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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 3, 1997)
World Wednesday • December! Reno rejects counsel for investigation WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney Gen eral Janet Reno declined Tuesday to seek an independent counsel investigation of telephone fund raising by President Clin ton and Vice President A1 Gore, saying their actions were outside the scope of federal election law. Under strong pressures for months from all sides, Reno said, “The decision was mine and it was based on the facts and the law, not pressure, politics or any other factor.” Republicans criticized her decision as wrong and perhaps affected by loyalty to the White House. Democrats called it cor rect and courageous. She also rejected a special prosecu tor to investigate former Energy Secre tary Hazel O’Leary, concluding that O’Leary was unaware that a contribu tion to one of her favorite charities may have been solicited in return for her meeting Chinese businessmen. In her explanation, Reno said Clinton’s fund-raising calls in October 1994 were made from theWhite House private quar ters, not the president’s offices. “This places the calls outside the scope... of (fed eral election law) which applies only to so licitations for hard-money contributions occurring within the federal workplace,” she wrote. Reno told a news conference that her campaign finance task force continues to investigate Democratic fund-raising prac tices that — without Gore’s knowledge — diverted some of the money he raised into questionable accounts. And she said the department would continue investigating others involved in the O’Leary incident. And she promised to seek a special counsel if these or other continuing in quiries implicate Clinton or other top officials. Rejecting a dissent from FBI Director Louis J. Freeh, Reno went right to the dead line before making her long-expected de cisions. “He and I may not always agree, but the decision is mine,” Reno said. Republicans, who had predicted Reno’s refusal, denounced her as viewing the campaign finance affair and the law too narrowly. Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chairs a House committee investigating campaign funding, said he would call Reno and Freeh to a hearing Tuesday. Senate GOP leader Trent Lott called Reno’s decision a tragedy. Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, said she had acted courageously despite “tremendous political pressure” from Republicans. The telephone fund-raising inquiry was pushed into the spotlight by demands from Republicans on Capitol Hill, news paper disclosures and the timetables set by the independent counsel law. It led to questioning of Clinton and Gore by Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents. Russia’s nonnuclear forces in dire sta WASHINGTON (AP) — Desertions from Russia’s military are rising, weapons purchas es are plummeting and few, if any, Army units are ready for combat. The military’s state of dis repair threatens the political and economic stability of Russia itself, according to a con gressional study. “The armed forces are becoming more politicized. Many U.S. and Russian special ists warn of a military calamity - implosion, mutiny or coup - if present trends contin ue,” said a report written by Stuart Gold man, a specialist on Russian affairs for the Congressional Research Service. “Many experts assert that the ‘Russian mil itary threat’ is now more to Russia than from Russia,” said the study, published by the group that conducts research and major studies for lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This means that compared to the Cold War era, “the military threat to the West is greatly re duced,” and the time the West would have to be warned of any crisis is greatly increased, the study said. It dealt only with Russia’s conven tional, or nonnuclear, military forces. Since 1986, the study said, the size of the Russian force has become a shadow of what it was under the former Soviet Union: —Troop numbers have fallen by over 70 percent, from 4.3 million to 1.27 million. —The number of tanks and other armored vehicles has been cut by two-thirds, from 53,200 to 17,650. —Artillery, combat aircraft and surface war ships have been reduced by one-third. That translates to artillery pieces dropping from 29,250 to 19,150; aircraft from 7,360 to 5,160; and warships from 269 to 166. —^Weapons purchases have been “plum meting for over a decade,” and in some key cat egories—such as in aircraft, tanks and surface warships — purchases have virtually stopped. The ability of the Russian military has also declined, and “few, if any, of Russia’s army di visions are combat-ready,” the report said. Training, exercises and far-flung naval de ployments have been sharply reduced. Morale is low, primarily because troops haven’t re ceived their salaries. “Draft evasion and desertion are rising. Half the officers say they plan to quit the military in 1998,” the report said. The study estimates it would take at least 10 years for Russia to rebuild its nonnuclear forces. The report also points out that since 1986, the U.S. military force has shrunk overall by 34 percent, from 2.1 million troops to 1.4 million. But the Pentagon has been able, with backing from Congress, to provide the money to keep that smaller force at a fairly high level of com bat-readiness. The study coincides with many reports emerging from Russia, indicating that soldiers have been ill-fed and lack proper pay and equipment. In May, The Washington Post re ported that rations were in such short supply that there had been instances of recruits starv ing to death and that “severe malnutrition is common.” Brutal hazing leads to hundreds of deaths annually, the Post reported. Other reports say the Russian military has had difficulty even tracking its number of dead from the 1994-96 war in Chechnya. While the government says about 3,000 sol diers were killed in the tiny Muslim repub lic, soldiers’ mothers groups put the num ber at 5,000 to 10,000. The congressional report concluded that if the budget crunch for the Russian military continues for two or three more years, "They must lead either to more drastic force reduc tions or to military collapse,” the study said. The report found that President Boris Yeltsin’s government has “taken better care of internal security forces than the Army,” appar ently because it believes it faces more of an in ternal, rather than an external, security threat. Yeltsin has declared military reform a top priority. Proposals have been made to make even more cuts in the size of the Anny, consol idate the military command structures and services, pay all salaries in arrears and move to ward an all-volunteer force. The congressional study argues that re sistance still exists within the military and from opposition political parties, bringing into question whether the reforms will be accomplished. Russia’s n%| The size of the Russian military force is but a shadow of what it was under the former Soviet Union. 1986 1996 53,200 7,650 Tanks .36* 5,160 Combat aircraft Source: Cc I Res Surtes, wars'I :ati| :fOi Kyoto talks yield slow progress KYOTO, Japan (AP) — Negotiators made slow progress on key issues of a global warming agreement Tuesday, but the United States appeared stymied in its efforts to extend new limits on fuel emissions to the Third World. A U.S. Senate delegation flew into Japan, and its leader warned that any treaty deal excluding devel oping nations would be rejected by the Senate. “It won’t even be close,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican. The U.S.-Third World impasse troubled other ne gotiators. “This seems to be one of the major problems that could eventually... break the whole process,” said Jo- ergen Hennihgsen, the environment chief of the Eu ropean Union, which offered to mediate the dispute. Tuesday was the second of 10 scheduled days of negotiations, involving 1,500 delegates from 150 countries, to produce a protocol that would strength en the 1992 Climate Change Treaty. Delegates hope to mandate cutbacks in industrial nations’ emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases linked to the threat of global warming. These “greenhouse” emissions, mosdy products of fossil fuel burning, allow sunlight through but trap the heat that Earth emits back toward space. An authoritative U.N. scientific study says contin ued emissions at current rates could raise average global temperatures by as much as 6 degrees Fahren heit by 2100. That would disrupt global climate pat terns unpredictably, and raise sea levels by as much as 3 feet as glaciers melt and oceans expand from heat. In the 1992 treaty, 34 industrial nations set a vol untary goal of lowering their greenhouse gas emis sions backto 1990 levels by2000. In 1995, as it became clear almost all would fail to do so, they agreed they had to set new, legally binding goals. The cutbacks could be achieved by phasing out coal-fired power plants, developing more fuel-effi cient automobiles and taking other energy-saving steps. The European Union has proposed 15 percent re ductions below 1990 emissions levels by 2010. But the United States proposed only “stabilization” — at 1990 levels—by 2012, a position that has drawn shaip crit icism from environmentalists. In Monday’s opening discussions, the American delegation shifted its ground to support “differentia tion” — varying the targets for different countries, rather than setting a uniform rate of reduction across the board. And by Tuesday, it was clear the U.S. move had given the idea some powerful momentum. “Differentiation as a concept is widely accepted,” the Argentine chairman of the closed-door talks, Raul Estrada, told reporters. Other negotiators, meanwhile, reported some progress in working out timetables for emissions cuts. Washington’s negotiators said they had no specif ic range of differentiated targets in mind yet—except that they want to retain the back-to-1990 level for the United States in any “differentiation” scheme. Estrada was pressing the Americans for a more flexible position, accepting deeper cuts below 1990 levels, a knowledgeable source said. And cuts of only 2 or 3 percent below 1990 would be insufficient, he said. The U.S. team said it has not yet settled on criteria for determining “differentiated” targets. Japan has proposed a sliding scale of tar gets based on such fac tors as a country’s per-capita emissions, which would benefit an energy-efficient country like Japan. U.S., Britain donate $6ini| to new fund for Nazis’ wM cK-1 LONDON (AP) —The United States and Britain can nearly $6 million Tuesday for a new fund for \ ictimsof'-^L cution — and urged other nations to help prevent Holocsj^ 1 vivors from dying in poverty. l|™dR, Argentina and Luxembourg indicated they will contribute:^ I countries attending the opening day oi a U nation confeffltfRj ed Nazi gold remained silent. The United States, Britain and France have asked tliebm; 0 p ( tied to the remaining 5.5 tons of gold under their control—stolt Nazis in their conquest of much of Europe in \\ < >rldWarfl— the bullion to the international fund. dll ]n But France itself has not yet decided whether to contribute! l q i said a French delegation official, speaking anonymously. FraiL^ sion will be announced Thursday, he said. J£ j rt “I would be very upset and surprised it the I rencluiidnoippm lead of the British and the United Stat l Lord Janner, theSp^j makerwho persuaded the government to host theconferem u j} f j be unworthy ofthe great French tradition. I believe every'cout 3ar contribute.” 1 The head of the American delegation, Undersecretary of E. Eizenstat, said the United States will make an initialcontribti f J million to the Nazi Persecution Relief Fund and hopestooffe ; tei: l million over three years, if Congress approves. j] f The United States decided (ogive the money, hesaid/taifcvl own actions and inactions after the war and becauseoftheun. jgp, of those Holocaust survivors who have received little ornoctcLy tion in the intervening years.” 1( j f , I Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Britain will give SI ’ 10 to the fund. lC j^ “We must avoid the second tragedy oF those who survived e _j J being left to live out their days in poverty,” he said. “Weaieheit|jl r for compensation for a sulTering that can never lH'expiated.\V. n gj . to ensure we do not forget the most awful memory known to It oJ BIG MEAL DEAL Any hamburger or chicken sandwich, super sundae, and large drink WmSiMmsim wllmillmilwlw RATED BEST TASTING PIZZA BY THE BATTALION! WEDNESDAY AGGIE SPECIAL Any 2 PIZZAS for *9.90 FINE SOUTHWESTERN FOOD Dine-ln Only. 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