News Digest
U.S.: Agreement not a change in policy
WASHINGTON - The White
House scrambled Wednesday to
dampen expectations of a Persian Gulf
cease-fire, insisting only a “massive
withdrawal” by Iraq could end the
fighting. President Bush was described
as “very saddened” by the first U.S.
ground casualties.
Bush pledged to continue “stand
ing up to the evil” threatening world
peace.
As the president continued to rally
support for Operation Desert Storm,
officials took pains to deny a rift
between the president and Secretary
of State James A. Baker III.
Presidential spokesman Marlin
Fitzwater disclosed that #ush had not
seen in advance a U.S.-Soviet state
mentissued by Baker the nightbefore
and had only learned of it as he headed
to the Capitol to deliver his State of
the*Union address.
The statement issued by Baker and
Soviet Foreign Minister Alexander
Bessmertnykh was widely interpreted
as a movement toward a new cease
fire overture toward Iraq. Fitzwater
denied any policy change but said
that Bush “expressed concerns with
the interpretation of the statement.”
The U.S.-Sovietcommuniquesaid
a cease-fire could be possible if Iraq
would make an “unequivocal com
mitment” to withdraw from Kuwait
and followed it with “concrete steps.”
Furthermore, the statement pledged
to deal with the Arab-Israeli conflict
once the Persian Gulf war was over.
“There’s no change in policy;
there’s no linkage (to the Israeli-Pal
estinian issue) from our point of view
and massive withdrawal is the way
for Saddam Hussein to get out of
Kuwait,” said Fitzwater. “We’re
anxious that no one should think we’re
altering policy.”
For his part, Bush told reporters
“There arc no differences” between
him and Baker on gulf policy.
Margaret Tutwiler, the State De
partment spokeswoman, also insisted
the joint statement broke no new ground
on the Persian Gulf conflict or on the
Arab-Israeli dispute.
“It does not call for a (Middle
East) peace conference. It does not
call for a pause for peace,” she said.
Both she and Filzwater also said
statements following meetings among
foreign ministers frequently are not
cleared with the White House before
being issued at the State Department.
She said the notion of a breakdown
in communication between Baker and
Bush was “absurd and silly.”
Fitzwater suggested that the state
ment may have been des.^ned in large
part to mollify Soviet concerns about
the war.
In Jerusalem, Prime * Minister
Yitzhak Shamir complained Wednes
day that the United States did not
consult Israel before joining in what
appeared to be a cease-fire offer to
Iraq.
“A political act that involves us,
our fate, our future, was taken with
out consulting with us, without even
telling us beforehand,” Shamir said
on Israeli television.
Shamir said the statement made
no change in U.S. policy, but Science
Minister Yuval Neeman, a member
of the right-wing Tehiya Party, dis
agreed.
“The Americans were determ incd,
and here already is the beginning of a
movement in another direction,”
Neeman complained on Israel radio.
“I don’t know what is behind it... but
for the first time there is a readiness to
pay in Israeli coin.”
Saddam interviews to show
he’s in control, experts say
WASHINGTON - He joked, he
threatened, he sermonized and he
boasted. But Arab specialists say the
main purpose of Saddam Hussein’s
televised interview this week was to
prove he is alive, relaxed and in con
trol.
“He has survived. That is his point,”
said Marshall Wiley, who was the top
U.S. diplomat in Baghdad from 1975
to 1977.
“He was able to smile and joke a
bit, prove that the attacks hadn’t re
ally gotten to him” Wiley said. “He’s
demonstrating that he can survive our
military onslaught and stand up for
Arab rights, however he defines them.”
Wiley and other experts agreed
that Saddam’s 90-minutc interview
with CNN correspondent Peter Ar
nett conveyed the image of a calm
and confident leader.
The Iraqi president knocked down
“the notion of Saddam on the run and
panicked and overwhelmed.” said Dr,
Jerrold Post, a psychiatrist specializ
ing in psychological profiles of world
leaders.
“He certainly communicated ver)
clearly a sense of determination... ol
being prepared to go all the way,’
Post said.
Added Post: “He probably was
successful to a significant audience.”
The experts said Saddam probably
was less successful, at least with
Western audiences, in his attempts to
exploit anti-war sentiment in the United
States and depict his Aug. 2 invasion
of Kuwait as the result of economic
provocations.
“He is trying to harvest the dem
onstrations against the war as if they
are potentially supportive of him, which
is not correct. There is a growing
sentiment against the war but it doesn’t
mean there is any endorsement for his
policy,” said Clovis Maksoud, who
resigned last fall after 11 years as the
Arab League’s emissary to the United
States and the United Nations.
Saddam also argued that the inva
sion was a response to economic war
waged by Kuwait and the United States
against his country. Specifically he
cited the suspension last January of a
U.S. credit-guarantee program for food.
He also has complained of Kuwaiti
overproduction of oil.
In taking that tack, Wiley said,
Saddam is hoping to “pull a political
victory out of a military defeat by
convincing the Arab world and the
Islamic world that we are the aggres
sors — that we are in there killing
Arabs for our own purposes, to pro
tect oil, to protect Israel.”
Post said the TV interview, with
Saddam’s attempts to put the conflict
in a larger context, reinforces the
view that “Kuwait has gone off the
screen for Saddam.” With the Pales
tinians worshipping him as a hero.
Post said, Saddam is realizing a long
held image of himself as an Arab
savior.
“This is the exultant fight of his
lifetime, the drama of his lifetime,”
Post said. “He’s standing up to supe
rior force, demonstrating courage and
commitment to the radical Islamic
cause.”
Trying to mask fear of war,
border troops make jokes
NEAR THE IRAQI BORDER,
Saudi Arabia - Around the fire that
wanned their plastic-packed din
ners, the Pennsylvania Guard joked
and clowned like a fraternity on a
cookouL No one mentioned the
muffled booms in the distance.
“You’ve got to admit it,” one
said quietly, out of earshot from
peer pressure. “Coming over here
to face this, it’s pretty scary. Yeah,
it scares you.”
The 3623rd Maintenance Com
pany, from Bethlehem, Pa., is fresh
off the boat, National Guardsmen
led by a major who was selling
glass and paint in a peaceful little
town when the call came.
But members caught on fast.
After a few nights of icy desert
winds and fullalertsagainstchemi
cal attack, they personify a Desert
Sword drawn to strike: surface
bravado and down-deep dread.
Late Tuesday, the distant booms
were live-fire exercises. Tanks
adjusted their sights as they awaited
an order to start an invasion on the
ground. But it didn’t work that
way.
After the Pennsylvania Guard
bedded down, far to the east an
Iraqi force knifed into Khajfi, start
ing a vicious firefight. Members
awoke to ground war.
Clustered by a fire, the 3623rd’s
members were not talking about
self doubts. Rude Iraq jokes brought
guffaws. A jacket opened to reveal
a T-shirt with a skull emblazoned,
“You’re a Dead Man. Saddam.”
Many of the guardsmen wore
black Keystone uniform patches,
the badge of volunteers. Spec. 4
Wayne Fields of Pittsburgh, among
others, joined the 3623rd because
it was off to Saudi Arabia.
But some volunteered for more
lhan they expected.
As a maintenance unit, it slays
to the rear of front lines to fix
whatever breaks down. But, in the
combat they expect, rear is not far
back.
“They told me I was headed for
31 days al a port in California, with
evenings off,” said PFC William
Nichols, a jobless mechanic from
Philadelphia. “This don’t look like
no port to me.”
He gave a philosophical shrug
and laughed with the rest.
What the typical American soldier wears and carries while on
maneuvers in the Persian Gulf region. TOTAL COST: $1,452.10
■- -■
Desert helmet $103.00 Desert coat $15.48
Helmet cover $2.50 Suspenders $6.95
Desert hat $4.90 Brown undershirt $2.40
m_ Night parka $28.70
Field pack *35.75 Parka iir,er *11 85
Back frame *23.85 Neckerchief *4.10
Shoulder
straps $5.30
Strap pad $11.30 M16 rifle
Sleeping $475.00
bag $64.25
Two-quart
canteen $5.45
Canteen cover $8.75
Belt $6.60
Small arms case $4.30
Tool carrier $2.00
First aid case $3.35
XvXJsaSyrrfS;*.'.
trousers $14.40
rs $1.50
■
Source; u.s. Army AP
NetJra&kan
Editor Eric Planner
472- 1766
Managing Editor Victoria Ayotte
Assoc News Editors Jana Pedersen
Emily Rosenbaum
Editorial Page Editor Bob Nelson
Wire Editor Jennifer O’Ctlka
Copy Desk Editor Diane Brayton
Sports Editor Paul Do meter
Production Manager Katherine Pollcky
Professional Adviser Don Walton
473- 7301
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1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN
Two Soviet convoys leave Vilnius
VILNIUS, U.S.S.R. - Two con
voys of Soviet troops left the Lithu
anian capital today and the republic’s
president said a withdrawal could set
the stage for new talks between
Moscow and the breakaway repub
lics.
The death toll in the Baltics, mean*
while, rose to 20 when Jonas Tautkus,
20, died from a gunshot wound to the
head he suffered a day earlier at a
military checkpoint. Lithuanian offi
cials said the apparent draft-dodger
was shot when he refused to get out of
his car; military officials said he was
hit by a ricochet.
Soviet Interior Minister Boris Pugo
said all paratroopers have already left
the Baltic region and two-thirds of
the “black beret” Interior Ministry
troops had also been withdrawn.
Lithuanian President Vytautas
Landsbergis said Kremlin promises
to remove at least some troops were a
good sign, but Soviet forces still
occupied Lithuania's buildings and a
propaganda war was being waged
against the republic.
The parliament information office
said two convoys of about 45 ve
hicles, and planes carrying 30-40
truckloads of soldiers, left the capital
this morning.
But Lithuanians said they could
not confirm if the forces actually left
Lithuania or were merely redeployed
elsewhere in the Baltic state.
Pugo, interviewed by the newspa
per Robochaya Tribuna, said, “all army
paratroop units were withdrawn from
the Baltic region by Jan. 28” and only
conventional forces remained.
“Two thirds of Interior Ministry
troops were withdrawn by Jan. 29,”
Pugo said. “One third of these troops
remain for the present, but as calm is
returning, they will not remain there
forever.”
In Washington, President Bush said
late Tuesday that Soviet officials had
conveyed a willingness to begin a
pullout from the Baltic states.
But Landsbergis, in a statement
released today, cautioned against
taking Moscow at its word.
He said, “if the president of the
United States could visit Lithuania
for a while and follow the propaganda
war against Lithuania and the other
Baltic states, he would not say the
Cold War is over.”
At a news conference Tuesday
night, Landsbergis said a troop with
drawal could be the key to renewed
talks with the Kremlin.
But he said Lithuania would not
turn away from independence. Lithu
ania, Latvia and Estonia were forci
bly annexed by the Soviet Union in
1940 after being independent between
the wars.
“The decision on the restoration of
statehood of Lithuania and all the
major acts cannot be rescinded re
gardless of what they may offer in
stead or in spite of any threats," he
said.
But, he said, “our relations with
the Soviet Union have to be regu
lated, even after these bloody events,
and we are ready to talk.”
