Wednesday, August 27, 1986
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
Editorial
NelJraMtan
University ol Nebraska-Lincoln
Still wrong
Soviet attack
It's been nearly three years
since a Soviet fighter plane
shot down Korean Airlines
Flight 007 over its airspace and
killed all 269 people aboard.
Since then, most have believed
the Soviets shot down the plane
deliberately. Few bought Mos
cow's claim that the airliner was
on an American spy mission.
But former New York Times
intelligence reporter Seymour M.
Hersh believes the Soviets were
sincere in their belief that KAL
007 was a spy plane. He says in
an article appearing in the Sep
tember issue of The Atlantic
magazine that the Soviets mis
took the airliner for an American
intelligence flight and, through
a series of errors on the ground,
failed to realize their mistake.
Hersh charged that the Rea
gan administration knew the
Soviets believed their own story,
but insisted the attack was
deliberate in order to further its
political goals.
Hersh doesn't dispute the
consensus that the pilots of KAL
007 didn't know they were over
Soviet airspace. What made the
Soviets suspicious was that a
regular American intelligence
flight had been operating near,
the Soviet coast several hours
before the airliner wandered into
Soviet airspace for the first time.
Soviet radar operators thought
the first plane had returned to
the area and, when it headed
toward land, they assumed it was
looking for Soviet military bases.
In the following minutes, as
the airliner left Soviet airspace
and then returned, KAL 007 was
tracked, spotted and eventually
shot down. But while some Soviets
on the ground apparently ques
tioned whether KAL 007 was a
spy plane, the article indicates
Export grain subsidy
Polls show Nebraskans opposed
Recent events underscore just
how much politics afffects
the "economics" of agri
culture. First, recent movements to ex
tend grain export bonuses that
would have the effect of subsid
izing grain sold to the Soviet
Union garners little support even
in Nebraska.
In a poll conducted by
Research Associates of Lincoln
and published in the Lincoln
Journal, over half of the Ne
braska respondents opposed
subsidized grain exports to Rus
sia. Twenty-nine percent sup
ported the Reagan administra
tion's controversial move.
Of course, this isn't the first
time that U.S.-Soviet relations
have affected farm incomes.
Several years ago many farmers
and farm state leaders com
plained that they unjustly had
borne the brunt of sanctions
imposed upon the Soviet Union
as a result of its invasion of
Afghanistan.
Without any doubt, the bal
ancing of national interest and
farmers' business interests is
difficult.While farmers seem to
JelTKorhclik, Editor, 47J-1766
faint's Honors, Editorial Pane Editor
(lent' (iciilnip, Manaiiny Editor
Tammy Kaup, Associate News Editor
Todd von Kampcn, Edi'orittl Pane AssisUtut
inexcusable
that the Soviets didn't confirm
the plane was hostile before they
shot it down.
All commercial airliners, the
article says, are equipped with a
transmitter identifying them as
civilian rather than military.
Soviet radar was fully capable of
picking up this signal and
indeed had done so with other
airliners passing nearby but
the operators didn't even seek
out the signal this time.
The Soviets also have a basic
rule that their attacking planes
must make a visual identifica
tion of their prey before they
shoot it down. Because it was
dark and cloudy, the pilot re
ported, he couldn't see his target,
and thus couldn't identify it. Yet
he was ordered to shoot the
plane down anyway.
Why would the Soviets ignore
their own rules? The answer, the
article says, is that junior offic
ers are supposed to make certain
that no unidentified aircraft enter
their airspace and get away.
That should send a chill over
airline passengers on flights
anywhere near Soviet territory.
At the time KAL 007 was shot
down, the article says, it was
heading out of Soviet airspace
again and would have been over
safe territory. Although the So
viets weren't sure the airliner
was a spy plane, they decided to
risk killing hundreds of innocent
people rather than let one plane
escape their clutches. Maybe
the Soviets did make a mistake.
But that mistake lies in not giv
ing KAL 007 the benefit of the
doubt and allowing it to go on its
way. The facts of what happened
three years ago don't change the
judgement most reached: that
the attack on KAL 007 was
dreadfully wrong.
have at least some ground for
complaining, the United States
has legitimate foreign policy
objectives. The U.S. Constitution
articulates a general policy
(though severely limited by court
decisions) that costs imposed
upon private citizens for public
purposes ought to be borne by
the government rather than left
severely burdening private cit
izens. This would mean that while
U.S. agricultural export policy
would justifiably be subordinated
to U.S. international policy
interests, they alone should not
bear all the cost, but the cost of
the policy be spread throughout
the popultion as a whole.
Agricultural states are not
opposed to bearing their fair
share of militay expenditures,
but may begin to feel used if
such leaks are foisted on top of
grain boycotts and on top of an
already sluggish economy.
Certainly more equitable
methods of allocating defense
costs vis-a-vis the agricultural
economy, given its already pallid
demeanor, is warranted by these
recent revelations.
r
v
He sits, he heels,
he tolls over
He never cives,you
aruy trouble
ti
Another crasy news season
Irrelevant summer stories a columnist ys dream come true
When I refused DN summer editor
Bob Asmussen's request that I
write a column for the summer
Daily Nebraskan, I had no idea what a
choice season it would be for inane
news stories. Columnists live for the
kind of stuff that went on during those
sultry months. So I decided to use my
first shot at the hallowed newsprint
this fall to catch up on all those tre
mendous chances I missed. Here goes!
The State Election Petition
Fiascos. I lost count on how many
petition drives got into trouble for one
violation or another this summer. I
suppose they do have rules for these
things, and I suppose these rules are
available somewhere for people to look
at. But that apparently did not stop the
nomological crusaders who felt that
right must prevail at all cost (and on
any pay scale). I've always known that
such referendum powers are important
to keep the checks and balances of a
democratic society in place. But I
didn't know that they also carried such
fabulous entertainment value.
The Rehnquist Hearings. This
has to be my favorite. Something is
ironic about Ted Kennedy dragging
anybody over the coals concerning
things that happened so many years
ago. Why, Judge Rehnquist's shady
dealings in the south and west were
cold, moldy and forgotten years before
an unresolved incident known lovingly
as "Chappaquiddick." But Teddy, like
so many politicians, has marvelously
selective amnesia. After all, as I heard
one astute citizen remark, that whole
incident is just water under the bridge.
Reagan's Federal Employee
Child turns
recognized
In Stalin's Russia, it was a great
honor for a child to turn his parents
in to the authorities. The tradition
lives on in Tustin, Calif., where 13-year-old
Deanna Young turned her parents
in to the police for drug use. I know, I
know: The child had tried to persuade
her parents to stop, saw no other way
out, was at the end of her tether, etc.
etc.
But recognizing the child's dilemma
is one thing. Celebrating it is another.
The media loved it. ABC News gave her
an honorable mention on Person of the
Week. Neighbors hailed her courage.
The director of a local foster home
called her action "a genuine act of
love." (Love means never having to say
"Freeze!") Eleven television and movie
producers are after the rights to her
story.
Eleven. Deanna is hot. Her stoiy
marks a milestone in the cocaine hys
teria. There are not many things for
I A I' i
I. m ' M
Drug Testing Program. If you can
think of George Schultz, Edwin Meese
and Larry Speakes undergoing a urine
test and keep a straight face, you are a
better (generic) man than I. I hear
George stayed up all night studying for
his. Oh well, I guess this is just one
giant leak for mankind.
James
Sennett
John DeCamp and the Prom
Queens. I think they're going to play
for the homecoming dance this year.
Every year I struggle over who has been
the most obnoxious political figure
over the last 12 months John DeCamp
or Ernie Chambers. Well, Ernie has a
lot of ground to make up after Johnny's
accolades for our gubernatorial candi
dates. Just when I thought that Nebra
ska really could be a prophetic voice
with its historical race for the mansion,
I was reminded by the Neligh Knuckle
head of the brand of politics that made
this state what it is today.
The NFLUSFL Lawsuit. Who
says a dollar doesn't buy much any
more? Three of them bought an entire
professional, football empire. What
really amazes me is that anyone in the
world was surprised at the demise of
the (erst while) Spring Ball Boys. Do
the acronyms AFL or WFL mean any
thing to anyone? When will entrepe
neurs and sportswriters wake up to the
simple facts of the situation? It's not
that the NFL has a throathold on the
market; it's just that no one really
wants to see any more professional
in drug-using parents;
as new hero by media
which you can turn in your folks and
earn applause. Treason is one. Now
coke.
Charles
Krauthammer
The media-borne cocaine panic final
ly lias hit Washington. A couple of
weeks ago the Democratic House of
Representatives hastily cooked up a
omnibus anti-drug bill advertised as
yet another war on drugs. Republicans,
not about to be out-cooked in an elec
tion year, demanded that the President
produce his own initiative. Reagan
obliged. Hence, sign two of the hyste
ria: a First Lady's issue (hands-on sua
A
sports. We've got enough high priced
dope addicts as it is, thank you.
The Wedding of Prince Andrew
and His Beloved Fergie. What is
there about big hips and blue blood
that can make millions of us crawl out
of bed three hours early to watch peo
ple we don't even know flaunt obscene
wealth before a nation in economic cri
sis? Celebrity is an indecipherably irra
tional phenomenon. At a time when
genetic engineering and quantum
physics promise (or threaten) to hurt
us into a future dreamed of only by an
Asimov or a Bradbury, we are more
interested in the measurements of a
young English girl who happened to
smile in just the right way at just the
right time to just the right person.
There were many more reasons 1
regretted my decision not to write this
summer. But now I have covered many
of them, and for a much larger audience.
In these quips you see evidence of one
of my driving motivations. I have de
clared myself on a one-(non-generic)
man campaign to rid the news of the
newsy and search for the newsworthy. I
do this by ignoring some issues and by
ridiculing others.
Just remember, rarely does an issue
come along that really will make a dif
ference and really warrants our atten
tion. And those are usually so involved
and complicated that most of us decided
to read People instead. Whatever be
came of the Joan Rivers Johnny Car
son thing, anyway?
James Sennett is a graduate student in
philosophy and campus minister with
College-Career Christian Fellowship.
sion, consciousness raising, public edu
cation) is swiped by the President and
the polls. They now will throw money
and task forces and acronyms at the
problem.
Sign three of any hysteria is the call
for blood. James J. Kilpatrick has
calmly led the way with a proposal to
hang drug dealers "in a public square."
Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York has just
offered a more humane variation: three
years to life for carrying three vials ($50
worth) of crack cocaine.
We have been here before. Thirteen
years ago, in the grip of another drug
hysteria, New York also tried life sent
ences. In 1973, Gov. Rockefeller pushed
through a law that made the sale of as
little as an eighth of an ounce of
cocaine punishable by three years to
life. The law lasted six years before
being abandoned as a disaster.
ee KRAUTHAMMER on 5