Banner Graphic, Volume 10, Number 129, Greencastle, Putnam County, 4 February 1980 — Page 14

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-GREENSBURG DAILY NEWS-Mon., February 4, 1980

Our Opinion

Get Involved In Government

Open meeting laws and “sunshine” legislation. These words usually bring to mind reporters and various claims of freedom of the press. Indeed, these are important tools for the members of the press, but they apply equally to another group a group that stands to gain a great deal by knowing what our elected and appointed officials are doing. That group is you, the public. Most groups, such as the city council and school boards, hold public meetings at least once a month to conduct routine business. There’s usually one thing missing the public. There are times when an individual or group attends a meeting in connection with a specific issue, but it is extremely rare for anyone just to show up to familiarize themselves with the routine workings of those groups who play an important part of our everyday lives. While most of the attention is focused on Washington, and to a lesser extent to the state capitol, most of the decisions that most closely affect your day-to-day existence comes from local boards and councils. It is a big responsibility for elected and appointed officials to decide the many issues that confront them. Still, that’s their job. Since this is a representative democracy, however, it is the responsibility of the public to let the elected and appointed officials know how they feel about those

Lee Hamilton

Questions, Answers On Afghan Invasion

On my most recent visit to the Ninth District I spoke with scores of Hoosiers about the Soviet invasion of Afhanistan. People were angered by the invasion and wanted to know what it meant for the United States and the rest of the world. The following are just a few of the questions that Hoosiers are asking today: Why did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan? The movement of Soviet troops into Afghanistan was based on a decision not to permit that nation to fall from the Soviet orbit. I really do not know whether the Kremlin acted solely for local reasons so as not to lose Afghanistan or whether it also acted for strategic reasons so as to thrust closer to the oil of the Persian Gulf and avoid encirclement by hostile governments. It does seem to me, however, that with the oil at stake we must prudently acknowledge that the Soviets, by seizing Afghanistan, have positioned themselves to exert influence over Iran, a country presently on the verge of chaos. Experts on the Soviet Union have always wondered whether the Soviets seek to dominate the world through military conquest, or whether they seek only to achieve maximum security for their borders while exploiting “targets of opportunity.” In my judgment, the Soviet Union hopes to dominate the world by military force but does not genuinely expect to do so. It maintains a healthy respect both for its own weaknesses and for the strengths of the United States and the West. In any event, a firm American response to the invasion is imperative. Is the invasion related to other events on the world scene? The invasion did not occur in a vacuum. Ties between the United States and the Soviet Union have been strained in recent months with the delay of Senate action on SALT 11, American moves both to establish diplomatic relations with China and to give Peking economic concessions ahead of Moscow, the emphasis we have placed on violations of human rights in the Soviet Union, and the decision of our allies to deploy modern, nuclear-tipped missiles in Western Europe. For their part, the Soviets have maintained their own troops in Cuba and have sponsored Cuban expeditionary forces in Africa, among other things. My belief is that prior to the invasion the Soviet Union had reached fundamentally pessimistic conclusions about its relations with the United States. It was prepared to take the risks of intervention in Afghanistan. The Soviets may well have miscalculated the depth of our anger. How will the invasion affect U.S. Soviet relations? The Soviet decision to intervene militarily in Afghanistan will send our relations with the Soviets into a protracted, downhill slide. It is probable that the two countries will allow a major freeze in relations that could last for an

issues. It is also the responsibility of the public to make themselves aware of how these boards and councils operate so they can be a part of what is going on. While attending a city council meeting may never replace watching MASH or Monday Night Football, it is a valuable experience that every citizen should do periodically. The same goes for all regularly scheduled meetings. If for no other reason, it shows those board or council members that there are people who do care about what is going on and have a stake in making sure the best solutions are found for the situations facing them. It is unfortunate that most board or council members are surprised when or if someone attends a meeting just to observe. Gripes and complaints are valid reasons to attend, but they should be tempered with a general concern with the overall well-being of the community and how routine decisions are made. Many complain that they don’t know why some action was taken or some decision was made. Without input from the public and an indication that there are people who care about what is going on, there is little validity in such complaints. Pick one group you are most interested in and attend their next regular meeting. Chances are, you’ll benefit from it, and so will the entire community in the long run.

extended period. One certain result of the invasion is that the world has become a more dangerous place. The outlook is for large increases in military budgets and arsenals, a serious threat that small wars will involve the superpowers, and a greater likelihood that nuclear weapons will spread to nations in the Third World. Will we now return to the Cold War? I do not believe that we are returning to the days of the Cold War, a period of intense conflict during which each superpower thought that its destiny could be determined apart from that of the other superpower. My guess is that we will move very slowly back toward detente, with some measure of collaboration between us and the Soviets. It may take us some time to lift U.S. Soviet relations to the level of cautious dialogue that prevailed before the invasion, but sooner or later we will have to face the difficult tasks of getting along with the Soviet Union and forging economic, cultural, and political links to encourage restraint. Policy must aim to strike a balance between vigilance sufficient to curb aggression and collaboration sufficient to make peace more attractive than war. In my view, we should look on the invasion without exaggeration or panic. It is not the Apocalypse. We have gone through crises with the Soviet Union before, and we will go through them again. The Soviet Union has indeed augmented its power in Yemen, Ethiopia, and now Afghanistan, but the United States has shown that it can compete by improving its position in China, parts of the Middle East, Southern Africa, and Western Europe. A nuclear showdown is not at hand even though competition in recent days has escalated. How should the United States react to the invasion? Our reaction to the invasion is of critical importance. If we take strong steps immediately, we will deter any Soviet move into Pakistan or Iran. Despite dstrong steps, however, the Soviet Union will probably consolidate its grip on Afghanistan and, in time, will launch a “peace offensive” to try to dampen American outrage. When the peace offensive comes, we must let the Soviets know that they have much to hope for and much to fear from us. The sanctions invoked by the President are intended to penalize Moscow by denying it many of the benefits of U.S. Soviet cooperation. We are saying to the Soviet Union that the invasion will not be without cost even if the cost is an inconvenience to us. The sanctions can be effective only if the highly industrialized nations, as well as the grainexporting nations, join us. The problem with sanctions is that almost anything we do will discomfort some Americans farmers will be hurt by the grain embargo, businessmen by the ban on sales of technology, and athletes by the boycott of the Olympic Games.

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Jack Anderson

FBI Harassment?

WASHINGTON The FBI has had an ugly habit of smearing its critics with unfounded sex rumors. In its campaign of harassment, the bureau has spread unsubstantiated rumors about the supposed sexual peccadilloes of a powerful congressman, a dedicated congressional staff aide, a respected newspaper publisher and a persistent union official. My office has obtained dramatic new evidence in the celebrated Karen Silkwood case, which inspired “The China Syndrome” movie. Silkwood was the 28-year-old lab technician who was killed in a mysterious car crash in 1974, while she was on her way to give a reporter documentary evidence'of lax safety regulations at the Kerr-McGee plutonium plant in Oklahoma. There was considerable evidence that her car was run off the road and the incriminating evidence stolen. But the FBI delcared there was no foul play involved. Last May, a federal jury awarded her eatate $10.5 million in damages after finding that she had been subjected to excessive radiation at the plant. Sources have revealed to my associate Gary Chon an insidious pattern of FBI harassment directed against those who have been critical of the agency’s role in the Silkwood case. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., conducted an investigation into the case in 1976 a probe that was extremely embarrassing to the FBI. During the hearings, a news story appeared about a prostiute with Mafia connections who supposedly kept a list of her clients stashed in a shoe box. The Detroit story claimed Dingell’s name was on her list. Dingell denied the unsubstantiated accusation. Competent sources told us that the FBI leaked the spurious charge. Peter Stockton conducted the Silkwood investigation for Dingell’s Small Business subcommittee. In the course of their digging, Dingell and Stockton learned that Jacque (cq) Srouji, a copy editor at the Nashville Tennesseean, Lad gained access to FBI documents in the case that had been denied to the subcommittee. They further discovered that Srouji was an FBI informant, and had been used by the bureau in a case involving a Soviet diplomat. Disclosure of this brought criticism of the FBI from the Justice Department, Congress and the press. The bureau evidently put Stockton on its enemies list,

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and in 1977 found a way to strike back at him. Compelled to release certain internal documents for use in the Silkwood lawsuit, the FBI, as required by the Privacy Act, diligently deleted the names of third parties not involved in the suit all except Stockton’s. In the transcript of an FBI interview - with Kerr-McGee’s security chief James Reading, reference was made to his contacts with Stockton, who was working for National Public Radio at the time, and another reporter. The second reporter’s name was deleted: Stockton’s was not.

WORKING TOGETHER

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Save Fuel-Drive 55-Save Lives 20 million rusting abandoned autos clutter our streets, yards and junkyards in America and statistics show some 2,500 additional vehicles are abandoned every day to boost that total. FOR ECONOMY in transportation river barges are most efficient. Barges get an average of 408.7 ton miles per gallon of fuel as compared to 207.5 ton miles for rail, and 70.0 for trucks. Indiana is expanding facilities on the Ohio River with the construction of the Clark Maritime Center near New Albany. You know something is very wrong with the economy when gas stations start keeping bankers’ hours and the banks start keeping gas station hours. DON’T SNEEZE: A British survey shows a motorist travelling 70 MPH travels 330 yards semi-blind during a sneeze. If you sneeze three times in 15 MPH traffic, you will travel about 220 yards blind. A sneeze requires about 15 seconds of your attention. A sneeze can be stopped . . .. so they say, by pressing a finger hard against the upper lip . . . or a hard slap on the thigh. The Department of Transportation did a survey and says motorists waste 53 cents of every dollar spent on repairs. Much of the repair is not needed. Have a question, anecdote, or observation? Write to: Indiana State Police, PIO Room 307 State Office Building Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

After noting Stockton’s two attempts to interview Reading, the transcript stated, “Again he declined to talk with the reporters, but he did learn from certain of his sources that they didn’t accomplish too much because Stockton spent most of his time visiting local prostitutes and not working.” John Seigenthaler, publisher of the Tennesseean, responded to the disclosure that Srouji was an FBI informant by firing her on May 5,1976. The next day, the FBI in Memphis wired headquarters about “allegations of Seigenthaler having illicit relations with young girls.” A few days later, the Memphis bureau, finding no truth to the allegations, notified Washington that they were, after all, “unfounded rumor.” This didn’t stop a high FBI official from telling two New York Times reporters later that “Seigenthaler. . .is not entirely pure.” Steven Wodka, an official of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union, kept prodding federal agencies to investigate Silkwood’s charges of poor safety procedures at the nuclear plant. Information later turned up in FBI files falsely charging that Wodka had sexual relations with Silkwood. Other derogatory information about Silkwood’s alleged sex life is also scattered through the FBI files. Footnote: An FBI spokesman declined comment. Meanwhile, Stockton’s attorney, Ted Jacobs and the Fund for Constitutional Government, plan to file suit against FBI officials and Kerr-McGee executives for conspiracy to deprive Stockton of his constitutional rights. DIGGING IN: The Soviets’ move to make the ruble the official currency of Afghanistan is further proof if any were needed that the Russians plan to stay there a long, long time. ENERGY EAR: DOE officials who deal with Congress have been instructed to submit weekly “intelligence” reports on Capitol Hill doings, including “information in the nature of ‘tidbits’ for ‘gossip.’ ” DOUBLE BILUNG: U.S. taxpayers were charged S2O billion last year for stationing troops and equipment in Germany and Great Britain. On top of that, the two allies had the nerve to submit a $6 million property tax bill for our Gls’ housing facilities which the Pentagon paid.

Gov. Otis Bowen Economic Policies Are Sound As we consider state economic policies for the 1980 s, it is important to keep in mind that Indiana built a solid foundation in the 1970 s that ought not be tinkered with unless we gather conclusive evidence that alterations would be beneficial. A state’s economic climate is a rather fragile situation. Minor changes in tax structure or other government policies that affect the cost of doing business can either propel a state into the ranks of locales most attractive to new industry or they can trigger a slump in job creation that may take years to overcome. Our present system encourages economic growth. More and better jobs are resulting from, a steady pace of expansion by business firms which already are established in Indiana and by investments made by domestic and international firms coming here for the first time. One of the items that make Indiana appealing is our dual reputation for a common-sense approach to regulation and to rather conservative policies about spending, which don’t pile up debts that industry will pay in the form of higher taxes in future years. In fact, the Indiana tax climate is improving. A recent study by the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce discloses that the state and local tax burden in Indiana is lower than in any other state, when calculated in terms of a percentage of personal income. The tax burden amounted to about nine percent last year, down from eleven percent in the early 19705. The Chamber of Commerce observes that this feat accomplished the same result as the much-publicized tax and spending limitations in California, but without the rhetoric and governmental blood-letting associated with their adoption. If we had not dealt with the property tax problem in 1973, Hoosiers would be facing average statewide rates near sl3 last year. Instead, the statewide average was slightly over $7. Thought For The Day: A thought for the day: Sir Winston Churchill said, “Nothing in life is so exhilirating as to be shot at without result.”

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