News Digest
PAGE 2_ '__WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4,1996
aaddam Tactor’retums before Section Day
Political bisks could
be inevitable if the
United States prolongs
confrontation.
By John King
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Saddam
Hussein was a big factor at the start of
the last presidential campaign, and all
but forgotten in the end. By provoking
a military showdown with President
Clinton just nine weeks before Elec
tion Day, the Iraqi leader might have a
more lasting inpact this time.
The bipartisan praise for Clinton’s
overnight cruise missile strikes against
Iraqi military targets underscored the
political opportunity for the president,
who displayed a decisiveness Repub
licans frequently assert is missing from
the administration’s foreign policy.
“At 15 or 20 points ahead in the
polls, the president doesn’t need this
kind of risky challenge,” said Connecti
cut Democratic Sen. Joseph
Lieberman. “He’s shown some guts.”
But any prolonged confrontation
with Iraq carries huge political risks,
the most obvious being the potential
for U.S. casualties should Saddam not
heed Clinton’s warnings and additional
strikes be ordered. __^ —
The lukewarm support voiced by
Western allies gave Republicans an
opening to assert that Clinton has
squandered the international prestige
built by Ronald Reagan and George
Bush, to the point where Saddam had
no reservations about ignoring
Clinton’s warnings.
Republican challenger Bob Dole
has repeatedly stressed such a senti
ment in his campaign against Clinton.
“Saddam Hussein is testing Ameri
can leadership,” Dolesaid Sunday.
On Monday, Dole went on to say
Clinton had demonstrated “weak lead
ership” in dealing with Iraq.
But after the overnight missile
strikes, Dole awoke Tuesday facing a
delicate political dilemma: How to sup
port the U.S. position in an interna
tional crisis while raising questions
about Clinton’s leadership.
“In matters like this, all of us think
not as Republicans or Democrats, but
as Americans,” Dole said in a speech
to the American Legion.
Nonetheless, even as Dole said he
supported U.S. forces “without hesita
tion or reservation,” Dole worked in a
subtle swipe at the administration.
“I trust this is the beginning of de
cisive action to limit the power and
arrogance of Saddam Hussein,” Dole
said.
When it comes to dealing with
Saddam, Dole has a mixed record of
his own: On Tuesday he called Saddam
a butcher and a tyrant, but back in 1990,
just before Iraq invaded Kuwait, Dole
opposed efforts to impose economic
sanctions against the Iraqi regime, even
after Saddam had threatened Israel.
“There might be a chance to bring
this guy around,” Dole said after an
April 1990 meeting with Saddam in
Baghdad.
Clinton and Dole spoke by tele
phone before Dole’s Tuesday speech,
and aides to both men sought to take
the politics out of the latest U.S.-Iraq
standoff. „ •
White House press secretary. Mike
Attention Must Coast prepares pr hurncaiie
event
directors
The Daily Nebraskan’s weekly
events calendar will be published
beginning on Monday,.Sept. 9.
The deadline for submitting en
tries for publication is 2 pjn. Sun
day, Sept. 8.
Please send all submissions to:
The Daily Nebraskan
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MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Fran
gained strength and took aim for the
southeastern coast Tuesday on a path
that could bring the storm ashore later
this week.
Hie U.S. Navy sent ships to sea for
safety as Fran’s sustained winds grew
from 85 mph to 105 mph in a few hours
east of the Bahamas .
Following on the heels of Hurricane
Edouard, which unraveled off the East
ern Seaboard over the Labor Day holi
day, Fran was expected to take a turn
to the northwest by Thursday.
“This changes every time we make
a forecast,” said Max Mayfield, a spe
cialist with the National Hurricane
Center. “The big question is how far
to the north it will go and when it will
make the turn. Right now, the biggest
threat is from North Florida to the
Carolinas.”
Mayfield said conditions were simi
lar to those that affected Hurricane
Bertha, which killed nine in July. Ber
tha came ashore in North Carolina with
sustained winds of 75 mph, causing
millions of dollars in damageto homes,
crops and infrastructure. £
Fran was about 285 miles east of
Nassau, Bahamas Tuesday afternoon,
and moving west-northwestat 13 mph.
A hurricane warning wasJn effect for
the northwest Bahamas, which includes
Nassau and Freeport. ^
Charles King, aditnnisfr|h)r of San
Salvador island in the Bahamas, said
winds were near tropical storm force
Tuesday afternoon.
“Apart from that, things are pretty
much the same,” he said. “We feel as
though it will be a minimal hurricane,
but we are watching and listening to
the reports. We are ready to take the
necessary precautions.”
The Navy wasn’t waiting. In Jack
6i
In matters like this, all of us think not
like Republicans or Democrats, but as
Americans ”
Bob Dole
GOP presidential nominee
McCurry said Clinton had forbidden
aides from discussing political impli
cations “because that was not part of
the decision-making process whatso
ever.”
Dole spokesman Nelson Warfield
echoed the statement, saying, “I don’t
think it would be appropriate to do a
political handicap.”
But the calendar alone put the epi
sode front and center in presidential
politics.
“This close to a presidential elec
tion, a confrontationinvolving use of
force and risk to American military
personnel is almost certain to have an
impact,” former Secretary of State
James A. Baker HI said in an interview.
Baker knows firsthand the inclina
tion of most voters to make foreign
policy a secondary presidential issue
in times of peace.
Baker helped President Bush as
semble the international coalition
against Saddam after the 1990 invasion
of Kuwait, and Bush’s approval ratings
were so high after the Persian Gulf War
that many big-name Democrats de
cided not to challenge the incumbent.
But by November 1992, only 8per
cent of voters ^H^fiaragB pelfey was
the biggest factor in their choice, ac
cording to exit polls.
In the short term, Baker predicted
Clinton would benefit, “because gen
erally speaking the American people
come together behind their president
in times of military conflict. The big
risk is the possibility of this thing go
ing off in uncharted directions and get
ting out of control.”
Saddam’s defiance in the aftermath
of Tuesday’s strikes only added to the
air of uncertainty.
The White House and the Pentagon
said Saddam had the next move in his
latest cat-and-mouse confrontation
with the United States.
“We reserve the right to take future
military actions,” Defense Secretary
William Perry said.
Only after Saddam makes his inten
tions clear are the political implications
likely to come into focus.
“I would say the chances are that
unless something goes haywire it will
not become much of a lasting political
matter,” former Vice President Dan
Quayle said in an interview. “Having
been on the other side of this, what is
important right now is to give the presi
dent support and flexibility. You can’t
early.”
sonville, Fla., 14 ships from Mayport
Naval Station headed for the open sea.
Conditions as of
Tuesday 11 am. EOT
Projected course
5 >.m. Thure.
' Max. winds: 85 mph F
1 Gusts at 105 mph :
] Moving WNW*t12mprf
Editor: Doug Kouma Night News Editors: Kelly Johnson
472-1766 Jennifer Milke
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1996 DAILY NEBRASKAN
Many factors
indicate rise
in economy
NEW YORK (AP)—In an un
usual twist Tuesday, good news for
the economy didn’t ruin Wall
Street’s day.
An index of future economic ac
tivity continued itsrecord-setting
performance in July. A separate,
widely followed survey of execu
tives who purchase supplies for in
dustry said U.S. manufacturing
growth accelerated in August for a
third straight month and that the
overall economy grew for a seventh
month in a row.
The private reports reinforced
Wall Street’s hunch that Federal
Reserve inflation fighters will push
up rates, perhaps as early as their
Sept. 24 meeting, unless the
economy shows signs of slowing
down.
The market’s initial slump came
on word in The Wall Street Journal
that the Fed is considering raising
interest rates one-half a percentage
point unless there are clear signs this
month that the economy is cooling.
me markets began recovering
after the release of the purchasing
managers’ figures for August, one
of the first major reports on last
month.
In addition, the U.S. missile raid
on Iraqi military targets and further
delays in allowing Iraq to return to
world oil markets boosted oil
stocks, leading a rebound in blue
chip issues.
The Index of Leading Economic
Indicators rose 0.2 percent to 103.1
in July, the Conference Board re
pented. The National Association of
Purchasing Management’s index
rose to 52.6 percent in August.
The leading index is designed to
forecast economic activity six to
nine months in advance. However,
it is seen by economists as most use
ful in forecasting the economy’s di
rection rather than its pace.
Three months movement in the
same direction is generally seen to
signal a trend.
The purchasing managers group
said growth in manufacturing was
fueled by strength in factory produc
tion, new orders and new export or
ders. The survey also calmed some
inflation fears, reporting that prices
paid by factories for raw materials
fell for a third month in a row.
Two weeks ago, the Federal Re
serve decided to leave interest rates
unchanged, apparently unable to
find persuasive evidence the
economy was growing so strongly
that it threatened higher inflation.
Sergeant reinstated after slap
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — A police
sergeant who was demoted to patrolman for
slapping the boy he said he caught having
sex with his teen-age daughter will get his
old job bade with buck pay and benefits.
John Jerkins will return Wednesday to the
rank of sergeant in the police department’s
criminal investigations division, where he had
worked until he was demoted in April, City
Attorney Mary Ann Kams announced today.
She said an arbitrator will determine
whether Jerkins should be punished for strik
ing the boy.
Jerkins had lost $705 per month in pay,
plus $350 per month in pension benefits since
the demotion. He was assigned duties such
as stuffing envelopes and reading reports.
Ms. Kams said Jerkins’ testimony at a
hearing led the city to agree to restore his
rank with back pay and benefits.
“Although he was agreeable to the rein
statement, other items of concern by both
parties prevented a full settlement from be
ing reached,” Kams said.
In the request to an arbitrates-, the city will
seek one week’s suspension without pay.
Moore will ask for Jerkins to be exonerated
and for all references to the discipline to be
removed from his personnel file.
Kams said the arbitrator’s decision prob
ably would not come until mid-October.
City officials said Jerkins was demoted
to patrolman because he insisted it was legal
to use force to discipline someone else’s child
and said he would tell others that they could
do so. ■
Police Chief Norman McNickle said
courts have changed the way the law can be
interpreted and that adults can use reason
able physical punishment with their own chil
dren. Parents can also give other adults per
mission to discipline their children with force,
like spanking.
Jerkins’ lawyer, Jim Moore, has said it
was clear from the panel that recommended
the demotion that Jerkins also was being pun
ished for striking the boy.