| OCR Text |
Show weretoffTbpownitiNiw $b t gait akf Sribunr Tuesday Morning Section January 14, 1986 Page 10 A Remaining Mideast Hostages Should Not Be Neglected President Reagan may manage to clear all U.S. citizens out of Libya to prevent thorn becoming hostages in a conflict, but other Americans already held hostage should not be forgotten in the process. As with any escalation of tensions in the Mideast, the latest shouting match between Mr. Reagar aM Libyan dictator Moammar Khadafy generates sound waves in all directions. Some could further jeopardize freedom for westerners held captive in U.S.-Liby- Lebanon. Secretary of State George Shultz prompted more questions when he said Sunday, after first conceding Syria probably helped terrorists get to Rome and Vienna airports where they wounded and killed waiting airline passengers, that the U.S. is not contemplating sanctions against Syria. If the White House has extended U.S. trade prohibitions on Libya because Khadafy presumably encouraged the airport terrorism, why not Syria, too? After all, Mr. Shultz confirmed that the Rome and Vienna gunmen red ceived some training in Lebanon and probably reached their murderous destinations through Damascus. But, he explained, Khadafy openly endorses terrorism such as that at the European airports, while Syria doesnt. Then the secretary of state said something far more revealing: And beyond that, of course, we are working with Syria on a number of fronts in a constructive U.S. Syrian-occupie- way. The administration is known to believe Syrias President Hafez Assad can be counted on to help arrange some form of restored stability in Lebanon. Also, that, when the circumstances are right, the Syrian president will also support attempts at a regionwide peace settlement. But even more crucial in the short run is the hope that President Assad can exert influence necessary to gain liberty for at least seven Western kidnap victims held in Lebanon. Various ad hoc Moslem organizations currently hold four Americans, two Frenchmen and a Briton. In virtu- ally every case, the kidnappers have demanded associates held in prisons elsewhere be released as a condition for freeing their captives. And while negotiations have been held, the most prominent recently involving a representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury, prospects remain bleak. Mr. Shultz Sunday comments indicate the White House is quite aware that any Western move against Syrias traffic with terrorists would probably blast all hope for the hostages. Evidently, no equivalent concern guides action against Libya. Which may be accurate calculating as long as such response is limited to economic sanctions. However, if the United States becomes part of any military strike against Libya and Khadafy, reaction in the Moslem world could engulf those hostages in Lebanon. That likelihood must be seriously considered as the administration plots any subsequent moves against Libyas Khadafy as well as other nesting sites of Moslem-inspire- d terrorism in the Mideast. Helpful Builders and Providing shelter for the homeless is often a form of assistance easier to talk about than do. Recently, however, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Utah did what they could about the situation in Salt Lake City. Almost a score of local construction and supply firms donated labor and material so temporary, emergency housing can be provided in the city for women and children. It was a comp munity project for which the volunteers deserve a communitywide self-hel- thanks. The work was launched when Tooele Army Depot gave a World War II, surplus Quonset hut to the Emergency Housing Assistance Program. It could be located at 700 South and 600 West, but precious little resources were available to make the shelter ac- tually habitable. Enter the Associated Builders and Contractors. Contacted by shelter manager John Salcido, Kendrick Brothers Construction Co. agreed to be voluntary construction managers. Beyond that, the company got its association involved, leading to material and work- er contributions from additional businesses. It was a successful and appropriate filling of a genuine need by those best qualified to do so. Who better to assure shelter than builders? Later this month, the remodeled Quonset hut is expected to provide a dormitory for women, space for a medical clinic and a day room for mothers and children, plus a classroom for the youngsters. Estimates place the total value of the donated material and labor at $50,000. But more than money is involved. Another mention of those who made this expression of public responsibility through private means is in order as an expression of congratula- - A appreciation. The participating companies were: Associated Electric Supply Inc.; Bullough Insulation & Supply Co.; Tabor Insulation Inc.; National Plumbing and Heatinjg; Freeway Heating and Air Conditioning; Architectural Building Supply; Capitol Building Material Inc.; Howells Painting Inc.; Rugg Painting; Swanson Building Materials Inc.; United Electric Supply Co.; Associated Electric Supply Co.; Rocky Mountain Mechanical and Electrical Co. Anderson Lumber Co.; Building Products Inc.; Burton Lumber Inc.; Bud Bailey Construction; Weyher-Liv-se- y Constructors; Weyher Brothers Co.; Demco Inc. Steel Fabrictators and, of course, Kendrick Brothers Construction Co. tions Orbiting Paragraphs pessimist is an optimist who started paying attention. A The biggest effect of going on a salt-fre- e diet is the increased craving for pickles and sauerkraut. Tearing a telephone book in half used to of strength. Now its a be a demonstration sign of weakness. The paint dealer who promises one-cocoverage should be made to apply the at sec- ond. A floating telephone has been invented for use in the bathtub. Anyone who wants one has to be all wet. Science is a discipline devoted to disproving the previous generation's version. An obviously discouraged American ambassador said at his press conference after visiting the West German Foreign Office: It is a matter of doing what is right. And of course it is right to do something about Khadafy, not perhaps everything we can do, but everything we can reasonably do, which is to put a heavy accent on defining what is reasonable. Helmut Kohl, who is certainly almost pleaded, in turn, for American understanding. Dont you see, he said, there are 1,500 West Germans working in Libya and we have to watch out for them. And several billion dollars of trade with Libya. Sometimes West German interests, he said which he was pledged to serve dont coincide with U.S. interests. Right. That was certainly true of Germany for a couple of years back in 1917, and for four years beginning in 1941. It is not a claim to diplomatic savoir faire on behalf of America to comment that the elder statesmanship of Europe has led to two great wars in this century, to the enslavement of Eastern Europe, and to an impasse in the Middle East in which innocent Europeans and Americans are used as pincushions by terrorists whose emerging spokesman is that modern Caligula who presides over Libya. So should our attitude toward Libya be Catonic? That useful word is used to remind us that Cato the Elder, perceiving Carthage to be a great strategic threat to Rome, ended all his orations with the declamation, Delen-d- a est Carthago: Carthage must be deby contrast, the stroyed. And was it ever bombing of Dresden was a tea party. But the destruction of Libya is not the objective, rather the destruction of its leader, and this is not easy to effect. Which brings us to the extraordinary performance of Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, whose ambition, one must suppose on surveying his career, is to be wrong on absolutely every issue he addresses. Suddenly Old Metz pops up on Thursday last and says that perhaps we ought to consider ordering the assassination of Khadafy. If indeed he is From The Los Angeles Times They called it voodoo economics back in 1980 when candidate Ronald Reagan promised to balance the budget, raise defense spending and cut taxes. Well, he raised defense spending and cut taxes, all right. Some might argue that two out of three isnt bad, except that we also got $200 billion-a-yea- r budget deficits and a doubling of the national debt. But even now, six years later, it would seem that President Reagan still believes that witchcraft is a credible substitute for sound economic reasoning. deficit-cuttin- g law, which the president seemed to do. To make the presidents arithmetic work. Congress would have to disassemble the federal establishment down to the very basic Metzenbaum would do well to keep silent on every subject, but if he can handle discretion on only one, let him start by being silent on i commissioning the death of foreign leaders." . Khadafy's ultimate threat, spoken at his press conference on Thursday, reaches for hilarity. He threatens the United States to, become another Castro Cuba, concerning which one observes only that there isnt that much of a difference between life in Libya and Cuba save that Khadafy does exercise & measure of independence from Moscow that Castro does not. Threatening to give up all of ; his independence to spite America is, in an adult, well, kook talk; like a child threatening his mother to stop eating candy. Most noticeable about the whole drama is not so much European reluctance to act as guilty of terrorism, perhaps the CIA which by the way would not exist if Metzen-baum- s votes were decisive in matters relatshould simply have him ing to the CIA eliminated. Senator Metzenbaum reminded one of that crazy historical moment when Senator McGovern, having done his best to emasculate U.S. and allied forces' in Southeast Asia, listened to an account of what was going on in Cambodia (genocide) and blurted out, Why dont we send some troops in there and just stop all this nonsense? He sounded like the wreckers of Penn Station lamenting the loss of great architectural monuments. The point here is that responsible government officials dont talk about the assassination of foreign leaders. This does not mean (this is the time to clear ones throat) that circumstances do not exist in which the assassination of a world leader isnt called for, merely that this is the kind of thing that, preferably forever, is kept silent. Senator the consolidation of sentiment throughout' the Islamic world around Khadafy. The implied meaning of it being that any country that assails an Islamic country serves to unify all Islamic countries around that country, no matter what its provocations. It is the counterpart of the African states that 10 years ago elevated Idi Amin as their hero because he was disowned by the United States and Great Britain. Do you remember the efforts of the State Department to rally the sentiment of the Islamic world to protest the actions of the ayatollah when he took our hostages? It is a hell of a way to promote a religion. i Reagan has taken it on the chin, but just-wai- t. If Libya tranquilizes, it will be because of the U.S. threat. If it does not, Europe will be reminded of what Reagan warned of, back then on Jan. 7, 1986, and perhaps the shadow of Cato will pass over their chancelleries. Its Time for America to Act With Wisdom Universal Press Syndicate Our present ominous words and war with the unlikely country of Libya bring us again to questions of I deliberately put that last word in quotes because nowhere in the world is it the pure hatred that Americans tend to fear it is. WASHINGTON America is not a nation in any historical sense of loyalty to tribe or piece of land America is an idea, an abstract, a utopian dream of a community of mankind. In not grasping that, we Americans dont realize what we bring out in others; then we become angry and childishly eager to strike out when we feel misunderstood. Take the case of Moammar Khadafy, the desert rogue elephant of these days of our lives. Like other leaders of the Third World, Khadafy actually has a lovehate relationship with the United States. Even while striking out viciously, he is constantly trying to get American recognition, and he is endlessly fascinated with Americas perceived wares: technology, science, gadgets. But he has the common Third World and in particular postcolonial schizophrenia toward America itself: We are seen as, first, the inspirer of hopes that all the world can be an America and, then, as the thwarter of those hopes. If ever there were a dangerous equation, that one certainly is it! I see as: Envy. America, the glorious abstraction of history, is to many peoples of the world what they could have been, if . . If history had not put them in the path of raging conquerors, if earthquakes had not destroyed empires, if, if, if . . . That puts a heavy and generally unwanted load on us Americans, most of whom just want to be left alone to enjoy life on our programs of health, safety and law enforcement. The president knows that will not happen, and that his new budget will be effectively ignored when it arrives on Capitol Hill early in February. Yet he still seems to insist that 2 plus 2 equals 5. For instance, he repeated his economic dogma that lower taxes bring in more federal revenues. Even with the big 1981 tax reductions, he said, "were getting the same percentage of gross national product in tax revenues at the lower rates that weve been getting before, and the answer to more revenues for government is economic growth." Wrong. Total federal receipts have declined as a percentage of gross national product since 1981, even counting the increase in Social Security taxes The personal income tax has dropped from 9 9 percent in 19R1 to 8 5 percent of GNP. The president, of course, still insists that the tax cut did not contribute to the deficit problem If Reagan were to get 3 percent real growth in defense next year, the mi'itary budget would have to increase by about $20 that the American revolt of the masses was a triumph of the mob. At the same time, of course, on the world scale, Russian communism was being posited against American capitalism to create! the dichotomy of our time. Genuine postcolonial-er- a complaints.-Thiis probably the most ironic area be- -, cause the United States of America histori-'- . of councally was the most tries; indeed, it was the first colony in. modern times to fight itself free. Franklin D. Roosevelt was determined to see the African, Middle Eastern and Asian colonies of Europe freed. After FDRs death, Harry Truman made a momentous and disastrous decision that is seldom noted: The United States would replace the Europeans, particularly in Indochina. At the same time, Israel was being born in the Middle East, and that too was perceived by the Third World as a colonial intrusion. In one of historys great paradoxes, the United States came thus to be perceived as the new colonial or power. Given its ability to attract and inspire and, then, to thwart and control, America, not unexpectedly, came to evoke ambiguous and often violently hateful responses in much of the world. Americas fear of change in the rest of the world. Here comes still another irony. If America stands for anything, it stands for change; yet, in country after country, our foreign policies have come to stand for the impossible status quo. I think the reasons for this are best explained by the great Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes in his Harvard commencement speech of 1983, when he said that the problem lay in the fact that the United States was born modern. We were born as a country ready to roll, so to speak, with all the necessary values for development. Other countries today are fighting their way out of feudalism, and we just dont understand that, for them, that fight often necessitates violent change. The world actually wants us to lead but we have shown, through our leadership, fragmentation and indecision. If one were a European in Europe now, one would have little idea of what America is, of where it is going in the end, and so why it should be followed, the great British journalist Henry Fairlie has written. The politicians who are now governing America seem to proclaim that America is a place for people on the make, and it is the inevitable result that Its policies will be distrusted overseas as though simply of a nation going it alone." All of this is why I put In quotes. nd if we dont understand the elements of this phenomenon and deal with them the way a wise leading nation should, then we will strike out in spite and a.id the cycle, ominous in its potenanger tial, will soon come physically to include s st precious and previously isolated continent. But (and heres one major rub) we also want to be loved by the world. Cultural disdainfulness, which is in part envy and in part elitism. In a brilliant article in The Washington Times, Professor Stephen Haseler writes of this facet of the phenomenon: Contemporary ideological has roots deep in European history, reflecting earlier distorted and bastardized Western political traditions that have always, at least incipiently, challenged the American experience. . . . This impulse comes, first, from a criticism of democratic culture. German intellectuals have historically criticized American democracy on the elitist grounds that somehow the equality of democratic society threatened culture, and Reagans Magic Wand Wont Balance the Budget Giarmn-Rudma- it." Universal Press Syndicate Another Viewpoint At his news conference last Tuesday, the president vowed to seek 3 percent real growth in defense spending in his 1987 budget, and to balance the budget over the next five years without raising taxes. It just cannot be done, even with the best magic potions and even if you ignore the provisions of the "Your antifreeze has a wine chemical in Khadafy Not an Easy Target billion. But reality is that Gramm-Rudmaif it survives constitutional tests, would dictate an imprudent cut in defense spending of about $25 billion from current levels. But it may be that the arithmetic of Gramm-Rudma- n finally is getting through to the White House. Reagans insistence last week that there be no tax increase during the next five years (although he will not be in office all that time) was not couched in quite the rhetoric of recent weeks. Later, his spokesman said that while Reagan remains adamant against higher taxes, he would guarantee that there would not be any personal tax increases on the average American. One of the suggested sources of new fee. revenue is an table-poundin- g rt Reagans qualities that Americans seem to like is his buoyant optimism. But leadership also demands that leaders be candid with the people at times. Now is such a time. We hope that the president finally will become convinced of the need for additional revenue, and communicate that frankly to the people rather than to continue a game of economic charades. One of al Amei . a itself. |
