news digest
Navy hopes to add women to front-line combat by 1997
n-'-.‘" 1
Service’s plan
to help alleviate
battered image
WASHINGTON — The Navy
wants to put women in all its front
line combat jobs — as fighter pilots,
submariners and warship crew
members—within thenextfouryears,
officials say.
i
In a tradition-breaking plan ready
for action by Defense Secretary Les
Aspin, the Navy suggests allowing
women to serve on six classes of
combat support ships within the next
several months. It would also allow
them to enter training or more
advanced combat jobs.
The sweeping plan is designed to
repair the Navy’s battered image in
the wake of the Tailhook sex abuse
scandal. It would also put the service
in the forefront of revising attitudes
toward women in the military.
The plan would also make it
.. i
Clinton s entry into spotlight
‘pretty original,’ Yeltsin says
VANCOUVER, British
Columbia — All eyes were on
President Clinton’s debut in the
world spotlight — unfamiliar turf
for a young president who
campaigned almost exclusively on
domestic issues.
Despite Clinton’s lack of foreign
policy experience, the first
superpower summit to focus on
economics instead of arms seemed
a made-to-order showcase for the
former Arkansas governor ’ s strong
suit — an easy command of facts
and figures.
The early review from his
summit partner, Boris Yeltsin:
“Pretty original.”
Not only was Clinton out to
prove his foreign-policy prowess
to Americans, but to other world
leaders as well. As usual, the
two-day summit in this western
Canadian seaport was carefully
choreographed by both sides to put
the two leaders in the best light for
domestic consumption in their
respective countries.
They went through all the ritual
steps of summitry—praising each
other, plunging into crowds, being
seen about town, taking a reflective
“walk in the woods” and holding a
final joint news conference.
Despite the best-laid plans,
though, summits can go sour.
Remember President Reagan’s
October 1986 summit with Mikhail
Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland
— nuclear arms talks broke off
abruptly in a major
misunderstanding between the two
leaders.
This one didn’t.
And even though Yeltsin
remains on extremely shaky
political ground in his home and
Clinton faces a daunting
salesmanship jobon the aid package
in his, both leaders left the summit
having achieved most of what each
wanted.
For Clinton, that meant being
viewed in the eyes of Americans
and U.S. allies as a serious leader in
the world arena.
Both Clinton and Yeltsin “were
two very impressive politiciahs,”
said the summit's host, Canadian
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
difficult for the military to bar any
other group — such as homosexuals
— from combat jobs, as some have
proposed.
“The plan is to increase the role of
women in the Navy_it is something
the Navy would very much like to
have happen,” said a senior Pentagon
official knowledgeable about the plan
who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Adm. Frank Kelso Jr., the Navy’s
top admiral, has approved the plan,
the official said.
At present, women are barred from
flying combat aircraft and serving on
major warships, such as aircraft
carriers, destroyers or cruisers and
submarines.
However, they do serve on 64 of
the Navy’s 453 vessels — primarily
supply ships, such as oilers or
submarine tenders, or repair and
salvage vessels.
Allowing women in the Navy’s
prem ier combat slots means they could
seek out and destroy enemies as F-A
18 fighter pilots, for example, or as
nuclear missile launchers on Trident
submarines.
Congress has passed legislation to
repeal the ban on women in certain
Air Force aircraft and to allow women
to fly Navy aircraft. However, the law
does not require the armed services to
change their policies.
Aspin has signaled that he’s ready
to approve placing women in some
combat slots. Because of the new law,
Aspin could simply sign a directive to
the services, telling them to move on
the issue.
“The Navy believes it must have
the sign-off of the secretary before it
can move forward on this,” said a
senior Navy officer, who also spoke
on condition of anonymity.
President Clinton has yet to name
a Navy secretary.
Clinton, Yeltsin solidity
pact as summit closes
VANCOUVER, British Columbia
— President Clinton cemented a
partnership with Boris Yeltsin on
Sunday with a final round of summit
talks and a first-installment pledge of
$1.6 billion to aid Russia’s struggling
economy.
' The U.S. program was swollen by
$700million for grain sales to Moscow
under extraordinarily easy terms, a
boon both for Russian families and
the American farmers who will send
thier crops to Moscow.
After two days of meetings, Cl in ton
was impressed by Yeltsin’s
determination to fight for democracy
and economic reforms even as
hardliners and nationalists try to
overthrow. .
“The President believes that Boris
Yeltsin is a fighter, somebody who
really will fight for democracy,”
White House communications
director Geoi^cStephanopou los said.
The summit gave Yeltsin a sizable
package of aid—though far less than
The President believes that Boris Yeltsin is a
fighter, somebody who really will fight for
democracy.
— Stephanopoulos
White House communications director
Russia needs — before an April 25
referendum that will determine if
Yeltsin’spowerand program have the
support of the Russian people.
Clinton has to convince skeptical
Americans that withouladditional aid
for a democratic Russia, the United
States would have to spend billions if
a nationalistic, threatening regime
were returned to power.
The second and final day of talks
focused on national security and
foreign policy issues, following
intense discussions Saturday on
Russia’s crumbling economy.
Clinton was asked about Yeltsin’s
reaction to the aid package. t’s been
ww
good,” he said. Yeltsin declined to
take questions.
A big chunk of the U.S. aid program,
$215 million, was earmarked for
dismantling Russian nuclear
submarines, bombers and missiles and
other nuclear safety programs.
Aside from food sales, other
components included a $6 million
demonstration program to build
housing for military officers returning
from the Baltics and Eastern Europe,
a $50 million enterprise fund to prov idc
seed money for Russian entrepreneurs
and $60 million to support the sale of
government enterprises to private
ownership.
Bosnians pray for peace as airlifts resume
a/\KAjtivu,»osnia-iierzegovina—About
1,500 worshipers risked sniper fire and filled
Sacred Heart Cathedral to hear an appeal for
peace on Palm Sunday as the U.N. airlift resumed
after a 16-day suspension.
Another aid mission
finally reached the
embattled Muslim
enclave of Srebrenica to
deliver 85 tons of food
and medicine. But town
officials blocked the
planned evacuation of
, wounded people and
other refugees, saying it
would further Serb plans to clear the area of
Muslims, a U.N. official said.
-u
Let those who are destroying, burning and killing come back to
the true path.
-Puljic
. archbishop
- An international air operation dropped 45
tons of food and nearly 1 ton of medicine
overnight in the Srebrenica area.
The developments came a day after Bosnian
Serb leaders rejected an international plan for
ending the year-old ethnic war. At U.N.
headquarters, diplomats said the Security
Counci I this week would impose sliffer sanctions
on Serb-dominated Yugoslavia for supporting
the rebels in Bosnia.
Scattered violence was reported Sunday, but
there was no immediate word of casualties.
Saturday, Bosnian news media said at least 23
people died in Serb attacks around the country,
a claim U.N. observers said they could not
confirm.
Roman Caiholics filled the cathedral in the
center of the city, an area often raked with
sniper fire from Serb militiamen holding the
hills surrounding the capital. They carried sprigs
of pine or leafy branches to be blessed for the
holy day that ushers in the Holy Week before
Easter.
“The gospel says that he who lives by the
sword dies by the sword,” said Archbishop
Vinko Puljic, spiritual leader of500,000 Roman
Caiholics of the Sarajevo archdiocese.
“No earthly force is eternal,” he said in his
sermon. “So if we are troubled now, we have to
know in our hearts that God’s justice always
prevails. . . . Let those who arc destroying,
bum ing and k i 11 ing come back to the true path ”
25 years later, King s dream revered
. Twenty-five years after the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s words were
silenced by an assassin’s bullet, civil
rights leaders reminded a racially
charged nation Sunday that King
dreamed of a land where children will
not be judged by the color of their
skin.
In the past year, tensions have
erupted into violence in Los Angeles,
Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle,
Atlanta and New York.
“It seems sometimes that we take
two steps forward and three back,’’
said Elisa Gilham, 63, a trustee at
Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta,
where King was a co-pastor.
King was shot April 4,1968, at the
Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.,
where he was staying while in town to
organize a sanitation workers’ strike.
i 1 ■ 1 1
James Earl Ray is serving a 99-ycar
prison sentence for the killing.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was
with King at the Lorraine, urged
congregantsat the All Saints Episcopal
Church in Pasadena,Calif.,on Sunday,
to “noljusl be spectators and witnesses
to violence, but find a way to do
something about it."
Ten miles away in Los Angeles, a
federal trial is under way in the beating
of black motorist Rodney King. When
four while officers were acquitted of
similar charges after a state trial last
year the deadly Los Angeles riots
followed.
Also on the Los Angeles court
docket this month is the trial of three
black men accused of beating white
trucker Reginald Denny during the
riots.
At the National Civil Rights
Museum, built at the site of the
Lorraine Motel, people stopped on
their way to an afternoon concert at
the Mason Temple, where King gave
his last speech.
“The soul of our people died when
he died," said Tony Jackson, 19, of
Atlanta. “The fight continued but not
with the same spirit. I don't know if
we’ll ever be able to capture it again."
On Aug. 28, 1963, King told
marchers in Washington, D.C., of his
hopes for the future.
I have a dream that my four little
children will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by tnc content
of their character,” he said.
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1993 DAILY NEBRASKAN
-World wire-1
Gulf Warcrimes common, report says
oain i AvJKU£,caur.—Three
days after Kuwait was liberated, a
man believed to be a resistance
fighter came to Naimat Farhat’s
home. What the war hadn’t done,
he would.
At gunpoint, Ms. Farhat’s
brother was forced to hogtic their
father and, in lum, she was ordered
to tie up her brother. The man then
beat, raped and shot her. He then
shot to death both men.
Ms. Farhat, 33, wants others to
know what happened March 2,
1991, three days after President
Bushdeclared Kuwait liberated and
suspended offensive operations
against Iraq.
Human rights groups have
criticized Kuwait for allowing
armed forces, many apparently
connected to the Kuwaiti resistance
and security groups, to carry out
hundreds of reprisals after the
Persian Gulf War.
On Monday, the New York
based Lawyers Committee for
Human Rights is scheduled to issue
a 56-page report on a fact-finding
trip to Kuwait. In a draft obtained
by The Associated Press, the Farhat
case is cited as an example of
atrocities committed by Kuwaiti
security forces under martial law.
rowell visits Somalia to boost morale
muualushu, Somalia—The
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
r*®f* arrived Sunday to assess the
U.S.-led humanitarian mission and
seek to boost morale among the
more than 12,000 American troops
in Somalia. F
The Pentagon is scheduled to
turn over control of the mission to
the United Nations May 1, but clan
fighting and other unrest could delay
the transfer.
Meanwhile, at least one aid
agency pulled out of the troubled
southern port of Kismayu, the site
of fighting between backers of
Mohamed Said Hirsi, known as
Gen. Morgan, and supporters ol
Col. Omar Jess.
The Red Cross suspended its
operations in the city of 160,000
after four grenades were thrown
into its compound.
