*
ICheney, Powell travel to front
WASHINGTON (AP) — The na
tion’s top military officials, heading
i for the war front, said Thursday
they would seek battlefield advice on
whether the time is right to begin a
I ground attack against Iraq’s power
ful army.
Defense Secretary Dick Cheney
said the administration is “not eager
to do something foolish but there
are a whole series of considerations.”
Cheney and Gen. Colin Powell,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, were to arrive in Saudi Arabia
on Friday for three days of dis
cussions with Gen. Norman
Schwarzkopf, commander of allied
forces, and other military leaders on
the next stage of the Persian Gulf
war.
“Our hope is that we can wrap it
up as soon as possible, to minimize
the loss of life on all sides,” the de
fense secretary told the House
Armed Services Committee before
he left. “The war can end tomorrow,
4> 4 Our hope is that we can wrap it up as
^soon as possible, to minimize the loss of
life on all sides. The war can end tomor-
" row, if Saddam Hussein will get out of
Kuwait. 5 y
Dick Cheney,
^ ^We are well aware of the responsibility Secretary of Defense
we bear for the conduct of the conflict. I
know that it weighs very heavily on the
mind of the president, certainly on Gen- '—
eral Powell and myself. ?? j ames Baker Mi, "
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Secretary of State
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if Saddam Hussein will get out of
Kuwait.”
Cheney and Powell are to return
Sunday to brief President Bush, who
will make the final decision on a
ground war.
As allied bombing and artillery at
tacks continued, the United States
held out the prospect of postwar re
construction aid for Iraq, partic
ularly if Saddam Hussein is gone.
Secretary of State James A. Baker
III said the Middle East deserves
“the same spirit of multilateral com
mitment to reconstruction and de
velopment” that the world’s devel
oped nations have shown in such
areas as Europe and Latin America.
However, Baker said, “There is
no suggestion on our part that the
rebuilding of Iraq could proceed, if
the current leadership of Iraq re
mained in power, to the same extent
and degree that it could otherwise.”
Testifying before the Senate For
eign Relations Committee, the secre
tary said that if Saddam remained in
power, “we might very well be
adopting different measures” re
garding economic embargoes and
weapons controls than if the Iraqi
president were gone.
Baker said, “The time of recons
truction and recovery should not be
the occasion for vengeful actions
against a nation forced to war by a
dictator’s ambition. The secure and
prosperous future everyone hopes
to see in the gulf must include Iraq.”
Across the Capitol, Cheney and
Powell explained their fact-finding
mission to Saudi Arabia to the
House Armed Services Committee.
“Our mission ... is specifically to
go spend time with General
Schwarzkopf, our commander, and
his staff, to review the overall course
of the war, to see what steps should
come next and to report back to the
See War/Page 10
Hobby calls increase
in tuition unlikely,
predicts income tax
%
The Battalion Staff
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby said
Thursday he expects a state income
tax to be established within the next
year to continue services presently
offered by the state.
Texas must raise its budget by
$4.25 billion to keep up its educa
tion, human services, transportation
and criminal justice programs,
Hobby said during a lecture titled
“The Problems Facing the New Ad
ministration in Austin” in Rudder
Forum.
“An income tax has to come,”
Hobby said. “Where else can 14 and
a quarter billion dollars come from?”
Although more than half the bud
get goes to education, the state can
not cut education expenditures be
cause it would decrease money
allotted for higher education by 20
percent, he said.
An increase in college tuition is
“unlikely, but not impossible,”
KARL STOLLEIS/The Battalion
Bill Hobby
Hobby said.
If cuts were made in elementary
and secondary school levels, the state
would have to increase each class size
from 22 to 35 students and lower
See Hobby/Page 10
KEVIN IVY/The Battalion
Sammi Constable, a sophomore general studies major, takes a
break from classes outside Wells Hall to get a head start on her
tan for Spring Break down at Padre Island. Temperatures should
reach the high 60s today and around 70 degrees on Saturday.
Expert stresses stability
of European economies
By Greg Mt.Joy
Of Jhe Battalion Staff
The United States should not fear
an economic “fortress Europe” in
1992 and instead realize the well-be
ing of the European Community is
directly tied to the United States, an
international investment expert said.
Dr. Stephen Cooney, director of
International Investment of the Na-
KARL STOLLEIS-The Battalion
Dr. Stephen Cooney
tional Association of Manufacturers,
said Americans often overlook the
economic side of European stability
and only consider the military side.
Cooney, speaking Tuesday to the
Student Conference on National Af
fairs (SCONA) in Rudder Theater,
said the focus is too often on NATO
and not on the stability of European
See Cooney/Page 10
Committee
highlights
Black history
By Twila Waddy
Of The Battalion Staff
Events meant to entertain as well
as to educate will highlight one
Texas A&M group’s activities during
Black History Month.
Denise Osei, adviser for the Com-
See COM A/Page 10
Board limits growth
of A&M, UT systems
By Mike Luman
Of The Battalion Staff
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board decided last
week to limit the growth of the Texas A&M and University of Texas
systems because the state’s two largest universities are “squeezing out
smaller institutions.”
Coordinating Board Chairman Larry Jenkins said unorganized
growth of the two systems also compromises quality of education at the
A&M and UT main campuses.
Adding satellite institutions to the systems in a “helter skelter” way
diffuses money that otherwise would go to main campuses and risks the
prestige of the universities, he said.
“You can’t halt growth, so you had better manage it,” Jenkins said of
the Coordinating Board’s goal. “Growth really should be done by plan,
not happenstance.”
Acting on this policy, Coordinating Board members opposed the
merger or A&M and West Texas State University last September.
The merger was approved last summer by the state Legislature, the
WTSU Board of Regents and the Texas A&M University System Board
of Regents.
William A. McKenzie, chairman of the BoapdC said growth of
Systems/Page 10
Specialist offers war views through Israelis’ eyes
Editor’s Note: The Battalion’s two-part
series on the Arab-Israeli perspective in the
Persian Gulf war today focuses on Israel
and its perceptions on the war as linked to
the Palestinian question.
By Julie Myers
Of The Battalion Staff
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein tried to
use Israel’s own military policy to shatter
the U.N. coalition, but his tactics have not
succeeded, says a Texas A&M piofessor of
political science and an expert on Middle
Eastern security issues.
Dr. Alex Mintz, an Israeli, says he does
not like to present personal views, but pre
fers interpreting events as Israelis would
view them.
Since the establishment of Israel in 1948,
Mintz says Israel’s national security doc
trine has been based on the following as
sumptions:
• Deterrence by denial. By using pre
emptive strikes, commando raids or other
military operations, Israel will reduce, deny
or eliminate any threats to its national secu
rity;
The Divided Gulf
□ The Arab perspective
■The Israeli perspective
• Deterrence by punishment, which
means that any attack on Israel will result in
massive retaliations against the enemy;
• Self-reliance. Israel will not allow
other countries to fight for it.
Knowing Israel’s military doctrine, Hus
sein attacked Israel with Scud missiles, ex
pecting the Jewish state to follow its doc
trine of massive retaliation.
Mintz says the Israelis changed their
strategy during the first week of the war
and outsmarted Hussein by not counterat
tacking. He says Israel is suddenly the good
guy of the Middle East.
Mintz calls this a paradox of power.
“In certain situations, less power may ac
tually lead to more political and military
gains,” Mintz says. “Israel was able to gain
more politically and economically by resist
ing than by retaliating.”
Another paradox is the failure of Hus
sein to effectively link the Palestinian issue
and Iraqi situation.
“At least in the short run, Hussein has
not helped the Palestinians, but actually
damaged their cause,” Mintz says.
Mintz says the world now is more aware
that Israel has a security problem.
The attacks also encouraged sympathy
for the Israelis and made the Palestinians
enemies of the coalition forces.
“Hawks” — conservative Israelis who
support the occupation of the West Bank —
also have received increased support, Mintz
says.
Support for the Palestinians, however,
has dwindled.
Oil rich countries, like Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, which transferred millions of dol
lars to the Palestinians, also have stopped
supporting the pro-Hussein Palestinians,
Mintz says. This considerably reduces the
standard of living in the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip.
In addition, thousands of Palestinians
left Kuwait when it was invaded by Iraq and
escaped to the West Bank and Gaza Strip,
Mintz says.
These two areas are at the center of the
Palestinian conflict.
From 1948 to 1967, the West Bank and
East Jerusalem belonged to Jordan, and
Egypt controlled the Gaza Strip. These
countries had the opportunity to establish a
Palestinian state with these lands.
Mintz says political rivalry and efforts to
exploit the Palestinian issue for sympathy
resulted in the failure of Arabs to officially
designate these areas as a homeland.
See Israel/Page 10
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