University of South Carolina Libraries
Clinton reflects on presidency by Deb Riechmann Assicuated Press WASHINGTON — Reflecting on nearly eight years in office. President Clinton says his tenure began with grand ideas, such as health care reform, that fell victim to political naivete. If will end with a graceful step to the sidelines in January, he says. “I don’t think the new president, whoever it is, will have problems with me acting like I wished I were still president,” Clinton said in a New York er magazine article released Sunday. The lesson he has learned after almost two tenns in office: There’s a learning curve to running the country. Clinton also agreed with Iris questioner, polit ical writer Joe Klein, that his style of being presi dent may change the way America views the office after he leaves the White House. “I'm not sure that’s such a bad tiring,” Clinton said. “We need to demystify the job. It is a job. There’s a lot to be said for showing up' every day and trying to push the rock up the hill. ... If you’re willing to win in inches as well as feet, a phenomenal amount of positive things can hap pen.” If given a second chance, Clinton said he would do some things differently, from health care refomi and U.S. involvement in Somalia to his personal life and Whitewater. Of the health care effort led by Hillary Rodham Clinton in 1993, Clinton’s first year in office, the president said his administration’s agenda w;ts too crowded — a common theme early on — with oth er priorities such as a free trade deal with Canada ;uid Mexico mid mi economic package for the Unit ed States. “I was dbsessed.... I was trying to get as much done as quickly as I could mid also trying to learn the job, learn how to get the White House functioning,” he said. Another early challenge was Somalia. Clin ton said his decision to try to capture warlord Mohamed Farali Aidid was based on the advice of Gen. Colin Powell, who retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff soon after the operation began. Hundreds of Somalis and 18 U.S. soldiers were killed. “I’m not blaming him. I’m just saying he was gone,” Clinton said. He added, “I don’t know ifl could have saved those lives or not. I would have handled it in a different way if I’d had more expe rience.” Clinton said he regretted his 1994 decision to ask Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel to investigate his Whitewater real estate dealings in Arkansas. Reno appointed Robert Fiske, who w;ts later replaced by Kenneth Starr. “I did it because I was exhausted, because I had just buried my mother and because I had people in the White House who couldn’t stand the heat, and they suggested that I do it, that I had to do it. I knew there was nothing to it,” Clinton said. He said his greatest achievements were dealing with impeachment ;uid the government shutdowns in 1995 and 1996. “Those two things together essentially ended the most overt and extreme manifestations of the Gingrich revolution,” he said, referring to former House Spe;iker Newt Gingrich and the Republican majority that took over Congress in 1994. Clinton described 1998, the year of his im peachment and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, as both painful mid pleasant. “I had made a terrible personal mistake, which I didn't try to correct until almost a year later, mid I had to live with it, mid it caused mi enormous amount of pain to my family, to my administration, to the country,” he said. But the year also offered healthy economic-in dicators that convinced Clinton said his policies of deficit reduction, welfare reform mid support for free trade were going well. “I felt... ‘Gosh, it’s all working. It’s all com ing together.’... I was really happy. I was happy be cause I thought — to be fair, I don’t think any of us ever thought in ’93 that the economy would take off this way.” Clinton made the comments in two summer interviews with Klein, the once anonymous author of “Primary Colors,” a novel about the 1992 pres idential campaign of a womanizing southern gov ernor widely believed to be based on Clinton. NASA clears shuttle for launch Monday, heavy winds possible by Marcia Dunn Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — After an intense weekend of repairs and re views, NASA cleared the space shuttle Discovery for liftoff Monday night on a space station construction mission. But gusty wind threatened to push the launch later into the week. Meteorologist John Weems said there was a 70 percent chance a stiff crosswind would prevent Discovery from taking off on NASA’s 100th space shuttle mission, not only Monday but Tuesday, too. “It really depends upon the wind di rection,” Weems said Sunday. Discovery was supposed to depart for the international space station last Thursday, but was grounded by concerns over bolts on the external fuel tank. In addition, a sluggish valve in the shuttle’s engine compartment had to be replaced. Shuttle managers wrapped up the bolt issue Sunday mid declared Discovery safe to fly. While reviewing film from Atlantis’ launch last month, engineers noticed Wednesday that one of the bolts on the external fuel tank did not retract fully when the tank separated from the shut tle eight minutes into the flight as pkinned. NASA immediately pul together three teams to investigate the bolt malfunction and determine whether the problem might affect Discovery. As of Sunday, after reviewing piles of film, engineers had identified about a half-dozen shuttle launches with simi lar bolt problems, said test director Steve Altemus. The malfunctioning bolts did not cause ;uiy of the fuel tanks to tilt or tumble when jettisoned, he sttid. “Thai’s good news,” Altemus said. The main concern hist week was that a protruding bolt could put a spin on the 153-foot, rust-colored euik and cause the Uuik to shun into the space shuttle. Such a collision could be catastrophic. NASA wiuits to launch Discovery as soon as possible, in order for the inter national space station to be inhabited ear ly next month. The space station’s first pcrmmicnt crew cannot lift off until Dis covery has visited the 240-piilc-high out post. Discovery’s seven astronauts will at tach two new segments to the space station: a girderlike truss that holds mo tion-control gyroscopes and antennas, mid a shuttle docking port. Four space walks arc planned on four consecutive days. It is NASA’s first space station con struction mission in two years. Albright calls for Arafat to stop violence in Mideast by Barry Schweid • Associated Press WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Madeleine Al bright said Sunday Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could and should stop the violence gripping the West Bank and Gaza, and Israeli forces should step back from confronta tion. As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak pressed an ul timatum to Yasser Arafat to rein in Palestinian rock-throw ers by Monday night, Albright refused to assign blame to either side for the worst Palestinian-Israeli violence in four years. “We need to look forward, we need to get them to step back from each other so there is no cycle of violence,” she said. Barak, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” insisted Arafat “initiated tltis whole series of events,... (and) we know he can stop it” within 12 hours. If he does not, “it means he deliberately decided to put an end to the peace process and go back into a conflict,” the prime minister said from Is rael. Israel already has used armor, helicopters and live am munition in confrontations with Palestinians, leaving more than 80 dead. Barak did not say what additional force he might use in any escalation. But on CBS’ “Face the Na tion,” Barak registered his determination to defend Israel. “We are living in a place where there is no mercy for the weak and no second opportunity for those who do not defend themselves,” he said. Albright and Sandy Berger, President Clinton’s na tional security adviser, stressed the fighting had reached dangerous proportions, although Berger said there seemed _ to be some easing Sunday. “I do not believe that either party here, either the Is raelis or Palestinians, wants to see this escalate further be yond control,” Berger said on ABC’s “This Week.” “But it is difficult to break this cycle.” Albright said Arafat “lias been able to control things” in the past, “and we expect him to be able to control it (the violence).” “He is the leader of the Palestinian people, mid he has to do everything he can to get this rock-throwing mid vi olence under control,” she said. Again, on CNN’s “Late Edition,” Albright questioned Arafat’s commitment to an accord with Israel and com plimented Barak. The Israeli leader “is showing he really wants a peace partner,” Albright said. “He wants to have a peace process work.” Arafat also says he wants peace, but “I hate to begin to think that Yasser Arafat is not a partner. He has been a partner. He has to gain control of what is going on.” At the same time, Albright urged Israeli restraint. “The Israelis have to do everything they can to be able to re spond in a way that does not create more violence,” she told reporters. Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator, challenged Barak’s assertion that Arafat could order the violence halt ed. “I think Prime Minister Barak could give one order to his own army to withdraw from the Palestinian terri tories, to remove the tanks from our neighborhoods,... to stop shooting live ammunition at our children,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.” Ivory Coast court bars opposition leader from election by Glenn McKenzie Associated Press ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Ivory Coast's main opposition leader promised Saturday to continue a peaceful fight for democracy, remaining defiant de spite a court decision that barred him from running against the country’s junUi leader in upcoming pres idential elections. In a veiled threat to the West African nation’s military jurita, opposition leader Alassanc Dramane Ouattara said the regime is incapable of “subvert ing the will of the people” despite Friday’s Supreme Court ruling. Twenty candidates had submitted applications to participate in the Oct. 22 election, called to re store civilian rule. But only five, including junta leader Gen. Robert Guei, were found eligible to run, according to the court decision read late Fri day. Ouattara was rejected along with former pres idem Henri Konan Bedie, die leader misled by die military junta last winter, and cx-Cabinct minister Emile Constant Bombet, who now heads the for mer ruling p;irty. Some Ouattara supporters had warned of civil unrest if he was excluded. Junta officials had coun tered with threats of harsh reprisals for any vio lence. In Washington, it Stale Department statement issued Saturday said the United States condemns the Supreme Court decision ;uid would suspend its assistance in carrying out the election. “This unjust decision robs the Ivorian people of any meaningful choice in those elections,” the statement said. On Saturday, Ouattara accused Guei of “buy ing” the decision from court chief Konc Tia, the junta leader’s former attorney. He called Tia “one of the most corrupt judges in Ivory Coast.” Ouattara urged his supporters to remain calm, instructing them in a statement to “preserve our dear Ivory Coiist from violence ;utd to assure that the peace to which we are all attached is not threat ened.” But he warned that public tuigcr over the decision could still explode. “We know from Scibia what happens when the will of the people is being ignored,” he said, re ferring to the opposition uprising in Yugoslavia that toppled President Slobodan Milosevic. “One cannot predict what will happen in Ivory Coast.” There were no immediate signs of unrest in Ivory Coast, where a stale of emeigency and night time curfew have been in effect since Friday. In Abidjan, the country’s commercial capital, many stores were closed ;uul there were fewer people in the streets than usual. But buses were running nor mally ;uid security forces kept a low profile. In the streets surrounding Ouattara’s hulking Abidjan mansion, where hundreds of supporters have ciunpcd out for weeks, young men wearing bandannas and while T-shirts reinforced sandbag barriers while chanting “Ado,” a popular nickname for Ouattara. “If Ado tells us to die, we will die. We are just wailing for orders of what to do next,” said one of the protesters, 24-year-old Mainadou Fofana. In its ruling, the Supreme Court said it had doubts about the nationality of Ouattara’s mother and argued that the opposition leader had repeat edly used the nationality of neighboring Burkina Faso. Ivory Coast’s new constitution requires that both parents of a presidential cruididate be Ivorian bom and bars candidates that have used another na tionality. Ouattara insists he meets those qualifica tions. With the exclusion of Ouattara and other ma jor figures, Guci faces only one well-known politi cian, Laurent Gbagbo, a longtime opposition leader who has lost several previous election bids. Weather forecasters find job more difficult without El Nino, La Nina by Matthew Fordahi. Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Floods in Southern Califor nia? Blame it on El Nino. Drought from the Great Plains to the Southeast? Sounds like La Nina. Nervous climate forecasters? Must be “La Nada.” For the first time in three years, the tropical Pacific Ocean isn’t running unusually hot or cold, and the neutral conditions are leaving climatolo gists with fewer pieces of the puzzle. Gone are the heady days of confident predictions months into the future. “There comes a time when you have to admit your understanding is not complete and not to say more than you know,” said William Patzert, an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labora tory. “It’s hard after three years of being a hotshot. It’s really hard.” Unlike El Nino and La Nina years, nothing appears strong enough to dominate the complex climate system. That means the effects of relatively small forces such as the moisture of an individual storm could determine whether an area is wetter or drier or warmer or cooler than usual. “So the forecast problem becomes much more difficult, much more challenging,” said Vernon Kousky, a research meteorologist with the National Ocauiic and Atmosplieric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. “We don’t anticipate that we will have such a high level of skill as we had in recent years,” he said. Forecasters are having to focus on historical records and weaker signals from the oceans for hints to the upcoming stormy season and beyond. For the record, climatologists predict a slight ly warmer-than-nomial winter for much of the Unit ed States. They’re less certain about the Northern border states, where decisions must be made on whether to stock up on home heating oil tuid road salt. During El Nino years like the winter of 1997 98, westward-blowing trade winds weaken, allow ing a mass of warm water in the western equator ial Pacific to flow eastward toward South America. Sea surface temperatures can surge as much as 14 degrees above normal. In a complicated chain of events in 1997-98, the warmer water led to record rainfall in Califor nia, tornadoes ;uid flooding in the Southeast, flood ing in Peru, and drought ;uid wildfires in Indonesia. La Nina occurs when the trade winds strength en ;uid the equatorial Pacific awls as much as 8 de grees. The La Nina pattern has dominated since the end of the last El Nino in 1998. News Briefs -% ■ Bum from pickle leads to lawsuit against McDonald’s KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A woman who claims she was perma nently scarred after a hot pickle from a McDonald’s hamburger fell on her chin is suing the restaurant for more than $100,(XX). Veronica M. Martin claims in a lawsuit filed in Knox County Circuit Court that the bum al so caused her physical ;md mental pain. She is seeking $110,000. Her husband, Darrin Martin, is seeking $15,000, because he “has been de- ^ prived of the services and consortium of his wife.” The hambuiger “was in a defective condition or unreasonably dangerous to the general consumer turd in particular to (Veronica Martin),” ac cording to the two-page lawsuit, which was reported in The Knoxville News Sentmel on Saturday. » ■ United Airlines settles lawsuit about flight delay CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines hits settled a class action lawsuit filed by 168 passengers who were stranded on the tarmac in Milwaukee for six hours on Christmas Eve 1997. Circuit Jucfee Robert Boharic approved the V settlement between United irnd the p;issengers, who claimed they went without food or functioning restrooms for six hours before the lligln w;ts can celed. The settlement, reached on Fri day, gives each p;issenger $500 in cash and a $500 airline voucher. It also al lows passengers who lack verification or receipts to claim up to $200 for losses. “I think this is a just, fitir and reasonable settlement,” Boharic said. “I thiitk everyone is served by enter ing into this reasonable settlement.” ■ North Wisconsin, Michigan hit with heavy snowstorm * (AP) - A foot of snow blanketed parts of northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on Saturday, breaking records in several cities. “I don’t mind it, but this is way too early,” said Michael Cannon, a cook at the Out Post Cafe in Presque Isle, Wis. “There arc still leaves on the trees,” he said. Counties along the northern edge of Lake Michigan start ed accumulating lake-effect snow on Fri day and residents had a foot in their yards by noon Saturday, National Weather Ser vice meteorologists said. As much as 15 inches of snow was expected in p;irts of the Upper Peninsula by Sunday morn ing. “That’s got to be a pretty rare oc currence this early in the fall,” said., Dan Clark, a National Weather Service* meteorologist in Green Bay, Wis. “I haven’t seen accumulations to that ex tent,” he said. The six inches that had fallen around Marquette, Mich., by Sat urday afternoon set a record for the day there. The most snow that’s ever fallen in the city on Oct. 7 was 1.5 inches, said Jeff Savadcl of the National Weather Ser vice’s Marquette office. ■ Substation fire leads to blackout in parts of Chicago % CHICAGO (AP) A fire at an elec trical substation caused a blackout across downtown on Sunday, Uuigling traffic and stranding shoppers. Police on foot tried to direct pedestrians and motorists through a maze of darkened traffic signals. “ Iliiuik God this happened on a Sunday,” said Officer Thomas Donegan, a police de partment spokesman. I le said there were no immediate reports of accidents or pco- • pie getting stuck in elevators. But at near by Soldier Field, a packed Chicago Bcars New Orleans Saints game was about to. end, meaning thousands more cars would, hit the streets. The power was knocked* out about 12:45 pan. wlien a circuit break er at a ComEd substation overheated, ex-' ploding ;uid scorching the adjacent break, ers, said Fire Commissioner Jiunes Joyc^ It wasn’t elefir how soon power could be restored.