M rs . F ra n c e s S c h o e n -N e w s p a p e r
U n i v e r s i t y o f O re g o n L ib r
E u g e n e , O re g o n
January 15:
M artin Luther King, Jr.'s
Date of Birth
The Observer salutes his
dream of a better nation
97403
I he Portland Observer honors
M a rtin L u th e r K in g, Jr. w ith this
special annual edition...
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P O R T L fl
ERVER
Volume XXI Number 3
25<P
January 15,1991
"The Eyes and Ears o f The Community"
If Diplomacy Fails
On Duty in the
Persian Gulf
Nearly a mill¡ion Iraqi and allied troops are poised for battle, and if war comes to the
Arabian desert it will be far swifter and deadlier than anything either side has ever seen
"Whose War Was It
Anyhow?" Kuwait,
saudi Arabia, Iraq or
America?
BY A. LEE HENDERSON
PAGE 2
Business Profile
Billy flowers
PAGE 4
Liz Narvaez Speaks
Out Against Drugs
PAGE 5
lomats eager to negotiate a last-minute
compromise with Iraq. As the United
(U.S. News, January 14,1991)
N ations’ January 15 deadline for an
efore finally arranging to meet
Iraqi withdrawal from K uw ait draws
with Iraqi Foreign Minister
near, the spotlight is clearly on diplo
Tariq Aziz in Geneva on Janu
macy - for now.
ary 9, Secretary o f State James Baker The E uropeans’ enthusiasm for a
diplomatic way out was sum m ed up by
had found him self almost trampled by
Jacques Poos, Luxem bourg’s foreign
a stampede o f W estern and Arab dip
SHOWDOWN IN THE GULF
Perspectives
Down With Gloom
& Doom, Forward
With History page 5
Seperate and
Unequal
B
page 6
No war In The Middle East
Section B
Martin Luther King,
Jr. Special
INDEX
News
Religion
News
News
News
Classifieds
Bids/Sub Bids
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Section B
Martin Luther King Jr.
Special
B 1-10
Next Week
More on the Persian
Gulf Crisis
4 • .4 4 ♦
A*;»» ‘
m inister and the current president of
the European Com m unity’s Council o f
M inisters, which also has sought a
meeting with Iraqi officials this week.
“ W e are not heading for a w ar,” said
Poos, “ because I have a feeling Sad
dam Hussein will pull out o f Kuwait at
the last minute.
W hether the Iraqi leader stands
BY: BETTE LEE_________________
1\T° in
T \|“ B rin g
Middle East,”
the T ro o p s
H om e,” and “ Support GI Resistance”
were the loud and clear messages re
peated over and over again by the speak
ers at a forum sponsored by the C oali
tion against U.S. Military Intervention
in the Middle East last Tuesday eve
ning on the present crisis in the Persian
Gulf.
Hubert Evans, an Afro-American
and spokesperson for the Coalition, told
a crow d of over 200 at the Northwest
Service Center that over 32% of the
* Al»,* » »« » ♦ t • *-* »
armed forces are black men and women.
“ They are over there in the desert of
Saudi Arabia, and they need to know
that there are Afro-Americans here who
want to support them and bring them
hom e,” he said.
Evans, a 10-year veteran in the
army, has a brother who was in Viet
nam for 4 years, and another stationed
in the air force in Japan who may be
transferred to Saudi Arabia in the fu
ture.
Asked why he opposes war in the
Middle East, Evans observed that while
black soldiers will be called to fight
and die if w ar breaks out in the Persian
Gulf, black people in American cities
arc being destroyed by poverty, crime,
drugs, poor quality of education, and a
high death rate for black babies. “ The
mainstream society in this country
doesn’t care about what happens to us,
so what are we fighting and dying for
over there? We are being destroyed at
both ends,” he said. He called on the
pre-dom inantly white audience to work
together with the black community to
improve the social and economic con
ditions for Afro-Americans even after
the crisis in the Middle East is over.
Evans is presently a student major
ing in criminal justice at Cascade
Community College. He hopes to or
ganize Afro-Americans who want to
get involved in opposition to war in the
Middle East. He announced that the
Coalition is organizing a rally for Peace
in the Middle East on Saturday, Janu
ary 12, at the Pioneer Courthouse Square
>* ■*
at 12 noon, and urged people to partici
pate.
O ther speakers at the forum in
cluded Michael Job, a Vietnam Veteran
who visited Iraq and Jordan in late
October, Masoud Kheirabadi, A ssis
tant Professor o f History and Religious
Studies at Lewis and Clark College,
Gretchen Kafoury, City Commissioner,
and Mary Siebertson, a mother whose
son is stationed in Saudi Arabia.
Michael Job, who was the key
speaker at the forum, was in Vietnam in
1960-70, and is presently a member of
the Veterans Peace Action Teams. He
presented the audience with an eye
witness report o f his trip to Jordan and
Iraq in October, including a slide show
o f his visits to a refugee camp in Jor
dan, hospitals, schools, government
offices, homes, mosques, and holy
shrines. As a slide of Bagdad flashed
across the screen. Job commented on
its beauty and history. “ Imagine if a
bomb were dropped on Bagdad, m il
lions of people would get killed. The
whole city with its beautiful mosques
and holy shrines hundreds o f years old
would be completely destroyed. T hat’s
like dropping a bomb on a major city in
the U.S. like Portland, or San Fran
cisco, or New Y ork.”
“ Peter Jennings of ABC reported
that there were no war preparations
going on amongst the people of Bagdad;
that was my observation too. The Iraqis
arc people like us. They want a good
education for their children, decent jobs,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
pat or plays one o f the many cards in
his hand - trying to prolong a diplo
matic dialogue, for example, or an
nouncing a partial withdrawal from
K uw ait - will depend less on the flurry
o f 11th-hour diplomacy than on his
appraisal o f the military threat he
faces.
That, in turn, will be determined
not simply by the tanks, planes and
artillery pieces arrayed against him,
or by their state o f readiness, but by
his calculation o f whether the United
States is ready to ask its sons and
daughters to die to liberate Kuwait
and teach a lesson to any other would-
be disturbers o f the post-cold-war
peace. Bush ’sdecision tooffer a ‘ ‘last
chance” for peace, and NATO’s
decision to send three squadrons of
obsolete fighters to Turkey, suppos
edly to demonstrate W estern resolve,
may only have reinforced Hussein’s
conviction that the allied military
buildup is nothing but a cold-war-
style bluff. Moreover, M ideast intel
ligence sources believe the Iraqi leader
thinks that even if the United States
does attack he can inflict enough
casualties in the first few days to turn
the American public against the war
and force a negotiated settlem ent
Some American strategists, also
mindful o f public opinion, hope the
furious aerial bombardment that would
precede a ground attack might be
enough to break Iraq’s will. The top
American commanders-most of whom
happen to be Army generals-are pre
pared, however, to use both air and
ground forces to ensure a swift vic
tory. But the unique challenges and
uncertainties of desert war-challenges
the U.S. Army has not faced since
1942 in North Africa-complicate any
simple calculations o f when America
w ill be ready to fight, the chances of
success or the price o f victory.
USAF Seargent Andrew Evans
We salute you and your
squadron. Our prayers will
be with you for a safe r turn
home.
The Portland Observer
Staff and Management
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------■
Do you have loved
ones in the Persian
Gulf?
The Portland Ob
server will be high
lighting events as
they occur in the
Middle East. If you
have loved ones who
are stationed in the
Gulf please let us
know, and send
photo if available.
Young Supporter Attends
New Governor's Reception
Teri Bowles with Oregon's new Governor, Barbara Roberts
O regon's first woman G over
nor, Barbara Roberts, is congratulated
by Teri Bowles, a Portland teenager, at
the People's Inauguration on January 14
at the State Capitol Building in Salem.
"Governor Roberts is an ex
cellent role model for all Oregonians,
and particularly for women," Teri said.
"I am especially impressed by the fact
that she earned her college degree while
working, and being a single parent of a
handicapped child. These arc circum-
stances that common people can relate
to in their everyday lives.” Bowles
said. "I think Barbara Roberts will be a
great G overnor because of her back
ground. She will be concerned about
the welfare of all o f us, not just the rich
and privelcged."
Teri, 15, a sophomore at St.
Mary's Academy in downtown Port
land, was escorted to the Governor's
inaugural reception by her uncle, Jimmy
Bang-Bang W alker.