mountains in these the latter days to escape persecution and to - We-cam- make the valleys blossom as the rose and now these mountains are in jeopardy and the valleys are fast becoming polluted with ever increasing particulates from many different sources. Wake up you citizens of Provo before you are saddleds with an enormous debt and a constant drain on the utilities that belong to you. Wake up you students of Brigham Young before your "Y" mountain is desecrated and the pollutants become unbearable. Yes, many of us were born and raised in this valley that our ancestors colonized and we were left with a wonderful inheritance to protect and build upon. If you love the valleys and the mountains that surround us let your voice be heard, stand up and be counted, it is later than you think. W.L. Newell Provo Extra tax money needed for better schools Editor: It is high time the good people of Utah started "putting their money where their moaths are." No, this isn't a "trash-Utamtiti, for we love our beautiful state, and the' (for the most part!) good, kind, and compassionate Christians who live in it. i It does seem however, that a disproportionate number of "complainers" have found their way into print lately. I'm referring to a regular litany of complaints fcbout paying taxes. Let's stipulate up front, that no one really enjoys paying taxes, but believe it or not, I know many families (ours among them) who are grateful enough to live in this great state Country so that paying our fair share of taxes, is not too high a price for this great h" privilege. ! Unfortunately, there are a considerable lumber, however, who like Leona Helms-e- y 1 feel that shethey shouldn't have to pay (axes ("only the little people pay taxes") t all, or at least the very least amount their clever (and in many cases unscrupu lous) tax attorneys can get them out of I t ! lying, neiuier ume or space permit, dui s middle-clasie average taxpayer would amazed if he knew some of the ridicu- ius 'deductionssheltersevasions that the Very wealthy (thanks to Reagan's bill, that favored mostly the group' that makes over $100,000 a year) among us. J We will have a good chance to prove wrong our critics, who say we are hypo- T .'A. A.! crits whenever we talk about how much we love our children, have high moral stan- dards want to have strong families, etc. etc. when we tell our legislators how to dispose of the $40 million in our state budgettreasury. If we insist on a refund of this money (or even a large portion of it) instead of paying our long-sufferi- teach- ers the national average at least (one of our papers already says it isn't necessary to even do this much, for our teachers!) also get our children the textbooks, supplies they need to become as educated as we want them to be. I am amazeddisgusted in hearing some of these individuals who say (in their vast ignorance) that our teachers don't work hardlong enough, don't deserve a raise, etc. etc. It is a safe bet, they never had to deal with 30 or more (our class sizes are the largest in the country!) squirming youngsters, or to put up with (all too many) parents who always find an excuse why they can't serve on the PTA or participate in a "fund-raisinproject (I have other meetings ...") or they wouldn't say such silly things. Now each of us can be a part of the solution, instead of the problem, if we want to, and put up, or else shut up about how great we are, etc. etc. if we don't vote to use this surplus on badly needed (starved) schools, and Social Services, handicapped, retarded people among us. Charles S. Bollard Orem "Maybe the tests ARE actually random. They checked the kicker for steroids." Palay corruption InvosUgatoi - WASHINGTON A federal investigation has reached the same conclusion that we did a year ago that the Reagan administration helped bring "paradise lost" to the South Pacific. A probe by the General Accounting Office says the administration "let serious problems develop" and "did not act on the knowledge it had of violence" in the island Republic of Palau, a U.S. trust territory near the Philippines. Last summer we reported on the corruption and violence unfolding beneath the administration's nose. The GAO investigators followed the same path, and it led directly to Lazarus Salii, the late president of Palau. Before Salii shot himself last fall, he was a valued ally of the White House. In that sense, Palau was closer to the Philippines than in geography alone. Salii had been called a after the Philippines despot who also won Reagan's heart. The GAO discovered that Salii and his cohorts were up to their eyeballs in shady deals: Salii and his cronies never adequately explained more than $1 million in payments they received from a British company that built an overpriced power plant in Palau. That plant has weighed down Palau with a $50 million debt that UJS. taxpayers probably will have to pay. A top Salii aide solicited up to $1 million from a businessman seeking ap- for a venture, and he told another Eroval that he would have to pay "mini-Marcos- ," Jack Anderson Van Atta A Dal UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE bribes. Salii struck deals with New York bond sellers, who were later indicted for fraud, and an Australian gun runner who was arrested for drug trafficking. The GAO found evidence that the contracts bidding for multimillion-dollwas rigged. The GAO's findings vindicate three members of the House Interior Committee, who complained that the administration was ignoring what was happening in Palau in a rush to sign a "compact of free association" giving Palau and its 15,000 natives independence. Morris Udall, Reps. Ron de Lugo, and George Brown, have long suspected that the administration was blinded by its desire to sign an agreement with Palau that would allow the Pentagon to dock battleships in its harbors. The trio wanted the White House to insist that Palau clean up its corrupt government before it cut the umbilical cord to the United States. ar I., As the foreign policy duel raged, State Department officials grew belligerent with the opponents in Congress, accusing them of being "wimps" and of exaggerating Patau's problems. In the meantime, Salii was pressuring his own employees to support the proposed White House compact. The compact is still making its way through Congress. A U.S. military presence the pivotal issue that divided Palau is not spelled out in the draft. It will have to be negotiated later. SCAPEGOATING GAME The Bush administration is playing an old game with the Federal Reserve Board taking credit for economic successes and blaming the Fed for reversals. Bush is now positioning himself to blame the Fed for interest rate hikes that his own economists know are necessary to hold down inflation. The Fed, which jealously guards its independence from politics, is likely to view the administration's posturing with scorn and assert its independence even further. An Austin, Texas, gun dealer reportedly is trying to sell the arsenal that sniper Charles Whitman used to kill 16 people from atop the University of Texas clock tower in 1966. As if making "collectors items" out of the guns isn't bizarre enough, one of the people injured in the hail of bullets says he would consider buying one for a souvenir. Another potential buyer has the only sensible reason he wants to grind the guns into scrap metal. - - |
