By The
Associated Press
Edited by Jana Pedersen
Bush says he’s undecided on using force!
WASHINGTON - President Bush clashed
Wednesday with leaders of Congress trying to
limit his war-making powers but assured anx
ious lawmakers he has not decided to use
military force to push Iraqi troops out of Kuwait
In a two-hour meeting, Democratic leaders
insisted that Bush must seek congressional
approval before taking military action in the
Persian Gulf. He refused to give any such guar
antee.
“The president did not indicate either a
commrtwtcnt to do that or refusal to do that,”
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said
later.
Secretary of State James A. Baker III said
Bush would follow the Constitution, but he
pointedly added, “It’s a question of what the
Constitution requires.”
While acknowledging that only Congress
has authority to declare war, Baker said, “There
are many, many circumstances and situations
indeed where there could be action taken against
American citizens or against American inter
ests that would call for a very prompt and
substantial response.”
Reading from his notes of the meeting.
House Minority Leader Robert Michel, R-Ill.,
quoted Bush as saying, “We haven’t crossed
any particular Rubicon here” with the latest
increase.
For his own part, Michel said, “I don’t look
for the kind of action . . . some people are
anticipating, real soon. We want to continue to
counsel with our allies” and the United Na
tions.
However, Michel said he was “a little dis
tressed” that some participants in the meeting
with Bush had spoken of waiting up to 18
months for sanctions against Iraq to take full
effect. He said that was “far beyond the time
frame I thought appropriate.”
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., said Democrats
were unanimous in counseling patience.
“How long are you willing to wait it out to
save lives? My answer is, ‘A fair amount of
time.’”
Baker said the sanctions are working but
might not be enough to force an Iraqi with
drawal.
“I don’t think we can say that today with
certainty. We know they are beginning to bite,”
Baker said.
Some lawmakers, including Senate Repub
--““--- ~ i
How long are you willing to wait it out to save lives? My answer
is, A fair amount of time. ’ Qb^
congressman
—--- ----- 99 “ 1
1 icon Leader Bob Dole, have called for a spe
cial session of Congress to vote on the gulf
crisis, but that proposal appeared dead Wed
nesday. ,,
“There is no support for it on either side,
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Claiborne
Pell, D-R.I., said as he left the White House.
Rep. William Broomfield, R-Mich., senior
Republican on the House Foreign Affairs
Committee, said there was a bipartisan agree
ment that “it would be just poor judgment to
have it right now.”
Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said the cam
paign against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
already has been damaged by the arguments
about the president’s ability to commit Ameri
can forces to war.
“If I was Saddam Hussein, I would be doing I
handsprings of joy,” Helms said. j
Baker, at a briefing for reporters, said he
hoped the nation could send a “consistent and
uniform signal.” Referring to the debate over
gulf policy, Baker said, “Someone said one
time that democracy can sometimes be messy,
and indeed that’s true.
“And I suppose it is easier to some extent in
situations like this to operate as he (Saddam)
does by way of dictatorship.”
Baker said the huge buildup of U.S. troops
did not mean the United States was plunging
into war, but “it is important, since we cannot
rule out the option of force, that we lay an !
appropriate political and military foundation »
for that option.” |
Jetliner crashes in Zurich
ZURICH, Switzerland - An
Alitalia DC-9 jetliner with 40 pas
sengers and six crew members
aboard crashed Wednesday night
during a rainstorm into a hillside
outside Zurich and exploded, Swiss
authorities said.
All aboard flight AZ404, cn route
from Milan to Zurich, were feared
dead in the 8:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m.
EST) crash, Kloten airport spokes
man Peter Guikncchi said. The crash
occurred in a forested area near the
village of Stadcl, five miles north
of Zurich’s airport.
Swiss Radio said debris from
the plane was still burning more
than two hours after the crash.
Rescuers pulled at least 10 bodies
from the wreckage, police said.
One rescuer at the scene told
Swiss television piecesof the plane
were burning “like a volcano.”
The wreckage was scattered
across a swatch of the wooded hill
side, witnesses told Swiss TV.
Italy’s state-run RA1 television
said it appeared unlikely the disas
ter was weather-related but added
that first reports appear to discount
the possibility of a terrorist act.
There was no early word on the
identities of those aboard.
Drug offenders will lose licenses
or states will lose highway funds
WASHINGTON - Slates must
suspend the driver’s licenses of all
convicted drug offenders or risk los
ing part of their federal highway funds
under newly approved legislation
signed by President Bush.
The measure applies to all states
and all illegal drugs, including the 10
states where possession oF small
amounts of marijuana has been de
criminalized but is still considered an
infraction of the law.
It calls for withholding 5 percent
of federal highway funds starting Oct.
1,1993 from states that fail to impose
six-month suspensions on drivers
convicted of a drug offense. The cut
would increase to 10 percent on Oct.
1,1995.
The new legislation, passed Oct.
27 and signed by Bush on Nov. 5,
contains an out for states that don’t
want to impose the new rules but still
want their full share of federal high
way funds: their legislatures must vote
specifically against requiring the li
cense suspensions and their gover
nors must go on record in agreement
with that position.
In states where they can’t agree—
for example, the governor wants to
suspend licenses but at least one cham
ber of the state legislature docs not—
the federal highway funds would be
cut.
Rep. Gerald B.H. Solomon, R-N.Y.,
who pushed the amendment, said his
main targets were New York and
California, which have both decrimi
nalized marijuana. Both also have
splits in party control.
“You don’t see the murders take
place out in the suburbs, but it’s the
casual drug user who supplies the
demand for these drugs,’’ he said. “If
you do away with the demand for
drugs, then the drugs will dry up in
this country . . .. When it starts to
affect their livelihoods, maybe then
they’ll stop using these drugs.”
But license suspensions wouldn’t
necessarily affect their livelihoods,
because they would receive limited
driving permits enabling them to
continue commuting to work, he said.
Thatcher challenged in election I
LONDON - Former Defense Sec
retary Michael Heseltine on Wednes
day challenged Prime Minister Mar
garet! hatcher in a six-day war for the
leadership of the government and the
Conservative Party.
Heseltine, who will stand against
Thatcher in a ballot among the 372
Conservative legislators on Tuesday,
accused her of splitting the party on
Europe and alienating voters with an
unpopular local government tax.
The challenge by Heseltine, a
handsome, self-made millionaire who
espouses a “caring capitalism” in
contrast to Thatcher’s rigorous frec
market views, poses the biggest threat
to her survival since she won power
more than 11 years ago.
“I am persuaded that I will now
have a better prospect than Thatcher
of leading the Conservatives to a fourth
general election victory,” Heseltine
said.
Kenneth Baker, chairman of the
troubled Conservative Party, said the
65-ycar-old prime minister will fight
to the end to keep power — through a
possible three ballots ending Nov. 29.
“This contest is unwanted and
unnecessary,” Baker said. “I am sure
she will win on the first ballot.”
Other ministers in the 22-mcmbcr
Cabinet said it was wrong to chal
lenge Thatcher now, with some 16,000
British troops in the Persian Gulf and
war threatening against Iraq.
Hcscllinc, who needs 159 votes in
the first secret ballot to force a runoff,
said more than 100 legislators have
pledged support. Thatcher needs 214
votes to win outright.
If a second ballot is needed it will
be held Nov. 27 and may well bring in
other contenders from the Cabinet,
such as Foreign Secretary Douglas
Hurd. If no one won outright then, a
third and final vote among the last
three top contenders will be held Nov.
29.
Hcscltinc, defense secretary until
he stalked out of Thatcher’s Cabinet
in 1986 in a Europe-related dispute,
stepped forward a day after her for
mer deputy prime minister delivered
a scathing attack on her attitude to
ward Europe. I
Rebellion has simmered in the party
for more than a year, partly over
Thatcher’s isolation in the stepped
up drive for greater European unity.
Britain alone rejected an agreement
last month in principle for a single ,
central bank and single currency for
the 12-nation European community.
But Thatcher’s crisis is rooted in
the Tories’ 16-month lag in opinion
polls, mainly because of high interest
rates, double-digit inflation and an
unpopular local pcr-capita tax dubbed
the “poll tax.”
Heseltine said that if he wins he
will order an immediate review of
that tax, which he said left “a linger
ing sense of injustice.”
U.S. bishops adopt sexuality guidelines
WASHINGTON - U.S. Roman
Catholic bishops on Wednesday
adopted their first comprehensive
guidelines on human sexuality, por
traying it in exalting terms and call
ing for it to be taught in Catholic
schools.
Against some opposition and at
tempts at delay, the document was
approved by a strong voice vote by
the National Conference of Catholic
Bishops.
It says sexual education should be
taught in schools and parishes as well
as in families, a provision strongly
opposed by several bishops who said
many parents want such education
kept in the home. One said families
might remove their children from
Catholic schools if sex education is
required.
Describing sexuality as a “won
derful gift,” the bishops say they
approach the subject with a “deep and
abiding sense of appreciation, won
der and respect.”
“We are dealing with a divine gift,
a primal dimension of each person, a
mysterious blend of spirit and body,
which shares in God’s own creative
love and life ....
The 185-pagc document, called
“Human Sexuality: A Catholic Per
spective for Education and Lifelong
Learning,” was developed by a spe
cial task force, including experts in
various fields.
The document affirms the church’s
traditional leaching that condones
intercourse only in marriage.
Auxiliary Bishop Austin Vaughan
of New York, protested that the docu
ment had been shaped without wide
parentai consultation. He sought un
successfully to get it tabled.
Considerable debate came on a
section dealing with homosexuality,
and a move was made to insert a 1986
Vatican declaration that homosexu
ality is an “objective disorder” in
volving a tendency to moral evil.
However, Archbishop John Quinn
of San Francisco, said that the Vati
can’s philosophical analysis had been
misinterpreted to mean “the person
was intrinsically disordered and in
trinsically bad.”
The matter was put in a footnote,
along with an explanation of the dis
tinction between the technical and
personal implications.
“Homosexual orientation, because
it is not freely chosen, is not sinful,”
an added line said.
The portion on teaching about
sexuality focuses on the different stages
of life, childhood, adolescence and
adulthood.
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