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The Battalion • Texas A&M University Tuesday • June 19, 1979
Khomeini: just another shah
In February of 1979 the people of Iran
staged a revolution and ousted the shah.
Their new ruler is the Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, a man who vowed to set up a
Islamic republic in that country.
After four months in power, it looks like
the Iranian people have not done any bet
ter with their new head of state.
The secret revolutionary court of the
new government has ordered assassins to
Mexico to kill the shah.
The assassins also have orders to kill the
shah’s wife and mother, saying that during
the last days of the revolution the shah was
not capable of giving orders, so his wife
and mother ordered the execution of dis
sidents.
The shah’s wife has an out, though. If
she kills the shah, her death sentence will
be commuted.
It is hard to believe the government of a
country could publicly order hired killers
into another country to assassinate some
one.
Khomeini would probably get upset if
Mexico ordered assassins into his country
to kill a guest there.
Sheik Sadeq Khalkhali, head of the rev
olutionary court, said the whereabouts of
former Iranian Prime Minister Shahpour
Bakhtiar is known, and he will be executed
in good time.
Bakhtiar was the last government official
appointed by the shah. He was also an old
friend of Khomeini’s.
The shah and Bakhtiar are fortunate,
however. They are not dead yet.
Since Khomeini has come to power 300
Iranians have died at the hands of a secret
revolutionary court.
One reason the Iranians rebelled against
the shah was because of his secret police,
SAVAK. It imprisoned and executed hun
dreds of people opposed to the shah. Now
the revolutionary court of Khomeini is
doing the same.
The prime movers in the revolution to
oust the shah were the new middle class in
Iran. These people made their money,
mainly in oil, by dealing with the west.
They adopted western customs, western
dress and learned to enjoy what their
western money could buy. This new mid
dle class was opposed to the shah because
they felt he was restricting their ability to
make money because of the unfair compe
tition from his many industrial holdings.
Western customs are opposed to Kho
meini’s Islamic teachings. The new middle
class is having to give up its western cus
toms, its western dress and its western
money.
Iranian students in America had to fear
imprisonment from the shah when return
ing to their country for being enemies of
the shah. Now they face imprisonment for
being socialists or communists; enemies of
the Islamic republic.
All in all it would seem the Iranians
have traded one despot for another, but
four months is a short time. The Iranians
should hope Khomeini stops his blood
bath soon. If he does not, revolutionaries
will probably stir in Iran again.
—KEITH TAYLOR
Friends warn that time is running out
Kennedy’s coyness exhausting Democrats
By DAVID BRODER
WASHINGTON — If you want to know
how nervous the people in Jimmy Carter’s
camp are about the 1980 political plans of
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), con
sider this small but revealing incident.
Photostatic copies of a note from Kennedy
to Carter, inviting the President to speak
at the Oct. 190 dedication of the John F.
Kennedy Library in Boston, were being
passed around the White House.
The invitation (which Carter has neither
accepted nor declined) was being pres
ented to nervous Carterites as evidence
that Kennedy really is not as hostile to
their boss as press and public speculation
would suggest. If Kennedy intends to run
against the President, the insiders told
each other, he certainly would not invite
him to speak in late October at an event of
such importance to the Kennedy family
and its devoted followers.
Well, would he? Perhaps not. But the
custom of inviting the incumbent Presi
dent to dedicate the repository of a pre
decessor’s papers is so well established
that Lyndon B. Johnson asked Richard M.
Nixon to do the honors at the LBJ Library
in Austin — a thought that may chill any
reassurance Carter’s people derive from
the Kennedy letter.
But it is not just the workers in the
White House who are increasingly anxious
to know what Kennedy will do next year.
Their nervousness may give Kennedy a
certain private pleasure. What cannot
please him, however, is the growing impa
tience and aggravation of heavy-weight
political pros, who are frustated by the
senator’s coyness in answering their ques
tions about his intentions.
These are poeple with long-term influ
ence in the Democratic Party who have
been close to Kennedy and his family for
years. They share his outlook on major is
sues and look forward to the time that he
might be President.
Most of them would enlist willingly if
Kennedy announced his candidacy tomor
row. But if Kennedy stays out, they would
be for Carter against California Gov. Jerry
Brown and against anyone the Republi
cans nominate for President.
What vexes them greatly — as they
have begun to tell Kennedy — is his un
willingness to go beyond his ritualistic
statement that he “expects” Carter to be
nominated and “expects” to support him.
They do not understand Kennedy’s refusal
to take effective action to halt the unau
thorized “draft-Kennedy” movements
bubbling up around the country.
To these pros, it is unthinkable that
Kennedy would actually run for President
under the auspices of the mavericks who
are now doing the organizing on his be
half. But they have been looking in vain
for a clear signal from Kennedy, either tel
ling them to get in and run these efforts
themselves or to join Carter in combating
them.
Douglas Fraser, the president of the
United Auto Workers, in a statement de
signed to prod Kennedy into a decision,
told interviewers in Detroit he would have
no part in a draft-Kennedy movement un
less and until Kennedy makes his plans
clear.
Alexander Barkan, the director of the
AFL-CIO Committee on Political Educa
tion, has told friends he is ready to halt his
regular visits with Kennedy because “I
can’t get the answer I need.”
These are important allies — for 1980 or
1984 — Kennedy can toy with only up to a
point. Some of his friends think he has
aready trespassed on their tolerance of his
coyness.
A nationally prominent Democrat from
Massachussetts, after checking with other
long-time Kennedy lieutenants and find
ing that none of them had been signaled
whether Kennedy wanted them to “stay
loose” or not, paid a call recently on the
senator.
As he tells the story, he used the blunt
language appropriate to old friends in
warning Kennedy that he was running out
of time for cute tactics. “People who have
been with your family for years are taking
you at your word,” he told the senator,
“while a lot of guys who have no such
claim on your loyalty are going ahead like
you’be given them the wink to get things
started. If you turn around and run, you’re
going to make bleep-bleeps out of people
who don’t deserve that treatment from
you.”
Kennedy’s only reply, the man says, was
to reiterate what he has said publicly about
intending to support Carter. But in the
very next breath, Kennedy reportedly
asked his visitor: “Are you sure Carter’s
going to run? Do you think he can win?”
That kind of coyness is beginning to
exhaust the patience of Democrats outside
the White House as much as it worries the
Carter circle.
(c) 1979, The Washington Post
Company
IRS may play Godfather to collect ovedue debts
By DICK WEST
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The persistence of
bill collectors pitted against the obstinance
of deadbeats is the closest thing in nature
to an irresistible force meeting an immov
able body.
In the government, however, it’s a
mismatch.
As a debt collector. Uncle Sam has been
badly outdone by the debtors. Let us re
capitulate.
Last month, using all of their fingers and
most of their toes. Treasury accountants
calculated the national debt at $805.66 bil
lion. Which proves that Uncle Sam has no
peer as a borrower.
He is no slouch as a lender either.
Offsetting a portion of the $805 billion the
government owes the people is $140 bil
lion people owe the government.
This means that if Uncle Sam were si
multaneously to pay off his debts and col
lect what he has coming, he would be only
$665 billion in the hole.
But before you break out in anthems
and gladsome hallooing, be advised it isn’t
likely to happen.
The record, as developed by a Senate
appropriations subcommittee, indicates
that even if Uncle Sam could scrape up the
$805 billion he owes, he would fail to ex
tract anywhere near the $140 billion owed
to him.
In fiscal 1978, the last period for which
such figures are available, the government
wrote off $3.5 billion in bad debts. For the
most part, defaulters were not your basic
widows and orphans who would have lost
the farm had Uncle Sam foreclosed.
According to Sen. James Sasser,
D-Tenn., who recently complained in the
Congressional Record about the “simply
awful job” of debt collection, many of
those who defaulted were “prosperous and
affluent individuals who could well afford
to pay.”
Some of the debts deemed uncollecta
ble were owed by “persons who had suffi
cient credit to secure mortgages on vaca
tion sites or second homes,” he said.
If Sasser has his way, the advantage may
soon shift the other way.
He has prepared a Senate resolution
proposing that the Internal Revenue Serv
ice lend other agencies a hand in squeez
ing deadbeats.
Calling on the IRS for assistance in debt
collection is roughly equivalent to getting
help from the Godfather. Its flint-hearted
extraction techniques have been duly cel
ebrated in song and story.
Under Sasser’s plan, tax returns qualify
ing for rebates would be checked against
delinquent loans and accounts. No remit
tance, no refund.
Sasser said this pitiless process would
keep deadbeats from “making a monkey
out of the American taxpayer.”
Letters to the Editor
Editor:
As one who takes things in stride, I am to
the point now where I feel I must express
my opinions concerning the profes
sionalism of the Battalion staff. For the last
three years, I have sat back and watched
Battalion after Battalion contain articles
concerning the Corps of Cadets that have
been misconstrued and biased.
Each time I have overlooked the articles
as a learning experience for yet unknowl-
edgeable reporters that are still having
trouble interpreting the responses of their
subjects and data without subjectivity.
However, I cannot sit back and overlook
Maybe so, but to the more compassion
ate or squeamish citizens, it might seem
excessively harsh.
Cornering a deadbeat in a dark alley and
breaking his fingers is one thing; garnishe-
eing the poor devil’s tax rebate is quite
something else.
idle comments by your staff that reflect
blatant disrespect for the Corps of Cadets,
i.e. your article “Wake up! We have a con
test,” in which your staff implied that one
way to pass the time away is “To figure out
a use for C.T.s.”
If your staff has to rely on suggestive
comments aimed at a part of the student
body to get laughs, maybe you should con
sider my comment also aimed at a part of
the student body: “Let’s figure out uses for
The Battalion.”
Heck, I can think of a number myself. It
would be grgat to: 1) put in the bottom of a
kitty litter box, 2) wash windows, and
perhaps most importantly, 3) teach high
school journalism students how to write
with subjectivity.
Get the message. If I should desire to
read your paper in the future, I would like
to be able to do so without your biased
comments toward this institution or any
part of it.
—Michael Formby
Corps Scholastic Officer
Corps Staff
No temporaries
Editor:
I object to the insistence of certain offices
on campus who refuse to hire applicants in
need of summer employment on the basis
that the offices are seeking permanent
employees.
I have repeatedly telephoned the per
sonnel office after completing an applica
tion and aptitude test and have discovered
that a Clerk I position for which I qualify
— except for the permanent employee cri
terion — has been vacant for some time.
I am certain that I can be a competent
employee if given the chance.
I believe that I can do something other
shoveling fast food and that there are
others who feel the same.
—Paul Ortega
Corps uses for the Batt
STATE
Jury selected in Henley trial
District Judge Noah O. Kennedy convened his 148th District haulin
Court in Corpus Christi briefly Monday to announce selection ofi fexas
jury to try Elmer Wayne Henley a second time for his part in tin I anima
1973 Houston mass murders case. Final selection of the jurors wasJ metho
finalized Monday by Harris County District Attorney Carol Vanctl Dr.
and defense attorney Will Gray striking 22 names from a list whittled; fessor
down to 34 qualified jurors out of 106 questioned individually overaIticipat
two week period. Kennedy said court officials would begin notifying
the selected jurors Monday afternoon to arrive at 9 a.m. Tuesdayfoi
swearing-in, then they would be immediately secjuestered at a local
hotel while he conducts a pre-trial hearing on motions. The jud|
said the jurors would be locked up for the duration of the trial
expected to take up to three weeks.
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NATION
FBI agent confirms sabotage
An FBI special agent in Richmond, Va. has confirmed a report that
two Virginia men admitted sabotaging stored fuel at Virginia Electric
and Power Co.’s Surry nuclear power plant. The two men told
another FBI agent that they poured sodium hydroxide on uranium
fuel elements at the plant April 27, a Richmond agent said Sunday
William E. Kuykendall of Newport News, Va., a former employeeat
the Surry plant, told the Newport News Daily Press that he and
James Merrill Jr. of Hampton were responsible for the damage, esti
mated by Vepco to be about $1 million.
Uniroyal announces settlement
The United Rubber Workers Monday announced a contract set
tlement with Uniroyal Co. in Akron,Ohio where 8,500 workers have
been on strike since May 9. A URW spokeswoman would give no
details of the proposed three-year Uniroyal pact, but said it did ex
ceed an agreement reached Friday with B.F. Goodrich. The old
contract for the 55,000 URW members expired April 21, but rubber
workers continued on the job at three of the Big Four rubber pro
ducers. Uniroyal’s 8,500 URW employees, however, walked off their
jobs after the company refused to violate President Carter’s 7 percent
limit for yearly wage-benefit increases.
Boilermakers agree to contract
Construction boilermakers in four states, including Texas, will re
ceive a $1.95 an hour pay raise during the next 12 months undera
contract that prevented a strike threatened for Monday. Negotiations
were concluded in a lengthy bargaining session Friday and Saturday
in Houston, said A.E. Vincent, business manager for Local 79 whicli
includes the western half of Louisiana. The agreement covers con
struction boilermakers in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma
employed by companies belonging to the South Central Employers
Group.
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WORLD
Second new settlement started
On the West Bank, a bulldozer roared through an olive grove ad
corn patch Monday to cut a road to the second Israeli settlement
established in that occupied territory this month. The settlement
Karnei Shomron Bet, is situated about 10 miles east of the so-calM
green line that separates the West Bank of the Jordan from Israa
proper. The new move came after Israeli troops fired tear gas and
shots into the air to disperse West Bank Arabs protesting establisbf
ment of another Jewish settlement on expropriated Arab land near?
their town of Nablus. But unlike the controversial settlement of Elonj
Moreh set up two weeks ago, the new outpost is planned for an area!
said to be owned by the government.
Israeli planes strike guerrillas
Israeli warplanes hit Palestinian guerrilla bases in southern Lei
non Monday in the second such strike in 10 days, the Tel Aviv
tary command reported. The announcement said the airstrike camfl
at 7 p.m. (noon EDT) and “all planes returned safely. It gavenol
further details. The military command last reported an airstrike
June 8 on Palestinian guerrilla concentrations north of the Isn
frontier town of Metullah.
Plans to kill Shah not a bluff
The self-proclaimed president of Iran’s revolutionary court saidW
plans to execute the exiled shah are “not a bluff and a group of thret
“hit men” were in Mexico Monday to try to carry out his order. Shei
Sadeq Khalkhali said in an interview in Qom Sunday the three as® 1
sins were members of the Fedayeen-e Islam guerrilla organization'
which, he said, the shah tried to crush during his rule. The organic
tion’s revival was announced recently, with Khalkhali as its president
Khalkhali described the Fedayeen-e Islam as a group of pious»
devoted men in the service of our faith, though he refused to answiy
further queries about the mission.
J
The Battalion
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Address correspondence to Letters to the Editor, The
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use for reproduction of all news dispatche$fl|
Rights of reproduction of all other matter hell
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MEMBER
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Congress 1
Editor KatfS
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Sports Editor Sdf
City Editor Me!
Campus Editor ..KM
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Louie Arthur, Carolyn Blossef,?
Boggan
Photo Editor CMJ
Photographer L\wp
Opinions expressed in The Battalion are
those of the editor or of the writer of the
article and are not necessarily those of the
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