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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2018)
6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2018 WORLD IN BRIEF Associated Press Pentagon: No survivors in American helicopter crash in western Iraq BAGHDAD — All seven service members aboard a U.S. helicopter that crashed in western Iraq were killed, the Pentagon said today. The crash did not appear to be the result of enemy activity and is under investigation. “This tragedy reminds us of the risks our men and women face every day in service of our nations. We are thinking of the loved ones of these service members today,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, director of opera- tions in the fight against IS in Iraq and Syria. The helicopter was used by the Air Force for combat search and rescue, and was in transit from one location to another when it went down Thursday afternoon near the town of Qaim in Anbar Province. An accompanying U.S. helicopter imme- diately reported the crash and a quick-reaction force comprised of Iraqi security forces and Coa- lition members secured the scene. The U.S.-led coalition battling the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria have an outpost in Qaim, which is located near the Syrian border. The anti-IS campaign accelerated through much of last year, as coalition and Iraqi forces battled to take back a string of cities and towns and shore up the border region to make sure that foreign fighters and insurgents can’t move freely across the region. Sen. Flake eyes 2020 primary challenge to stop President Trump MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jeff Flake has a direct message for the Republicans of New Hampshire: Someone needs to stop Donald Trump. And Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, may stand up against the Republican president in 2020 — either as a Republican or an independent — if no one else does. “It has not been in my plans to run for presi- dent, but I have not ruled it out,” the 55-year-old Flake said today in his first solo political appear- ance in New Hampshire. The state is expected to host the nation’s first presidential primary elec- tion in less than two years. After attacking Trump in a speech that spanned nearly 20 minutes, Flake earned a stand- ing ovation from the packed room that gathered for the esteemed “Politics and Eggs” speaker series at Saint Anselm College. Flake is among a very small group of Repub- lican elected officials speaking out against the Trump presidency with increasing alarm. DroneBase The collapsed pedestrian bridge at Florida International University. Officials expect to find more bodies under collapsed bridge MIAMI — Authorities said today that the cables suspending a pedestrian bridge were being tightened after a “stress test” when the 950-ton concrete span collapsed over traffic, killing at least six people only days after its installation was celebrated as a technological innovation. And officials expected to find more bodies in the rubble. As state and federal investigators worked to determine why the five-day-old span failed Thursday, Florida politicians pointed to the stress test and loosened cables as possible factors, and a police chief asked everyone not to jump to conclusions. A Florida International University student was among the fatalities, and several construc- tion workers were among the 10 people injured. One person died at a hospital, and five bod- ies were located with the help of cameras but not yet retrieved from vehicles crushed under the immense slab. No identities have been released. Experts from the National Transportation Safety Board and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration joined police in taking over command of the scene Friday from first responders, who had spent hours racing to find survivors in the rubble of the 175-foot span using high-tech listening devices, trained sniffing dogs and search cameras. The $14.2 million pedestrian bridge was supposed to open in 2019 as a safe way to cross six lanes of traffic between the FIU campus and the community of Sweetwater, where many students live. He has already written a book that slams Trump. He condemned Trump on the Sen- ate floor and charged in a speech on Thursday at the National Press Club that his party “might not deserve to lead” because of its blind loyalty to Trump. By visiting New Hampshire, Flake is now declaring the possibility of another tactic: a 2020 primary challenge. On the ground in the Granite State, a full year before presidential candidates typically begin courting local voters, there is already an expecta- tion among top Republicans that Trump will face a challenge from within his own party in the next presidential contest. Yet few think Trump could be defeated, even under the worst circumstances. Vietnam commemorates 50th anniversary of My Lai massacre MY LAI, Vietnam — With talk of peace and cooperation rather than hatred, more than a thou- sand people marked the 50th anniversary today of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, the most notori- ous episode in modern U.S. military history. On March 16, 1968, the American soldiers of Charlie Company were sent on what they were told was a mission to confront a crack outfit of their Vietcong enemies, but met no resistance and over three to four hours killed 504 unarmed civil- ians, mostly women, children and elderly men in My Lai and a neighboring community. Provincial official Dang Ngoc Dung said at the commemoration the My Lai massacre was a typical case of “cruel crimes committed by aggressive and hostile forces” during the war. He did not name the United States but said Viet- nam wants to set aside the past and befriend other countries to build a better, peaceful future. Relations between the U.S. and Vietnam are the strongest they’ve been since they normal- ized ties in 1995. The United States is now one of Vietnam’s top trading partners and investors, and relations have also expanded to security and defense. Do Ba was 9 when American soldiers came to his house and rounded up his mother, three sib- lings and himself and took them to a drainage ditch. His mother and sibling were killed there. Ba was wounded, covered in blood and buried under bodies. He played dead out of fear the soldiers would come back to kill him. He was finally rescued by a U.S Army helicopter crew that landed amid the massacre and intervened to stop the killing. “Twenty years ago, I still harbored hatred against the American soldiers who killed my mother, brothers and sister,” he said “But now after 50 years as Vietnam and the United States together developed their relations, people set aside their pain and suffering to build a better society.” Congress demands Pentagon, DOJ investigate child sex assaults Congress reacted Thursday to an Associated Press investigation into sexual assault among children on U.S. military bases by demanding the Defense and Justice departments explain how they will solve the problem. The House of Representatives Armed Ser- vices Committee, meanwhile, said it had begun its own examination of the issue. And a top Dem- ocrat on the committee said she would call a hearing within six months. Four senators, including the veteran head of the Senate Armed Services Committee and two others who’ve made sexual assault a key- note issue, sent letters to the Pentagon and Jus- tice Department with questions about sex assault among the military’s children. Reports of sexual violence among kids on U.S. military bases at home and abroad often die on the desks of prosecutors, even when an attacker confesses, the investiga- tion found. Other cases are shelved by criminal investigators despite requirements they be pur- sued. Many cases get lost in a dead zone of jus- tice, with neither victim nor offender receiving help. (Eleanor) Anne Splane Phillips 10/21/1925 - 3/01/2018 Anne Splane Phillips, 92, passed away peacefully in her sleep on March 1, 2018. Born (Eleanor) Anne McInnes in Flint, MI, she was the second of four children of Robert Langford McInnes, a small business owner and his wife, Reta Lorene (Ewing) McInnes. Her early adulthood was devoted to raising her five children, but in 1960, she determined to pursue a career. Over the next 10 years, attending college part-time, she obtained both a BA and a Masters in Education from the University of Michigan. This was followed in 1974 by a Masters in Clinical Social Work from the Kent School of the University of Louisville. She worked in the Flint school system and in a group therapy practice in Flint, also hosting a call-in radio show for people with mental health inquiries. In 1985, following her children and close friends, she moved to Oregon where she continued her work as a therapist in private practice. Initially settling in Seaside, in 1996 she moved to Astoria where she immediately became active in the community. She was a founding member, and chair of the curriculum committee, of the successful adult education program “Encore”, in cooperation with Clatsop Community College. She was a co-founder of the Sunday Salon, bringing together people interested in literature, public affairs and the arts, which she hosted in her home for some years. In 2015, she moved to Eugene to spend her final years closer to her children. Anne was a woman of many talents. She had a gift for making friends, and enjoyed spending time and sharing humor with others. She had poetry published in several magazines and chapbooks, and her paintings were exhibited and sold at a gallery in coastal Oregon. She also had a love for and talent as a designer, and loved to find and renovate old furniture. She hosted many community events in the craftsman style house on Mill Pond that she designed herself. She was interested in art, and encouraged many local artists. She had a life-long love of books and libraries, creating both a book club and a delivery system from the Eugene Public Library at her retirement home. Anne is survived by her brother Robert P. McInnes of Boynton Beach, Florida, four children – Beverly Splane, Jon Splane, Sue (Kichefski) Splane and Mike Splane, granddaughter Sarah Kichefski Younger and great-grandson Jadin Younger. She was preceded in death by her daughter Jean Splane in 2005, her previously divorced first husband, Donald E. Splane in 2008, and her second husband, Ronald J. Phillips, in 1988. She brought help, healing, laughter, learning and civility to many throughout her productive life, and will be widely missed. A memorial service will be held in Astoria at a later date. Remembrances in her name would be welcomed at Emily’s List, Planned Parenthood, or any charity of your choice.