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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 5, 1991)
I Republican landslide War issue may cloud 1992 elections f ■ i he big question now, in the wake of the Persian Gulf war, is who will suffer more — Saddam Hussein or the Democratic Party? If Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Ncb., has his way, it may be the Democrats. He said Saturday that they should be held account % able for, and be able to justify, their votes against the resolution authorizing the use of force in the Persian Gulf. Bereuter is just one of many Republicans who have begun to use “the mother of all wars” to work toward an election-year mother of all landslides. With George Bush’s approval rating hovering around 90 percent and a patriotic euphoria sweeping the country, it looks like next year’s key issue will not be about the future of America, but about a past decision made by many Democrats to give economic sanctions more time. Bereuter and others arc trying to forget that at the time of the House and Senate votes, the United States was on the verge of what was to be, even by U.S. military estimates, a very tough fight. It was safely assumed that the fourth-largest army in the world — one seasoned by eight years of fighting with Iran — I could lake the lives of thousands and maybe tens of thousands of Americans. On Jan. 12, most Republicans, after much debate and appar ent soul-searching, were willing to accept the casualty esti mates to free Kuwait. They said they believed wailing for sanctions could allow time for a breakdown of the coalition and further ravaging of Kuwait and its citizens. Most Democrats said they believed economic sanctions had not been given time, and that Bush was rushing thousands of Americans needlessly to their deaths. I With their 20/20 hindsight and crystal balls, Bercutcr and others seem to be claiming they knew all along that Saddam’s formidable army would collapse nearly instantly under allied ground assaults. They somehow knew — but didn’t say so at the time — that America would rout this heavily armed, 500,000-strong opponent for the price in lives of a medium sized commercial airline crash. If Republicans knew Jan. 12 of this chain of events, they in their clairvoyance have a right to chastise mere mortals such as Democratic senators James Exon and Bob Kerrey. But more likely, Bercutcr and others are twisting the vole — which was a gray, ambiguous and excruciatingly difficult act for both Democrats and Republicans — into a black-and-white battle between traitors and heroes. Voters must remember that, for both Democrats and Repub licans, the outlook for Desert Storm was quite different from its outcome. Only then will the 1992 election rise above name calling to become a forum for the discussion of legitimate issues. - LETTERS tTh°e EDITORf U.S. stand in gulf hypocritical I his letter is in response to the so called supporters of Operation Desert Storm — you know, that so-called operation that supposedly stopped “the naked aggression” committed by a “madman” such as Saddam Hussein. In his last statc-of-thc-union ad dress, Bush might have tried to give some excuse to American involve ment, but he only continued to carry on the hypocritical foreign policy that is adjective to the United Stales. Since the beginning of the cen tury, the United States has officially intervened in 34 different countries. In most of these, no one went up to the United States and said, “Hey, yo. You can’t do that!!” We all agree that something must be done about the invasion of Kuwait, but is it really any of the United States’ business to be interfering with the actions of a race with a history that is centuries older than that in the West? Is the United States not the country that abides by the terms of the Monroe Doctrine? The doctrine that, in summary , says that the United States opposes intervention of non-Wcstcm nations in issues concerning coun tries of the Western hemisphere. Wasn’t this a major issue in the Cu ban missile crisis? How about the scare of communist settlement (led by the U.S.S.R.) in Nicaragua? But sure, it’s OK for the Americans to make a special clause when it comes to U.S. interests, right? Sounds like a crock of crap to me. For decades, the United States has simply ignored the Isracli-Palestiman conflict. Why? The Palestinians have as much right to a piece of land as the Kuwaitis have to regain theirs. But there is not a hell of a lot of oil under Israel, the West Bank, the Golan Heights and the Gaza strip, so Uncle Sam pretends not to sec a problem — to go on to fight for the freedom and justice of the Ku waiti people. The United Nations voted for the use of force, but were the ambassa dors really willing to opt for military action before any other solution could have been found? Or perhaps they remembered what happened to Yemen after the ambassador of that nation voted against such resolution in the security council. If the Arab league of nations really believed that Hussein was becoming a threat to the region, they would have resolved things through their own diplomatic and historical lies, without the interference of any out sider whose only interest is to gain from the entire conflict, even at the expense of human lives. Cczar Mesquita sophomore math BRAVO HV $>EM? PRE-S\PtVU... BRAVO. __ _I ERIC PFANNER Desert Storm and boots Now that the war is over, I can finally come right out and say I support the war but not the troops. My problem, a social aberration, stems from a news story 1 read during the height of the air battle against Iraq. It had nothing to do with strat egy, history, Weltanschauung or a lack of compassion. Instead, I’m against the troops because of desert boots. The news article told of some U.S. soldiers who had taken to wearing lightweight, suede desert boots in stead of the heavy, shiny, archless, traditional black kind. The soldiers said they were chang ing footwear because the old boots were heavy, uncomfortable and a pain to polish. Desert sand and dust don’t go well with thick patent leather. Neither does heat. The old boots, because of the air holes in their sides, also filled up with sand, like the beaten up Converse Chuck Taylors I used to wear to the beach. The suede boots have no holes. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, the U.S. commander in the area, agreed that the suede boots were more prac tical in the desert than the Beetle Bailey variety. So he ordered thou sands for the troops from a Saudi Arabian factory. 1 have no problem with the troops marching through the desert in com fort and without unseemly dust buildup on their feet. I have no problem with the United States plugging even more money into the Saudi economy for the $45-a-pair boots. But I am jeal ous. I’ve wanted a pair of desert bools since I was a freshman at the Univer sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln and read magazines like Esquire and Gentle men’s Quarterly. Desert boots were stylish that year. The ones in the magazines, of course, cost a whole lot more than $45, and they were made by Italian and American designers, not Saudi companies. Now I no longer read Esquire and Gentlemen’s Quarterly, but 1 assume I I Unless the , fires gt tbs. Kuwait oil re fineries kM out all of tbs sun, tbs soldiers will have fins midmntsr tans. Here in Ne braska, the sun is iust starting to climb back into the skv. It’s no where near warm enoueh to sun bathe. and spring break is 2 U2 wssks. mm that desert boots arc still stylish, be cause one of my friends bought a pair at a thrift store. The advantage of the soldiers’ Saudi bools over those modeled in the magazines and on the shelves at Goodwill is that they arc authentic. World War II fighter pilots had leather jackets; desert stormers have suede desert boots. But those aren’t the only souvenirs the troops will bring back from the Middle East. Unless the fires at the Kuwaiti oil refineries blot out all of the sun, the soldiers will have fine midwinter tans. Here in Nebraska, the sun is just start ing to climb back into the sky. It’s nowhere near warm enough to sun bathe, and spring break is 2 1/2 weeks away. When the troops start com ing back —after spring break, I hope—they ’ 11 stand out like members of the French Foreign Legion because of their des ert bools and tan s. They ’ 11 come home to waving flags, their mothers’ out stretched arms and victory celebra tions. Lincoln, although it has no major stock market, has planned a ticker tape parade to welcome them. The troops will look good. But even better will be the stories they’ll tell. Most of the soldiers probably never fired a shot at the enemy. The burden of war was carried by the Air Force pilots who pummcled Baghdad for five weeks before the 100-hour ground assault blitzed southern Iraq. The United States has a couple thousand planes and about the same amount of pilots in the Persian Gulf area. But after the troops get home, in the bars at least, that number of pilots could swell, as the number of people who attended the Ncbraska-Oklahoma “game of the century” has grown exponentially since 1971. Desert bools will let them getaway with it. In “Top Gun,” Tom Cruise piloted a sexy Navy jet and stole the heart of a sophisticated older woman. She drove an English sports car. In this war, both men and women served as pilots, so everyone will be driving to the nearest airbase in their English sports cars when the troops get back, hoping, like Top Gun co pilot Kelly McGillis, to have their hearts stolen, too. Little boys and girls will want to grow up to be like their older brothers and sisters in the military. They’ll join when they graduate from high school and earn money for col lege. In the meantime, they’ll sunbathe pnd buy miniature desert bools. GI Joe action figures will sport the new footwear. The kids with brothers and sisters in the military will con vince their parents to buy the dolls. The increase in GI Joe sales will boost the economy and everyone will be proud. Because of that pride, ev eryone will go to the the ticker-tape parade. I’ll be there, loo— the pale one in the sneakers. Planner is a senior news-editorial major and the Daily Nebraskan editor in chief. LETTER POLICY-1 The Daily Nebraskan wel comes brief letters to the editor from all readers. Letters will be selected for publication on the basis of clarity, originality, timeli ness and space availability. The Daily Nebraskan retains the right to edit letters. Letters should be typewritten and less than 500 words. Anonymous submissions will not be published. Letters should include the author’s name, ad dress, phone number, year in school and group affiliation, if any. Submit material to the Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588 0448.
