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Editorials
Monday, August 21, 2000Saddam continues
to frustrate ClintonThe issue: Saddam Hussein remains in power 10 years after Iraq invaded Kuwait.
ONE subject President Clinton didn't mention in his valedictory speech to the Democratic National Convention was Iraq. That's hardly surprising. U.S. policy on Iraq during the Clinton administration has been anything but a triumph.
Aug. 2 was the 10th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Diplomatic reporter George Gedda of the Associated Press wrote that State Department briefers talked about Iraq for an hour that day but never mentioned the administration's thinking about the status of Iraq's military arsenal since late 1998. That was the time Saddam Hussein banished the United Nations inspectors who sought to ensure that Iraq was destroying its chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.
"The administration's rationale seems to be that public discussion of this issue could produce demands for a tough response," Gedda observed.
It wasn't always like that. After the U.N. inspectors were expelled, Clinton declared: "It is essential that those inspectors go back to work. The safety of the children of the world depends upon it."
When Iraq refused to allow the inspectors' return, the United States and Britain bombed military sites in Iraq for three days to punish Saddam. That may have relieved frustration temporarily but it didn't succeed in forcing Iraq to let the inspectors go back.
It's now been 20 months since the inspectors were expelled. A revised inspection program should be ready in a few weeks, but the Iraqis are saying they won't cooperate with that either.
Ten years after the invasion of Kuwait, despite the overwhelming victory of the U.S.-led allies in Operation Desert Storm, Saddam remains in power, with only weak opposition. The multi-nation alliance that drove Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait under the leadership of President George Bush has been reduced to the United States and Britain. There is no international consensus on resuming military attacks on Iraq although the U.S. and Britain continue to enforce "no-fly" zones in the north and south.
At the U.N. Security Council, three of the five permanent members -- France, Russia and China -- are sympathetic to Iraq's demand for an end to trade sanctions. All three countries abstained on a vote to replace the previous U.N. weapons inspection system with a new program known as UNMOVIC.
Experts are divided as to whether Iraq has resumed making weapons of mass destruction with the U.N. inspectors out of the country.
What is clear is that Saddam stands a good chance of surviving the Clinton administration --in a stronger position than when Clinton took office -- and will probably continue to be a headache for the next president.
SHOPO fiasco
IF any other organization had failed to collect 800 ballots out of a total of 1,900 in an election, we'd say call the cops. But in this case they are the cops.
This concerns the voting by members of the Oahu chapter of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers (SHOPO) on the endorsement of a candidate for mayor of Honolulu.
At last report, SHOPO had decided not to make an endorsement, although Alex Garcia, chairman of the Oahu chapter, said the board wanted to take a few days to review the situation further.
One member of the SHOPO board, who requested that he not be identified, said the board decided not to endorse any candidate to avoid endorsing former City Councilman Mufi Hannemann, who received the majority of votes.
On Wednesday, the source said, the board decided to endorse Hannemann. On Thursday an emergency meeting was called without notifying all board members, he said. It was at that meeting that the board reversed itself and decided against making an endorsement.
Hannemann got 591 votes, Mayor Jeremy Harris 315, Frank Fasi 190 and Lillian Hong 30. Hannemann took those numbers as evidence that he had the support of the rank and file, regardless of the board's decision. The Harris people are wondering about the other 800 ballots, which could well have turned the vote in their candidate's favor.
Garcia commented, "I understand why Mufi is upset, and I don't blame him at all." Indeed.
Hannemann had previously received endorsements of other public employee unions -- HGEA and UPW -- plus the bus drivers. Trailing in the polls, he could have gotten a needed boost from a SHOPO endorsement. The firefighters are the only public employee union to endorse Harris but he is supported by several unions in the private sector.
Garcia explained the failure to collect the 800 ballots by saying SHOPO couldn't track down the officers due to vacations, shift changes and scheduling problems. Why SHOPO was unable to deal with such predictable problems wasn't clear.
Honolulu residents have high expectations about the performance of police officers in enforcing the law. Fortunately the police seem to do a better job of law enforcement than of conducting elections.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
