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Victory I United States becomes savior, President Bush gets re-elected Saturday, the United States began the ground war in earnest, and early indications are that this is the greatest U.S. military victory since the Battle of Inchon in the Korean War. Whether or not one supported the Gulf War to begin with, we should all be happy that the offensive has been such an outstanding success, with low Allied casualties and a rapid advance into Kuwait. Going on these early successes, Kuwait will be freed within the week. This is not overly optimistic. Americans should now turn their attention from the justification of the war to what we are going to do after we get it over with. Here are some long- and short-range consequences: President Bush, like it or not, is a wartime hero. He will be ' president for another four years. The Democrats could run Mother . Theresa against him in '92 and still lose 49 states. Kuwait will move toward democracy, as the Allies will not want to be seen as putting a monarchy back on the throne. Israel has new credibility by not responding to dozens of Scud attacks. Israel can look forward to American rewards for years to come, no matter how bad they treat the Palestinians. Yassir Arafat is totally discredited for his embracing of the big loser, Saddam Hussein. His early peace initiatives will be for- , gotten. Once again the Palestinians are the big losers. The United States will enjoy its best relations ever with most I Middle Eastern countries. Ironically, a war against an Arab country improved relations with the Gulf States, Egypt, Syria and even | Iran. Saddam Hussein, if he survives, will have all the prestige of Idi Amin. He probably will not be running Iraq six months from now. An all-volunteer military has been proven extremely competent. Look for increased calls for the disbanding of the Selective Service network that has done nothing but waste money since ViMrmm IVUlUlllt These predictions are based on the assumption of a quick American victory, which is rapidly becoming a reality. It is not war-mongering to be glad America is winning this conflict. If the above predictions do hold true, anti-war protesters will lose all remaining credibility. The Gamecock News: 777-7726 Advertising: 777-4249 Kathy Blackwell robyn Thompson Editor in Chief Managing Editor Chris Silvestri David Bowden Copy Desk Chief Viewpoint Editor Lucy Soto Kathy Heberger News Editor Carolina Life Editor Steve Johnson Renee Meyer Sports Editor Photography Editor Aaron Sheinin Tige Watts Assistant News Editor Assistant News Editor Oct a via Wright Patrick Villegas Assistant Carolina Life Editor Assistant Sports Editor Jennifer Jablonski Julie Bouchillon Assistant Copy Desk Chief Assistant Photography Editor Eric Glenn Wayne Williams Darkroom Lab Technician Comics Editor Ed Bonza Erik Collins Director of Student Media Faculty Adviser Laura S. Day Ray Burgos Production Manager Assistant Production Manager Renee Gibson Kyle Berry Advertising Manager Assistant Advertising Manager Carolyn Griffin Business Manager Letters Policy: The Gamecock will try to print all letters received. Letters should be, at maximum, 250 to 300 words long. The writer must include full name, professional title if a USC employee or South Carolina resident, or year and major if a student. An address and phone number are required with all letters sent. The Gamecock reserves the right to edit letters for style, possible libel or in case of space limitations. The newspaper will not withhold names under any circumstance. I [ mok...v i pKe-rm \ W<mwi 5Af, 6m Puerto Ri Watch out! The flag you're flying become obsolete. No, those wavi aren't going anywhere, but the star* could be. What, who's seceding from the 1 ask. No one. It's even more bizarn years, with a great round number lik and they want to add another. President Bush recently made the ing announcement that he wants Pue become the 51st state. rsui wan, oeiore everyone sians that I hate Puerto Ricans, please re One of my close friends is in fact Pu and my objection to their statehood lutely nothing to do with anyone ethnicity. I fail to see any substantial gain f as a whole or for Puerto Rico in t full-fledged state. Although it wc islanders to participate in election* them seats in Congress, it will in~n( IFTTFR^T law law I I law I 1 I Iraq intended civilian strikes To the editor: The following letter was in this past week's Atlanta Journal, but it is the perfect counter to those who accuse the United States of "practicing genocide on the Iraqi people." While Saddam continues to exploit Iraqi civilian casualties for all the propaganda advantage they are worth, keep two points in mind: 1. Saddam has yet to aim even a single Scud attack at a military target. Every missile he has fired has been a civilian target and most of them against a non-belligerent nation. 2. Saddam has called for worldwide terrorism against the civilians as well as the military personnel of the U.N. coalition nations. No civilian death is anything less than tragic, but Iraq is the only country in this war that has made its policy, and indeed virtually its sole practice, to attack civilians. Stephen Edwards History sophomore War needed fnr frpprlnm M Vf JL MM VVVf-VAMA To the editor: I do not believe the editorial page was intended as a forum for windbags to repeatedly trounce each other for weeks on end. It should be a one-time letting off steam, UNLESS someone like AD/ PR freshman Kipp Shives replies to your letter with such naivete, narrow-mindedness and misinterpreted information. I never once in my letter insulted the Arab nations of the Middle East. Similar to the peaceful people of Europe during the 1930s and '40s, the Arab world is being trounced upon by a tyrannical despot who will not stop until he is perched proudly upon the The Blind Men a a/ AHA! A i-APOE, ' g jr co would could soon .? dfvfah Lng stripes ' very we" sh Union, you Over 30 e 50 states, dishearten- denly bring them the y dishearten ing Jn fa(^ u wm do r o ico o -ng a commonweait}1 jj some economic piece i screaming ad further. regress* lerto Rican, The primary reason 1 has abso- other inevitability in lil 's race or on the heels of death. 1 As a commonwealth or the U.S. to exemption from fe< >ecoming a only does this leave mc >uld allow household piggybank, 5 and give apply to businesses ant ) way sud- the island. Many of the O THE ED1TC throne of an emnire. It is a traeedv of immeasureable proportions. Similarly, however, just as the Europeans saw American GIs with admiration and respect for their liberating sacrifices, many Arabs, Jews and almost the entire United Nations Security Council sees American efforts as valiant. Little Arab boys are getting autographs from our troops, while Hussein's thugs rape and molest and rob and beat the citizenry of Kuwait. Furthermore, don't forget to point your "quick to point" finger at Mr. Hussein. The man relocated his military operations into schools, hospitals and sanctuaries. He has let it be known that he will use human shields. That, Mr. Shives, is the crime! The fact that some American boys have died is a tragedy, to say the least But once again, the military, which is volunteer, does entail some hostilities sometimes. And unfortunate as it may be, despite our wonderful technologies, there is no guarantee that you will not die in your service to your country. I am pretty certain soldiers know this when they enlist, Mr. Shives. Your comparison of Hussein to Noriega clearly demonstrates your inability to synthesize and evaluate world politics and how they all hinge so delicately upon one anotner. It took an overnight task force to remove Noriega. Mr. Shives, we have about half a million soldiers in the Persian Gulf. Your analysis is a bit off to say the least, Again, your reference to the fact that a cutoff of Middle Eastern oil would only affect Americans at the pump clearly demonstrates your ignorance in world affairs. Might I suggest a brief discussion with Dr. Akhavi, a Middle East expert in the GINT department, or Professor Heffner in the economics department They would be happy to enlighten you. WUUIU U1C UllllOU OUUCi UC 111 the Persian Gulf if Kuwait's chief export were broccoli? In a word, YES, if the very means of production and transportation around the civilized world relied on broccoli. not benefil 1 tax breaks r and withou mH _ close down IELLEY MAGEE tos WOU nomic growl zens out of Rico is ther American standard of liv- y!mflcrirwh ' just the opposite by maktat is just starting to gain p [ * Df mind stagnate or even Qn top d cultural prol for this backfire is that rich in herit fe that comes along right as a way of 'AXES. state with 1 , Puerto Rico is entitled Neither side ieral income taxes. Not and understa >re money in the average So if Bus but those shelters also star on the i industries operating on through? Be jm are there because the they ask for )R Finally, Mr. Shives, I am sitting idle upon my rear because I am earning a degree, and the U.S. government has not called upon me for service. However, if I were needed or my country called me, I would be one of the first ones on that C-131 headed for Riyhad, while people like you and Dennis Shealy and Miss Peebles are the first ones to slither under the Canadian border fence and disgust those Americans who fight every day for your liberties. Scott R. Saunders Public relations senior People wrong about conflict To the editor: In response to the extremely liberal interpretation of the Persian Gulf crisis as reported by The Gamecock's Dennis Shealy in his column, "War should not be fought by any person," I can only say that this reporter writes with an opinion that is both overwhelmingly incorrect and unpopular. Mr. Shealy, the world is not made up of ideology, but of hard economic and political truths. Our place as peacemaker in the Middle East is one that is justified through many points. The most important and uniting force behind the coalition endeavor is the fact that the nations involved have all agreed to enforce the United Nations charter, and more importantly the right for Kuwaiti selfdetermination. In case you forget, our people once fought for that same right, and we, as members of the United Nations, must stand firm in guaranteeing the same to the people of Kuwait. A second justification to our involvement is that we must work to provide a new stability to the region. As you may remember, many nations of the coalition have sought to begin discussions to bring peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and if people such as Saddam Hussein and his good buddies like Yassir Arafat and the PLO continue to rile up ; as state tiake their island location profitable, t the tax advantages, they would their Puerto Rican branches, ild not only hurt the island's ccoth, but put a huge number of its citiwork. And, like dominoes, if Puerto i a state, where will the money for ates of unemployment come from? dent it would help create in an alrious system to put all qualifying is on welfare and unemployment these economic horrors, there is a Mem. I cannot imagine a place so age and language to adopt English life. Yet, how can the U.S. allow a ;he official language of Spanish? will want to budge on that issue, ndably so. ;h is gung-ho about putting a new flag, has he really thought this fore Congress votes on it, I hope a few, explanations. the people of the region, how may we ever achieve stability? Saddam Hussein's reasoning for the Kuwaiti invasion are purely economic, and the people of the West Bank and the religion of Islam are the farthest things from his mind. A third and final point is that of economics. Despite what the liberals, peaceniks and flower children wannahp.s sav. dollar-a-crallnn aac is not the reason for our involvement. True, economics is a reason for our armed presence, but rightfully so. If Saddam were to somehow take control of the Kuwaiti reserves, he could not only take the American economy hostage, but 1 quite feasibly the world's. The price of gas would not be the only ; thing affected, but just about every industry imaginable would feel de- vastating effects. With the dramatic effects of increased gas prices, industries such as oil, steel, ore, rubber, auto manufacturing, plastics, glass, transit, as well as just about everybody i else would be plunged into economic disaster. Think of the millions of people ; put out of work by just one man. No taxes could be paid, govern- ' ment spending would go through ; the roof just to support these people and no goods could be af- ; forded to be bought or sold. De- ; vastating to say the least, but en- I tirely possible had we not ;* intervened. * The United States and her allies * are jusitified for their actions, and . minions upon minions stand nrm with their decision. We, as Americans, must put aside our partisan views and support our president and our troops. The liberal faction is delivering an inane and incoherent message, and its rhetoric is becoming increasingly more and more ignored by the American public. Mr. Shealy, you stand in the minority, but alas you still do not face any danger of the draft. I, as others who support our country, will be glad to take your place should a draft ever become implemented. Christian Stegmaier Political science freshman