editorio
V
Impeachment
Like a boil on the body politic, the
Watergate tapes crisis is coming to a head. The
refusal of the President to yield up the secret
tapes has led to the firing of special Watergate
prosecutor Archibald Cox and Deputy Atty.
Gen. William Ruckleshaus and the resignation
of Atty. Gen. Elliot Richardson.
Cox's ouster followed his refusal to obey a
presidential order to halt his court actions to
obtain the President's secret tapes.
Ruckleshaus was fired for refusing to fire
Cox, and Richardson quit because he believed
the President had violated an understanding
with Congress that Cox would have a free
hand in his handling of the Watergate
investigation.
Cox replied with simple eloquence to the
President's audacious moves: "Whether our's
shall continue to be a government of laws and
not of men is now for Congress and
ultimately the American people to decide."
The time for that decision is before us.
The editorial staff of the Daily Nebraskan
urges the immediate undertaking of
impeachment proceedings against President
Richard M. Nixon.
Nixon has attempted to circumvent,
pervert and overrule the Constitution. He has
held himself above the law. The American
people should tolerate such actions no longer.
He has claimed presidential immunity in
the Watergate tapes case. The Constitution
grants no such immunity. The President has
said and has shown by his recent actions that
he is not confined by the legal obligations
which face all citizens. As the U.S. Court cf
Appeals for the District of Columbia said In
its ruling that ordered Nixon to give the tepss
to Judge John. J. Sirica, the inclusion of tha
impeachment clause in the Corltution
proves that holding office grants the President
no escape from those legal obligations.
It seems that the President by withholding
the tapes might be involved in the obstruction
of justice, since those recorded conversations
may confirm or finally discredit much of the
conflicting Watergate hearing testimony. This
sort of action reveals a disregard for historic
American principles.
Nixon has urged the Justice Dept. to make
a vigorous probe of the Watergate scandal.
But this hypocritical plea should' not
camouflage the fact that it is Nixon himself
who is helping to delay the probe. If the
President is not willing to subject himself to
the law, then Congress must subject him to It.
Michael (OJ.) Nelson
Mary Vobsd!
Tim Ancbrsoei
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Once again the Holy Land is at war. And for the fourth
time in its short history, Israel finds itself called to arms.
At first, this most recent outbreak of hostilities was viewed
by many Americans as another type of football game. In some
quarters, pools were established based on the number of days
the Arabs would last.
But as the war rages on, it becomes clear that this war is
indeed no joke, and that it will have consequences far beyond
the small desert areas where the fighting is taking place.
This particular conflict bears even more of the earmarks of
a holy war than the past Mideast episodes. The initial attacks
coincided not only with the Hebrew day of fasting and
atonement, Yorn Kippur, but also took place during the
month of Ramadan, a month of daily fasting, during which
time it is believed a warrior killed in a holy war will go straight
to heaven.
A second ominous aspect of the conflict is the superpowers'
use of the fighting as a testing grounds for their latest military
hardware. The Russians seem particularly guilty of this tactic
by supplying their T62 tank-which has never been tried in
combat-to the Arabs and their supply of the ultramodern
SA6 mobile antiaircraft missiles.
With the exception of certain sophisticated air-to-air
missiles and some Vietnam surplus "smart" bombs, the U.S.
has seemed more inclined to send Israel older equipment that
has not made a very good showing when compared to the
newer Russian equipment.
There is little question in my mind the Israelis eventually
will win this war. But even as the battle rages on, a question
must rest heavily on the minds of Arabs and Israelis alike, and
on Americans as well; what will happen when the fighting
ends?
For the Arabs it will mean another defeat, but it will be at
least a defeat with honor. Yet the Arab leaders also will know
how dependent they were on the Russians for their fair
showing and will realize the tightrope they will be forced to
walk when relying on supplies from the USSR.
For Americans it probably will mean suffering through the
consequences of an oil slowdc n because it aided Israel.
However, it is important that the U.S. make it "perfectly
clear that it will not allow itself or its foreign policy to be
blackmailed by Arab oil.
Secondly, Americans must be willing to sacrifice plans iot
detente if the Russians continue their massive arms shipments
to the Arab countries. Detente must work in both direction!,
or it becomes just another hollow phrase in the State
Department's junk box.
Serious questions already are being raised about the Soviet
Union's motives in seeking eased world tensions. This is just
another step backward for any attempt for world cooperation
and peace.
The country which will be asking itself the most difficult
questions will be Israel. Even if their greatest military
expectations are realized, and they totally annhilate the Arab
armies, what will they have accomplished? How many years
will it take the Arabs to resupply and start again?
This latest showing of Arab military desire finally should
convince Israel that it cannot survive forever on its military
might, but now must seek an accord with Its neighbors. It
seems that the time finally will be right for a settlement in the
Mideast.
Any Mideast accord will have to include provisions for at
least four major areas of concern. First, the Arabs will demand
the return of lands captured in the Six Day War. Second, Israel
will demand assurances of its security from its neighbors. An
important element probably will be Israel's retention of th
Golan Heights.
A third point of importance to both sides will be a
settlement on access to Jerusalem. King Hussein of Jordan and
President Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia have proposed plans
that would make the west bank at least a semi-autonomous
state. The final major consideration would be the resettlement
of the Palestinians displaced by the earlier fighting, perhaps In
a newly created state.
Perhaps now that the Arabs have washed thmilw
,w. s w IftVWI
of their 1967 humiliation and with a victorious, but war weary
Israel, peace at last can be found.
page 4
daily nebraskan
monday, October 22, 1973
