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s&!-— News Digest Tuesday* November 22,1994 Page 2 NATO planes strike Serb-controlled airfield SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina—In its biggest airstrike ever, NATO retaliated Monday for repeated Serb attacks on a U.N. safe haven by bombing an airfield in a Serb controlled section of Croatia. NATO commanders said the raid knocked the Udbina airfield out of commission for 30 days. The airfield and its artillery batter ies have been used by Serbs in recent weeks to terrorize residents of government-held areas of northwest Bosnia. A Croatian commander tweaked his nose at the NATO raid, saying only two runways were damaged by the midday airstrike and could be repaired as early as Wednesday. About 30 F-15s, F-16s, Jaguar and Mi rage jets from the United States, Britain, France and the Netherlands crossed the Adriatic for the airstrike, NATO’s seventh since the Bosnian war started in April 1992 and the alliance’s first in neighboring Croatia. The bombers struck the airfield 22 miles southwest of the U.N.-designated safe area of Bihac and reportedly took out its anti aircraft guns and one surface-to-air missile site, said Adm. Leighton W. Smith, NATO commander for southern Europe. ’’Initial reports are that the strike was successful,” Smith said. Serb surface-to-air missiles were fired at the NATO planes, but he said all warplanes and 20 support aircraft returned safely to their bases in Italy. The U.N. commander for former Yugo slavia, Gen. Bertrand de Lapresle, requested the NATO warplanes target runways and taxiways — not destroy aircraft, Smith told reporters in Naples, Italy. “Our intention was to try to limit collat eral damage,” Smith said. “We did not want to go outside of that airfield area, and we wanted to limit the number of people on the ground who might be casualties as a result of the strike.” Slobodan Jarcevic, an aide to Croatian Serb leader Milan Martic, asserted that two vi Uages north of the airfield were destroyed, “and it is assumed that all civilians that were in those houses were killed.” There was no independent confirmation. The United Nations said some Czech peacekeepers, who were posted near Udbina, were taken hostage after the raid. Jarcevic said two peacekeepers were being held by Serb troops who were “threatening to kill them.” Smith said the raid wasn’t meant “to put the airfield out of commission for an aw “Our intention was to try to limit collateral damage. We did not want to go outside of that airfield area, and we wanted to limit the number of people on the ground who might be casualties as a result of the strike. ” ■ ADM. LEIGHTON W. SMITH NATO commander fully long time. If we had wanted to we would have taken out all the aircraft, the ammunition.” Croatia’s air force commander said the damage to two runways “could be repaired in 48-72 hours.” The commander, Col. Imra Agotic, also said about 20 fixed-wing air craft and 10 helicopters were “destroyed or considerably damaged." l he air strikes actually may play into the hands of Bosnian and Croatian Serbs. Since they have been attacking Bosnian govern ment lands jointly in recent weeks, an esca lating cross-border conflict might pressure Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic to help the Serbs. The Serbian leader cut off most aid to Bosnia’s Serbs in August in exchange for eased international sanctions on Serb-domi nated Yugoslavia. He continues to wield influence in Serb-held parts of Croatia. Senior U.N. envoy Yashushi Akashi said Monday that he and Milosevic would meet Wednesday with Martic, head of Croatia’s breakaway Serbs. Martic condemned the bombing as “an insolent and vandal attack ... which we haven’t provoked at all.” Akashi, the top U.N. official in former Yugoslavia, insisted the NATO air strike was a “necessary and proportionate re sponse.” And President Clinton said: “It was a strong and entirely appropriate response That airfield has been used to conduct the air attacks against the Bihac region. It was the right thing to do.” Dole moves to link GATT vote with capital gains tax cut WASHINGTON — Dry as toast, a global trade accord emerged Monday as a potent test between President Clinton and Senate GOP Leader Bob Dole, whose demand for a capital gains tax cut escalated the issue sharply. No sooner had Dole suggested linking the two over the weekend than White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta shot down the sug gestion. “I don’t think he’s going to get a commitment from us that we're going to suddenly support a capi tal gains tax cut, particularly as part of’ the trade accord, Panetta said. Asked about the rebuff. Dole said Monday: “He only took one shot at it. He can fire again.’’ On political grounds, many con gressional Democrats oppose a cut in the capital gains tax, which is levied on the profits of sales of stocks and other assets. House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt said Republicans were interjecting their “favorite give away for the rich’’ into the debate over a trade agreement. He said 72 percent of the benefits would go to taxpayers earning $100,000 a year or more At the same time, Clinton has pushed hard for passage of the trade agreement, and rejection would be a blow to his prestige. Several White House officials said that while talks continue with Dole on other issues, Panetta’s comments stand on a capital gains tax cut. Lobbying for the accord during the day, Vice President Al Gore said, “This is a big fight. It's going to be hard fought and close.” Congress is scheduled to vote after Thanksgiving chi legislation to implement the 123-nation GATT agreement. The accord would re duce trade barriers and cut tariffs by an estimated $740 billion world wide while offering more protec tion for American patentsand copy rights. The lame duck, Democratic control led House and Senate will be voting, but Democrats concede Republicans hold the balance of power, just as they will hold a majority in the new Congress that meets in January. The GATT trade accord TIm accord Passing the GATT trade accord must U.S. Senate be ratified by the three trade giants, the United States, the . Approval !rom , European Union and Japan _ 'ncorn'nfl f^^jorrty leader before being invoked on Robert Dole is key in the January 1.1995. It includes: Sanate whora support« waning. Critics of the acoord say it would hnport tariffs > infringe on U.S. sovereignty while Overall cut of more than 33 |ho69 ^avor A believe i* wiN percent on these border taxes on 0008tt”9 economy, thousands of products including Dole j$ standing firm on his electronics, wood and metals. demand tor a 28 percent capital Should bring down prices. oains tax cut 5^^ he backs TtTfff the bill's passage. Phase-out over 10 years of quotas that protect industrialized countries from cheaper Third World imports. Product duuiplutf At a closed-door strategy ses sion last week, according to one congressional aide, the White House estimate was that one-third of the Senate was undecided. With organized labor often in opposition, free trade issues tradi tionally divide the Democratic caucus in both houses. Republi cans supplied a majority of votes in the House and the Senate last year when the North American Free Trade Agreement passed. In the Senate, in particular, where it will take 60 votes to pre vail on a key procedural motion, the Republican grip on GATT is strong, and the politics intense. In the House. Speaker-to-be Newt Gingrich has called for pas sage of the accord next week. Not only is Dole publicly unde cided, but so is a likely rival for the AP/Carolyn Sand w ion 1996 presidential nomination, Sen. Phil Gramm. Adding his voice on Monday was William Kristol, a conservative strategist who wrote: “GATT for something else. It’s unnecessary in our view.” “1 want to fix it,” “Dole said Sunday in an interview on ABC’s “This Week with David Brinkley.” “And if we can fix it, then I’ll vote for it.” Dole and several other Repub licans have expressed concerns that American sovereignty would be compromised by the world Trade Organization that would be estab lished under GATT to police the accord. He said his office had been receiving roughly 2,000 calls a day on the issue, adding, “Some may be from talk shows but a lot of them are legitimate questions.” University blocks access to cyberspace pornography PITTSBURGH — In a case that has colleges taking another look at their legal responsibilities in cyberspace, Carnegie Mellon Uni versity has blocked access to bulletin boards that students can use to call up dirty pictures. About 300 students protested the move earlier this month as an assault on academic freedom, and a public interest group for computer users sug gested Carnegie Mellon overreacted. “It is censorship," said Declan McCullagh, student body president. “We have obscene books in our li brary, but the university isn’t burning them. The university is burning cyberbooks." Carnegie Mellon officialssaid they fear the school can be prosecuted for distributing pornography to minors if it knowingly allows access to the pictures via the Internet to anyone under 18. Most of the school’s stu dents are adults, but children as young J as elementary-school age also use the university’s computer networks. Richard Goldberg, an Allegheny County deputy district attorney, said it would be very difficult to prosecute Carnegie Mellon, for the same rea son it is hard to prosecute other kinds of obscenity cases: The prosecutoi would have to prove the material has no redeeming social value. “Then you have the problem of where do you prosecute them? Where is it coming horn?” he said. Goldberg was referring to the ques tion of what community standards should be applied to obscenity-in cyberspace cases. In 1973, the U S. Supreme Court ruled that obscenity must be judged by local community standards. But cyberspace crosses such earthly boundaries. Assistant county attorney dies from accident injuries An assistant county attorney has died from injuries he suffered in a car accident. Assistant Lancaster County At torney Daniel D. Fahmbruch, 31, died Monday. He had been comatose since Sat urday morning, when his car appar ently went out of control and collided nearly head-on with a pickup truck on a county road northwest of Lin coln. “The attorneys in the office and myself respected him as a very com petent attorney, and our hearts eo out to his wife and the judge and Mrs. Fahmbruch,” Lancaster County At torney Gary Lacey said. i---— The son of Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Dale Fahmbruch, Daniel Fahmbruch was a six-year veteran of the county attorney’s office. He also was active in Republican politics. Fahmbruch was en route to the farm of County Commissioner Larry Hudkins for a day of hunting when the accident occurred, Hudkins said. Raymond rescue squad workers said Fahmbruch apparently was not wearing a seat belt. Fahmbruch is survived by his wife, Roxanne; his parents, Margaret and Dale; and a sister, Rebecca. Funeral arrangements were pend ing. ■ —i Nebraskan Editor Jeff Zateny Night New* Editors Chris Haln 472-17M w«u. 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