Daily Emerald ErClltOricll
r
1
U.S. must not use
armed force in Gulf
The United States should think twice (and perhaps
a lew more times) before using military fort e to deal
with Iraq.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait was despicable. Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein had promised he would not in
vade Kuwait over their oil price dispute Then, claim
ing ht1 was intervening in a dubious “popular revolu
tion" in Kuwait, he attacked and installed a govern
ment of Iraqi officials. After promising to withdraw his
troops, Hussein announced that a largely Iraqi “Ku
wait volunteer army" of 0(1,000 would remain. Now
Hussein is reportedlv amassing troops on tin* border of
Saudi Arabia, and the U S, government insists he will
invade there, also.
[he real issue so far for the the American govern
ment has been largely economic: higher prices at do
mestic and international gas pumps and falling stock
prices, the result of the tension in the Persian Unit
President George Hush is talking tough with the Iraqis,
promising military intervention il Hussein doesn't
I>a< k oft He has sent U S officials to meet with the
Saudi Arabian government to discuss wavs of defend
ing that country Phis could include the presence of
U S troops.
This would be a grave mistake. Am kind of I S
military presence in Saudi Arabia will give; the Iraqis
an excuse to invade on the grounds that they must
strike first “in self-defense " Hush should pay atten
tion to his own economic and diplomatic efforts that
have been under way since the? invasion began
The1 international boycott of Iraq has been the most
united and effective in recent memory The United Na
tions Sec urity Council has voted 1 t-0 to condemn the
invasion and adopt economic sanctions against Iraq.
Other major industrial powers, sue h as |apan and the
Kuropean Community, have stopped purc hasing Iraqi
oil The Soviet Union and China. Iraq's biggest arms
suppliers, have cut off their shipments and expressed
regret that their weapons were used in the invasion.
If these measures are enforced, Iraq's petroleum
dependent economy and its war mac hine will be- in
jeopardy Iraq has sharply reduced the amount of oil
flowing through its outbound pipelines because tew
countries want to buy it, and the country will not be
able to finance; or operate* any kind of warfare
against Saudi Arabia or another Arab country with
out money from its oil-based economy or weapons to
fight The U S should give the non-military measures
time
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4
Smith latest focus of ethics violation
()regon legislators and t*tliit s aren't mix
ing well these days The latest focus is oil
Rep I )ennv Smith (R ath (long District).
Smith was a duet tor ol Ament an fetlei
al Savings anil Loans from 1*177 to 1987 lie
was tort etl oil I lie hoard after American f ed
eral merged with State federal Savings and
Loan in an attempt to save f inanciallv
xtrupped Ament an I etleral.
However, in lttHfc Smith told regulators
that he would not agree to a mergei unless
the\ guaranteed him and other diret tors pro
let lion Irom federal lawsuits in t axe the
merge! hiiled
hirst ol all. diret tors of am business or
organization are inherently responsible tor
tits isionx the\ render II Smith was worried
about lawsuits, he obviously should not
have been making decisions for the compa
in
Secondly, as a director of federally-in
sured American federal. Smith had .1 pei
sonal stake in the ontt ome of the mergei
and contacting regulators asking for iniimi
nit\ tor the institution while <1 member of
(Congress, is a t onflict of interest
The I louse etliit s manual states that it is
.in "unwarranted abuse oi the representative
rule to directly ask nr imply a request tor
favoritism.
The post-merger American Home Sav
ings and Loans Hank of Salem eventually
collapsed at a cost to the taxpayers of $11 I
million State Federal folded, costing tax
payers S 1 At) million Seven men connected
to State Federal were < onvil ted of baud and
embezzlement
House Democrats have debated since
January whether to file an ethics complaint
against Smith, but they are afraid of com
plaints against members ot their own party
who attempted to help floundering savings
and loans
It is a sad state of affairs when discus
sions and investigations of questionable eth
ics behavior is stifled because of partisan
politics It is also appalling that OH percent
of House incumbents are assured of re-elec
lion simply through name familiarity, even
w hen so many congressmen are under si ru
tin y of ethic s violations
Hut worst of all, we the people elect
them It is time that representatives are more
i losely s< rutinized by voters
Forum
Bill restricting log exports will benefit everyone
By Peter DeFazto
Imagine two ships passing in
tin' night one i among (Ire
gun logs to .1 Japanese himliri
mill. the utlifr one < arrymg
Kussian lugs to an American
mill It doesn't make mm h
sense, dues it ■’
Commentary
XVt that's evactls the pros
pool we to t.u ing .is one major
A meric .in wood produt Is man
tdac turei prepares to tun logs
from the Soviet t'nion tor its
t' S mills
What is going on here ' ( Ire
gon mills are < losing: thou
sands of workers .ire fat mg lay
oils Owners i ife a lai k of tim
her and ineredihly higli stump
age prit es
At the same time huge sol
unit's of implex essod logs ere
truckl'd lo the Ports of l loos
Bay "viewport .md Astoria,
loaded onto foreign-flagged
slops aiul Iransporlt'tl to mills
m nations in the I'at l ast th.it
raise trade harriers against out
finished wood products
Most Oregonians agree that
stopping log exports is an ex
senttal element ol am plan to
ensure a long term supph ot
tmiller ten Oregon's wood prod
in Is industry Idu most ol us.
the picture ol Weverhaeuser
shipping its logs lo China and
Japan, while I otusiana Pai ifu
Inns logs from the Soviet
I ’moil is a sv niplom ol a ua
tional disorder Add domestu
mill closures, unemployment
and timber shortages to the
mix and vou have to wonder
what our policy-makers are us
ing for brains
M\ legislation to stop state
log exports perm,month emit!
the I),ill oil tetter,il log exports
and i lose the loopholes in tin*
teilei.il ban was just passed In
(Congress ,mtl sent to the I’resi
dent tot his signature I've I re
.iletl quite ,i stir In ( .tiling lot
rest l it tinns on tog exports from
private lands as well
And u In not ' The I nited
States is the niilv nation on
earth with a modern wood pro
i essing industry that still al
lows the export of raw logs \o
other nation exports valuable
raw materials during a time of
domestii shortages
Main small woodlnt owners
ail- com et lied about the effects
private log export restrictions
might have on their profits
Their worries are almost cer
laiillv needless
l-'irst. d federal timber sup
plies ire reduced by even a
fraction of what some experts
predh t domestic stumpage
pin es for piivate limber will
remain .il historically high lev
els with or without further
log export restrii lions
And second private log ex
port restrictions could be tied
to reductions in federal timber
supplies That would mean that
some exports would continue,
prohabh under federal lit ense
I would stronglv support prel
erential treatment lot small
wood lot ow ners il and when
the federal government begins
to restrii t private log exports
I believe in Amerii a I be
have that we can remain the
world s leading industrial pow
er. providing our < itizens with
one of tin' world's best stun
dards of living, it we begin to
promote polii les that favor in
dustrial development over raw
material exports and fair trade
over free trade
I'eter De Fazio (I FOrrt’unl is
lht‘ rcprrsent<tti\r at Onion's
4th Conurt'ssiaiuil Distrii t
_Commentary Policy_
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l hiiversitv i oimnuiiih
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