Banner Graphic, Volume 19, Number 102, Greencastle, Putnam County, 5 January 1989 — Page 2

THE BANNERGRAPHIC January 5,1989

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Carlucci defends dogfight, says U.S. still pondering strike on Libyan plant

WASHINGTON (AP) The Reagan administration has made no final decision about whether to attack a Libyan plant it claims is producing chemical weapons, but Pentagon contingency plans suggest the first-ever use of cruise missiles, sources say. Such a strike would use a landattack variant of the Navy’s Tomahawk cruise missile, equipped with a non-nuclear warhead, that was first declared fit for use in war in March 1986. USE OF THE UNMANNED Tomahawk is “a preferred contingency” because of the missile’s accuracy and the fact that no pilots would be endangered in bombing runs, the sources added. The sources, who insisted on anonymity, agreed to discuss the Libyan situation after two Navy F--14 Tomcat jets shot down two Libyan jet fighters Wednesday in a confrontation over the Mediterranean Sea. Defense Secretary Frank C. Carlucci, in discussing the conflict at a Pentagon briefing, flatly dismissed suggestions the F-14s were airborne as part of U.S. preparation for mounting an attack on the suspected chemical weapons plant.

Walsh, Thornburgh meet to talk about papers

WASHINGTON (AP) ependent counsel Lawrence Walsh huddled with Attorney General Dick Thornburgh to discuss the problems posed by classified documents in the Iran-Contra case against Oliver L. North. Walsh said afterwards only that he had “a very serious discussion” with Thornburgh at the Justice Department Wednesday. Joining Walsh at the meeting were other Iran-Contra prosecution lawyers who deal with the secrecy issue and John Keker, recently named the lead trial prosecutor in the North Case. MEANWHILE, LAWYERS for the former National Security Council aide lost a round in appeals court in their bid to keep secret a summary of classified information they plan to use at the trial, now scheduled to start Jan. 31.

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FRANK CARLUCCI Planes not attacking plant

Libya says the plant makes pharmaceuticals, not chemical weapons. PRESIDENT REAGAN said last month his advisors were considering such a military strike. The Washington Post reported in today’s editions that Reagan now oppposcs a U.S. military strike against the plant because it would cause an international furor that might harm other U.S. interests.

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LAWRENCE WALSH

‘Seriously discussed’ classified documents

It was learned that Walsh sought the meeting with Thornburgh to discuss the implications of U.S. District Judge Gerhard Gesell’s refusal Tuesday to reconsider a decision last month ordering that certain sensitive references be kept

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The Post cited an unnamed senior administration official in reporting that Reagan was heeding the view of America’s European allies that a military response would be unhelpful. Carlucci said the F-14’s were on a routine training flight, more than 600 miles from the Libyan plant and 70 miles off Libya’s coast, when they were approached “in a hostile manner” and fired in self defense. “WHAT HE DIDN’T SAY was that if orders came to attack that plant, we probably wouldn’t use airplanes,” said one defense official. “We can use the Tomahawk now.” The United States wants to prevent Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi from starting large-scale production of chemical weapons, particularly given Libya’s past support of terrorist organizations, the sources said. The administration is now trying to isolate Libya diplomatically and gain the cooperation of allies in denying Libya access to Western supplies and technology said to be needed for the plant. Secretary of State George P. Shultz plans to address the issue during an interna-

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RICHARD THORNBURGH

in iOO documents prosecutors want to use as trial exhibits. WALSH HAD ASKED Gesell to modify the order to accommodate concerns raised by intelligence agencies. Under the Classified Information Procedures Act, the attorney general can decide to seek dismissal of criminal charges to prevent disclosure of secrets that might endanger national security. North is charged with conspiring with former national security adviser John Poindexter and arms dealers Albert Hakim and Richard Secord to illegally divert more than sl4 million in U.S.-Iran arms sale profits to the Nicaraguan rebels. Major portions of the case are in jeopardy because the judge has directed more complete disclosure of information in classified documents than U.S. intelligence agencies appear willing to grant. U.S. INTELLIGENCE agencies are concerned that sensitive references in the documents Walsh plans to use could disclose covert

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tional conference on chemical weapons that opens Saturday in Paris. “THERE WON’T BE ANY military action before then,” said one official. “But the contingency planning no longer focuses on bombing runs,” said another source. “The Tomahawk is mission-capable and we have the digitized navigation data (for the missile) needed to fly a strike.” The new plant is situated about 35 miles inland from the coastal capital of Tripoli. The conventional land-attack model of the Tomahawk has a range of 700-plus miles, meaning cruise missiles could easily be launched by either submarine or surface ship against the Libyan facility. When the United States staged a bombing raid over two Libyan cities in 1986, it did not have enough conventional Tomahawks available to mount the attack. One Air Force F-11l bomber and two aviators were lost in those bombing runs, which were in retaliation for alleged Libyan involvement in the bombing of a West Berlin discotheque frequented by American servicemen.

operations or secret dealings with foreign nations. Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals dissolved a temporary stay it issued Tuesday and denied a motion to Gesell permanently from giving Walsh’s office a classified summary of proposed defense testimony. The request could have forced a delay in the trial. North’s lawyers have said providing the 162-page summary to prosecutors would give them an unfair, early idea of North’s defense.

Hirohito’s blood pressure falls, will not respond to transfusions

TOKYO (AP) Two emergency blood transfusions failed to raise Emperor Hirohito’s blood pressure today, leading to fears that prolonged internal bleeding may have sapped the ailing monarch’s strength, officials said. The 87-year-old monarch was administered 1.72 pints of blood in two transfusions during the day, but his systolic blood pressure remained at 74 by evening, Imperial Household Agency spokesman Kenji Maeda said. AN AVERAGE SYSTOLIC, or upper, blood pressure reading is about 120. Pressure of less than 100 for sustained periods can lead to permanent damage of the brain and internal organs. The emperor’s blood pressure dropped suddenly early today, and he was immediately given the first transfusion. Maeda said the second came in the late afternoon. The low blood pressure indicates

world

CBO says federal budget deficit looms ever larger

WASHINGTON (AP) The Congressional Budget Office says slashing next year’s federal deficit is going to be a more formidable job than Reagan administration officials and aides to Presidentelect Bush realize. The budget office, in a report released Wednesday, said the fiscal 1990 deficit will be sl4l billion unless new taxes or spending cuts are instituted. The Reagan administration has estimated next year’s red ink at a more manageable $127 billion. THE NUMBERS PRESENTED by the non-partisan congressional agency, if accurate, would make it even more difficult for Bush and Congress to meet the Gramm-Rudman balanced budget law’s 1990 deficit target of SIOO billion. Under that law, if the government fails to come within $lO billion of the deficit target, spending cuts are automatically triggered in a range of domestic and defense programs until the goal is achieved. Most lawmakers say the resulting reductions in federal services would be so unpopular with the public that this path is politically unfeasible. THE GRAMM-RUDMAN law states that the administration’s deficit forecast not the one made by CBO determines whether the automatic cuts would be necessary. But Congress relies on the CBO figures as a guideline in its budget work. “Both the Congress and the

EMPEROR HIROHITO Has had 67 pints of blood

Hirohito continues to lose blood internally, and although no discharges were reported today, “the lost blood may still be in his body,” said a palace official who requested anonymity. DOCTORS FEAR THE em-

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president, if those projections were way off, will face the same consequences,” new House Budget Committee Chairman Leon Panetta, D-Calif., said of the administration's more optimistic forecast. IF CBO IS CORRECT, Bush and lawmakers will have to find s4l billion in deficit reductions tomeet the Gramm-Rudman target. Even if the administration’sforecast is accurate, many legislators have said that Bush’s* repeated campaign promises to forego new taxes will make it hard to avoid Gramm-Rudman’& automatic cuts. On Monday, 11 days before he leaves office, President Reagan willpresent Congress with a $1.2 trillion budget for fiscal 1990, which begins OcL 1. Administratioh officials have said Reagan found enough savings to produce a $92.5 billion deficit, well within the Gramm-Rudman goal. REAGAN HAS SAID IF his cuts are made, the budget will be balanced by 1993, the same year the Gramm-Rudman law requires the elimination of the deficit. The CBO report said, however, that without savings, 1993 will see $129 billion in red ink. Reagan’s spending plan is not binding, and Bush and lawmakers will virtually have to start all over again in their efforts to forge a 1990 spending blueprint. Last year’s deficit was $155 billion, and CBO thinks it will again be that large for fiscal 1989.

peror is weakening and are focusing their efforts on lifting his blood pressure, the official said. Previously, doctors concentrated on averting large blood * losses, but now “the emperor might not have enough energy to discharge a large amount of blood,” he added. Transfusions have been a major treatment since the emperor fell ill in mid-September, and as of Thursday evening he has received 67.83 pints of blood. Failure of transfusions to raise the emperor’s blood pressure could prove “critical and fatal,” according to a surgeon at a private hospital who requested he not be further identified. Hirohito, the world’s longestreigning monarch, has discharged, blood intermittently since SepL 19, when he vomited a substantial amount. Doctors believe the hemorrhaging originates in the up-, per intestinal region, where: Hirohito underwent bypass surgery I in September 1987. -1