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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1991)
N ews Digest Swr..— Secretary of State:‘Tough times’ahead WASHINGTON - Secretary oi State James A. Baker III warned Wednesday of “many casualties, great hardships” ahead in the war against Iraq as the Bush administration said ground warfare was almost a certainty. “The military actions now under way necessar ily involve many casual ties, great hardships, and growing fears for the fu ture,” Baker said. “Tough times lie ahead.” At a White House briefing, presidential press secretary Marlin Fitzwatcr said there probably will be a ground war, inching beyond President Bush’s statement on,Tuesday that he was “skeptical” the war could be won solely through the bombing campaign. Bush declined to say a full-scale ground offensive would be required. But Fitzwater said, “It’s no secret that at some point it proba bly will require ground forces to reach our Final conclusion of getting Iraq out of Kuwait.” Rep. Dave McCurdy, D-Okla., new chair man of the House Intelligence Committee, said Wednesday, “I don’t think it has gone on long enough to convince anyone it is time to com mence the ground phase.” House Minority Leader Robert Michel, R 111., said, after a briefing for lawmakers by Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Joint Chiefs of Stafl Chairman Colin Powell, that members of Congress “feel good that there seems to be no rush” to a ground war. He added, “I’m just confident that Generai Powell feels the same w&y. At the private briefing, Cheney and Powell showed lawmakers satellite photos of damage to Iraqi buildings, bridges and military installa tions. Sources said one photo showed gaping holes made by Tomahawk cruise missiles in the center and at the ends of Saddam Hussein s presidential palace in Baghdad. At a bill-signing ceremony, Bush gave an upbeat assessment of the allied coalition’s progress in the three-week-old effort to compel Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. “Things are going darned well over there,” the president said. “I feel very confident that this matter is going to resolve itself and it’s not going to take that long and it is going to be total and com plete.” i ne prcsiuem s auuicmc was tumposea ot lawmakers and several disabled veterans, on hand to see Bush sign a measure to compensate veterans suffering from certain diseases sus pected to have been caused by exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange in Vietnam. His comment came as Cheney and Powell prepared to leave Thursday night for a visit to the gulf to assess the readiness of U.S. forces for assaulting the entrenched Iraqi army. They are to return late Sunday and brief Bush early next week. Baker used the occasion of an appearance before the House Foreign Affairs Committee to stress that the costs of the war against Sad dam’s forces will mount. See WAR on 3 Gulf War Roundup Wednesday, Feb. 6 In another day of nonstop aerial In Jordan: ballistics, the United States shot King Hussein appealed down at least two fleeing Iraqi jets for a cease-fire in the and Iraq blasted the sky with intense war, which he says is anti-aircraft fire. destroying Iraq. Iraqi planes took refuge. In Iraq: Iraq announces it is severing diplomatic ties with the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Al Republican Guard still erlective despite air attacks, analysts say WASHINGTON - Round-the-clock bombing of Iraq’s Republican Guard has seriously afflicted Iraq’s top mili tary unit, but it remains an “effective fighting force,” Pentagon military analysts said Wednesday. “We’ve not annihilated any of their primary war-fighting capabilities,” says one senior military officer. “It’s going to be a lough nut to crack.” In military parlance, the 150,000 member Guard constitutes Saddam Hussein’s “theater reserve,” a strong force located well behind front-line troops, to be swung into action as needed as a ground battle progresses. And since Guard units make up Iraq’s best-trained and best-equipped force, they are a crucial target before any ground campaign is launched. But assessments of the damage done by the air campaign to the units have been conflicting. In Saudi Arabia, Gen. Michel Roqucjeoffrc, commander of the French forces in Operation Desert Storm, was quoted as saying he be * lieved allied air strikes had reduced Republican Guard effectiveness over all by about 30 percent. Another French official had said earlier he thought theGuard remained about 95 percent intact, but Ro quejeoffrc said his assessment referred not simply to casualties among the Guard but to the overall impact on its supplies, weapons and command struc ture. Military officers at the Pentagon said that although hundreds of the force’s tanks and artillery pieces had been hit during the past three weeks, the force was well dispersed over hundreds of square miles. The Guard has had six months to beef up its supplies and remained dug in in a complex system of concrete bunkers. “The Guard has been seriously affected, but they remain an effective fighting force,” said one senior mili tary officer with access to intelli gence reports of the progress of the war. Air Force officers have staled they hope to destroy 50 percent of Iraq’s forces before a ground offensive is launched and pilots in Saudi Arabia have boasted of their many successes during the air campaign. But officers from the Army and Marine Corps have rejected as over optimistic any assessments that bomb ing is forcing Iraq’s top-line forces to wilt. “A pilot may claim to have put a hole in a tank, but it’s hard to assess exactly what damage has been done” by photos, said an Army officer fa miliar with such reports. At the U.S. military briefing in j Riyadh on Wednesday, Marine Brig. Gen. Richard Neal said,“We’re drop ping a lot of ordnance on the Repub lican Guard, not just to lower their morale but also to destroy their tanks, their artillery, their logistical sustain ment capability, their built-up areas. We’re out there to destroy the Repub lican Guard.” But he declined to quantify the damage, saying only “I think we’re experiencing good success.” Gorbachev wishes to hold country together MOSCOW. Mik'nail finriiai’hi'u mm u., u. : j .l. ^ ^_ » Vr . • m. made a surprise television appear ance Wednesday night to express his determination to hold the country together and urge full participation in the Kremlin’s referendum on the union. “All my convictions are based on preservation of the union,” the Soviet president said, sitting at a desk to deliver a 15-minute address at the beginning of the evening newscast. “The Soviet Union is a superpower,” he said. “Huge efforts were made to make it so powerful, and we could lose it very quickly.” It was Gorbachev’s clearest decla ration to date that he will not let any of the 15 republics secede. While acknowledging that areas were brought Fnonomic woes UiUVll VIJ IU1V.V, IIL/ XUU LI IV fate of all now depends on remaining in a common economic system. “Everybody should understand that we are deciding the destiny of our state,” he said. “The U.S.S.R. Su preme Soviet (legislature) should make sure every citizen expresses his opin *-M ion. Gorbachev said the March 17 ref erendum “is the first in the country and itself is a great accomplishment. Everybody should take part.” At least five republics — Lithu ania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia and Armenia — have scoffed at the refer endum and reject Soviet law in theii territory. Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia have II Everybody should understand that we are deciding the destiny of our state. Gorbachov -tt - scheduled alternative votes, of which Gorbachev said: “It’s completely clear that such attempts are legally inva lid.” He did not say whether authori ties would try to block the voles. Ail 15 Soviet republics have pro claimed greater control of their own auairs and many have demanded recognition by the Kremlin before they sign Gorbachev’s proposed Union In apparent response to those con cerns, Gorbachev said: “The main thing in the concept of the renewal of the union is, above all, sovereignty of the republics, (which are) subjects of a federation that ensures the right of each ethnic group to self-determina tion and self-government.” He also said, however, that seces sion would be disastrous for any re public. “Separatism will doom people and destroy their lifestyles,” Gorbachev said. “Those who secede will doom themselves to failure.” 1 ne piCSMJHIl SOJU U*. tuunu J huge problems, but blamed most of them on fractious republics that have begun dealing directly with each other and ignoring the Kremlin. Some republics have tried to turn their ethnic minorities into “second class citizens,” he said. Gorbachev said some parts of the Soviet Union were “taken as a result of conquering missions, as happened everywhere on all continents, and some peoples joined the Soviet Union vol untarily seeking defense from aggres sion.” The Russian empire seized much of present-day Central Asia and the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin, who annexed the Baltic states in 1940. I------1 Nebraskan Editor Eric Planner 472- 1766 Managing Editor Victoria Ayotte Assoc. News Editors Jana Pedersen Emily Rosenbaum Editonal Page Editor Bob Nelson Wire Editor Jennifer O'ClIka Copy Desk Editor CNane Brayton Sports Editor Paul Domeler Professional Adviser Don Walton 473- 7301 The Daily Nebraskan(USPS 144 080) is puoiished by the UNL Publications Board, Ne braska Union 34. 1400 R St.. Lincoln, NE, Monday through Friday during the academic year; weekly during summer sessions Readers are encouraged to submit story Ideas and comments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-1763 between 9 a m and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. For information, contact Bill Vobejda, 436 9993. Subscription price is $45 for one year. Postmaster; Send address changes to the Daily Nebraskan, Nebraska Union 34,1400 R St Lincoln, NE 68588-0448 Second-class postage paid at Lincoln, NE. ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1991 DAILY NEBRASKAN Persian Gulf war strains Arabian countries MANAMA, Bahrain - I he gull war is straining die social fabric of the Arabian Peninsula, woven over cen turies by Bedouin tribes who created desert kingdoms in this ancient, oil rich land. After the weapons of war are put away, analysts say new battlefields likely will surface — in mosques, universities, the halls of government and possibly the streets. The cost of waging war against Iraq already cut deeply into oil profits and threatens rising unemployment. Money woes may force Saudi Arabia to borrow on the international money market for the first time since the 1950s. What remains to be seen is whether tne struggles already under way win lead to change in traditional auto cratic governments. “The walls of the kingdoms have been breached,” said Shahram Chubin, a Middle East expert at the Graduate Institute for International Affairs in Geneva. “I don’t think you can keep people in the dark after this type ol blinding event opens their eyes.” No one expects the gulf states to suddenly embrace democracy. But a loosening of Islamic tradition is fore seen. “The secret is bringing more people inside the tent,” Chubin said. “If they don’t, these governments will have problems.” Already, tensions have surfaced in the region that sprawls atop 60 per ccni oi me wonu s loiai on reserves. The arrival of hundreds of thou sands of Western soldiers on their sands also played a part. Cable News Network beamed Western ideas and values as well as war news into homes in the region. “You watch that stuff and after a while you can’t help thinking like an American,” one government official said. “It’s dangerous in this society.” In November, 50 women drove 15 cars around the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh to protest a government ban on women driving. In the following days, Saudi Ara bia and Oman announced their gov ernments would form consultative councils, or shuras — a small step, perhaps, away from absolute monar cny. Western diplomats said the United Stales has a hand in the Saudi move. Most recently, a shaky cease-tire between Kuwait’s ruling family and pro-democracy activists appeared to be near collapse. After Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion, the two sides agreed to shelve their dis agreements to free Kuwait. Opposi tion members now allege the ruling family has reneged on its promise to bring back Kuwait’s parliament, which was banned in 1986. “The rulers think that everything will return to normal when they get back Kuwait,” said Ahmed al-Rabi, an opposition leader and former member of parliament. “They don’i realize our people have changed. This war is changing everything.