Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!tamsun.tamu.edu!mtecv2!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Newsgroups: usa-today.issues,americast.usa-today.issues Subject: issues Tue, Sep 1 1992 Message-ID: Date: 1 Sep 92 08:40:11 GMT Organization: American Cybercasting Lines: 127 Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com 09-01 0000 DECISIONLINE: Issues & Debate USA TODAY Update Sept. 1, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network Here are some of the issues and topics being debated across the nation Tuesday morning in USA TODAY: Somalia, Hurricanes, Iraq. TODAY'S DEBATE - SOMALIA: USA TODAY'S OPINION: If help doesn't come quickly, Somalia will become a land of dry bones. Before the day ends, 2,000 people could die in a land where one-fourth of all children under five have already perished. Two million more or one-third of the population could die if food doesn't arrive soon. Speed is crucial. Yet nations seem to be marching in slow motion, as if no emergency existed. Reaction to the world's greatest humanitarian disaster has been "a year and a half late," says Mohamed Sahnoun, U.N. special envoy to Somalia. And it has been been inadequate, since without military security, relief shipments can't reach the starving masses. Somalia is torn by famine and a civil war. ... it is without government or police. About half the more than 100,000 tons of food flown in this year has been stolen .... Last Friday the United Nations finally acknowledged that reality, voting to send 3,000 armed personnel to Somalia to guard shipments. But again it was too little, too late. ... While nations dawdle, Somali bandits prosper and children perish. Last week, gunmen stole 300 tons of food from the USA's first shipment that arrived in Mogadishu, the Somali capital and two of the 50 U.N. unarmed observers in Somalia were shot. ... U.N. Secretary Gen. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has revised a plan for a rapid deployment volunteer force. The soldiers would be on emergency call to maintain cease-fires, as in Bosnia. Or to head off internal warfare as in Somalia. ... Moving forward with military force is risky. But standing still is more risky to the millions who are in danger of starving. OTHER VIEW: PETER B. GEMMA JR., an Arlington, Va., writer and former contributing editor to Conservative Digest: The director of Britain's largest private charity operating in Somalia just blew the whistle: "The U.N. is in shambles," he said. "If you look at Somalia, what you see is an ill-equipped, ill-informed and uncoordinated response." Keen observers of the United Nations' actions ... have said it for years: Under the guise of peace and humanitarianism, U.N. bureaucrats have been wasting U.S. tax dollars by the boatload. ... Live Aid rockers produced more efficient relief for the beleaguered African continent ... than the entire U.N. welfare apparatus could cough up. Now, ominously, the United Nations not only is demanding more of our tax dollars to fund its futile efforts at famine relief, but it also wants our sons and daughters to serve under its flag in a world army. ... Relinquishing our sovereignty over U.S. military forces to the U.N. bunglers only adds injury to the insult of wasting our tax dollars on them. The USA ... (has) proudly been a positive factor in just about every incident of injustice, natural disaster, war and famine. ... Uncle Sam has been a sucker for U.N. scams for too long. Our responsibility should be to stimulate private aid and encourage practical regional and other diplomatic efforts for peace. VOICES ACROSS THE NATION ON HURRICANES' EFFECT ON HOME LOCATION: AUGUSTA, Ga., Rodney Minggia, 36, basketball coach: Things like this - climate and weather conditions - do play a part in such decisions. What happened down there would be a major factor with me - I'd be more hesitant to move to that area. EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I., Ann Hatzpanian, 65, retired: I live close enough to the coast, but I think I would look for something more inland because there's always that possibility. I don't usually concern myself with it. I don't consider moving out of this area, but in an area like Florida, I would think about moving inland. TUCSON, Ariz., Mark Irvin, 36, real estate broker: No, it wouldn't bother me at all. Disasters like hurricanes are just a normal part of living in those areas. I would expect that type of a disaster to be a possibility so it wouldn't keep me from living in a coastal area. It's like people living in the Midwest can expect tornadoes. MELBOURNE, Fla., Nancy Mellor, 32, recycling coordinator: No, it doesn't keep me from living on the coast. But if I knew a strong hurricane was coming, I would pack up my two cats, my husband and drive to safety. I respect Mother Nature. It can cause terrible damage. You've just got to be prepared. MARBLEHEAD, Mass., Jeanne Blattner, 42, medical sales rep.: I moved out here from the Midwest a year and a half ago, and I wouldn't trade living up here for anything in the world. Being around the ocean is therapeutic and renders great peace of mind. Even with the periodic storms we have, it's well worth it. TOPIC: Abdul Amir Anbari, outgoing Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, was interviewed by USA TODAY's Lee Michael. DOES IRAQ PLAN TO ACCEPT THE NO-FLY ZONE INDEFINITELY? No, but we don't want be trapped into a confrontation while we are not as highly prepared as the other side. So while we consider it something of an aggression, the timing and form of reacting to it would be decided by the Iraq government. WILL IRAQ CHALLENGE, PERHAPS USING IRAQI AIRPLANES OR HELICOPTERS? I believe everyone who knows anything about relative strength of various air forces in the world knows that the Iraqi air force could not be a match for American and U.K. and France's air force. COULD THEY EXPEL THE U.N. GUARDS OR HUMANITARIAN WORKERS FROM IRAQ? I don't think that would be enough, but that could be one measure. Issues & Debate Editor: Kate Coughlin. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM