On the Record

Lest we forget, of the Democratic senators who voted against the use of force in Iraq, six—Sam Nunn, Lloyd Bentsen, Bill Bradley, Paul Simon, Joseph Biden, and Bob Kerrey— figure on lists of possible 1992 presidential candidates. Two others, Albert Gore of Tennessee and Charles Robb of Virginia, joined a number of other Southern and Western Democrats in supporting the President. . . . On the House side, two potential Democratic presidential candidates who took active part in orchestrating opposition to the war are Majority Whip Richard Gephardt (Mo.) and Colorado’s Patricia Schroeder (of the House Armed Services Committee). . . . Connecticut’s Joseph Lieberman was only Northeastern Democrat to vote against sanctions, for military action. . . . Sens. Nunn & Co. may have made a costly choice. First post-Desert Storm poll (New York 77mes/CBS) shows only 16 per cent of Americans still think sanctions alone would have forced Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Same poll showed 79 per cent think the U.S. did the right thing; President Bush’s popularity is up to 86 per cent. . . . Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D., N.Y.) is fast backtracking from his No vote on military action. He told big New York Jewish rally protesting Saddam’s unprovoked attacks on Israel that allies must now “go beyond” their original objective of ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. . . . Media Monitor, which regularly assesses bias on TV news, monitored 2,334 CBS, NBC, and ABC stories on the Persian Gulf from August through December. It found that 61 per cent opposed or questioned American intervention in the Gulf; only 39 per cent supported it, at a time when the public favored action after January 15 by 63 per cent. Bush’s best press, says Media Monitor, came on NBC (Tom Brokaw), 59 per cent positive compared to 44 per cent positive on ABC (Peter Jennings), and 40 per cent on CBS (Dan Rather). . . . Political analyst William Schneider feels the issue may be perceived by the public at large as “wimpitude”—with the Democrats reinvoking the party’s image of weakness.

The Soviet crackdown in the Baltic could prove costly in material ways. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), in New York Times op-ed piece, has called for cancellation of February summit and of $1-billion agricultural credit, and retention of Jackson—Vanik restrictions on trade. . . . Columnist William Safire says Mikhail Gorbachev has “fired on his Fort Sumter” at moment when eyes of world are elsewhere. . . . Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel has called for joint resolution by former Warsaw Pact countries condemning Kremlin crackdown on Lithuania and Latvia. . . . Scandinavians worried that Soviet military, forced to retreat from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, may station those troops in Baltics and in Kola Peninsula. Modern tanks have replaced vintage T-55s in those areas; several squadrons of combat aircraft have arrived from East Germany and Hungary. . . . Lech Walesa fears Soviet military may try to re-establish control in Central Europe, and calls for speedier negotiations on Russian troop pullout from Poland. . . . Belgian Foreign Minister Mark Eyskens says EC should reconsider its billion-dollar aid package. “We must explain clearly to the Soviet Union that our aid is conditional,” he said. . . . Moscow reaction to criticism is often throwback to Stalinist obduracy. Such as Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov’s putdown of energetic relief efforts by Germany: “From the economic point of view,” Pavlov told TASS, “all West German food aid is enough to feed Moscow for just one day and not even a full day.” . . . Gorbachev’s attempts to crack down on his own press—TASS is already back in line, as is Pravda— not universally successful. When KGB raided the offices of the independent Interfax news service and seized its equipment, it was back in business the next day in quarters furnished by Boris Yeltsin. . . . Finally, the killings in Vilnius and Riga have provoked major protest marches not only in Moscow, but in Leningrad, Kiev, Sverdlovsk, Donetsk, Kishinev, and Kaliningrad.

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Lest we forget, of the Democratic senators who voted against the use of force in Iraq, six—Sam Nunn, Lloyd Bentsen, Bill Bradley, Paul Simon, Joseph Biden, and Bob Kerrey— figure on lists of possible 1992 presidential candidates. Two others, Albert Gore of Tennessee and Charles Robb of Virginia, joined a number of other Southern and Western Democrats in supporting the President. . . . On the House side, two potential Democratic presidential candidates who took active part in orchestrating opposition to the war are Majority Whip Richard Gephardt (Mo.) and Colorado’s Patricia Schroeder (of the House Armed Services Committee). . . . Connecticut’s Joseph Lieberman was only Northeastern Democrat to vote against sanctions, for military action. . . . Sens. Nunn & Co. may have made a costly choice. First post-Desert Storm poll (New York 77mes/CBS) shows only 16 per cent of Americans still think sanctions alone would have forced Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. Same poll showed 79 per cent think the U.S. did the right thing; President Bush’s popularity is up to 86 per cent. . . . Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D., N.Y.) is fast backtracking from his No vote on military action. He told big New York Jewish rally protesting Saddam’s unprovoked attacks on Israel that allies must now “go beyond” their original objective of ending the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. . . . Media Monitor, which regularly assesses bias on TV news, monitored 2,334 CBS, NBC, and ABC stories on the Persian Gulf from August through December. It found that 61 per cent opposed or questioned American intervention in the Gulf; only 39 per cent supported it, at a time when the public favored action after January 15 by 63 per cent. Bush’s best press, says Media Monitor, came on NBC (Tom Brokaw), 59 per cent positive compared to 44 per cent positive on ABC (Peter Jennings), and 40 per cent on CBS (Dan Rather). . . . Political analyst William Schneider feels the issue may be perceived by the public at large as “wimpitude”—with the Democrats reinvoking the party’s image of weakness.

The Soviet crackdown in the Baltic could prove costly in material ways. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), in New York Times op-ed piece, has called for cancellation of February summit and of $1-billion agricultural credit, and retention of Jackson—Vanik restrictions on trade. . . . Columnist William Safire says Mikhail Gorbachev has “fired on his Fort Sumter” at moment when eyes of world are elsewhere. . . . Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel has called for joint resolution by former Warsaw Pact countries condemning Kremlin crackdown on Lithuania and Latvia. . . . Scandinavians worried that Soviet military, forced to retreat from East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary, may station those troops in Baltics and in Kola Peninsula. Modern tanks have replaced vintage T-55s in those areas; several squadrons of combat aircraft have arrived from East Germany and Hungary. . . . Lech Walesa fears Soviet military may try to re-establish control in Central Europe, and calls for speedier negotiations on Russian troop pullout from Poland. . . . Belgian Foreign Minister Mark Eyskens says EC should reconsider its billion-dollar aid package. “We must explain clearly to the Soviet Union that our aid is conditional,” he said. . . . Moscow reaction to criticism is often throwback to Stalinist obduracy. Such as Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov’s putdown of energetic relief efforts by Germany: “From the economic point of view,” Pavlov told TASS, “all West German food aid is enough to feed Moscow for just one day and not even a full day.” . . . Gorbachev’s attempts to crack down on his own press—TASS is already back in line, as is Pravda— not universally successful. When KGB raided the offices of the independent Interfax news service and seized its equipment, it was back in business the next day in quarters furnished by Boris Yeltsin. . . . Finally, the killings in Vilnius and Riga have provoked major protest marches not only in Moscow, but in Leningrad, Kiev, Sverdlovsk, Donetsk, Kishinev, and Kaliningrad.