The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour

herb saslow <unk> ah i'm robert macneil the role of the reserves charlayne hunter gault newsmaker interview with the president of turkey and a conversation with henry kissinger as our coverage of the gulf prices continues on tonight's macneil lehrer newshour oh

you're the middle east crisis remains the lead story president bush authorized the call up of thousands of military reservists and he said the united states wants but does not need further un approval for military action in the goal lead the details in a moment robin and is ours extended coverage of the crisis continues tonight with a look at the role of the reserves president bush is calling out charlayne hunter gault is a mentor of middle east countries has a newsmaker interview with president goes on in turkey he says we are closer to more than ever and he sees no political solution finally we have a conversation with former

secretary of state henry kissinger funding for the newshour has been provided by pepsico thomas edison and by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation a catalyst for change and by at and t and made possible by the financial support of viewers like you and the corporation for public broadcasting president bush called out the reserves today he signed the order at his vacation home in kennebunkport maine defense are very dick cheney said the exact number of reservists and all will be announced tomorrow must will be assigned to fill the state side jobs of active duty forces and some will be sent to saudi arabia the president held a news conference the second

only talked about the military situation we stand shoulder to shoulder right there in the middle east with the armed forces of twenty two other nations the middle east from europe and around the world and let's be clear as the deployment of them forces of the many nations shows and has the votes in the united nations show this is not a matter between iraq and the united states of america it is between a rock and the entire world community arab or non arab alike all the nations of the world lined up that oppose abortion are talking about the un now the action that you would hope to have on the us forces fired across the bow of the ship that was allowed to continue on as now in yemen why did they not pursue that are there do you want to wait until you now have that you went to you know we feel we have all all the authority we need and the world leaders i've talked to particularly out of francois mitterrand and margaret

thatcher agree that we have all the authority we need a we have been trying and i think prudently so hard to work with other countries around the world and the more unanimity we get out of the united nations for example the better quality way we haven't made a determination by i think the signal is out there as we pursue certain vessels and clearly have severe heavy have a demonstrated ability to board the ship these vessels that we can do it another question is how much more the un action is beneficiaries benefits owed benefits this idea of the world's staying more closely together and i might be prepared to give a little time speaking just for the us were only one country they're important one though it may be in order to get a more collective action a decision maker in the united states for many of these countries is

concerned about the lives of innocent civilians innocent people and so you you weigh that very thoroughly against against their interactions having said that international on this case the chapter seven sanctions must be enforced we asked you last week to sort of help that lives within so i don't see it right now do these statements from baghdad that they are willing to put their cards on the table and increase the hopes there will be a double axel if they're willing to put all the guards on the table let's go i didn't hear that if they're willing to put it all out there including complying with international law that would be good in terms of readiness to talk we got a very able person there and in a baghdad he was prepared to talk and they came in the other day and said they'd like to talk worry is available the top but please don't tell us that this year in a talk with conditions are an acceptable under international law because that is not there that's not the way it would work the five permanent members of the united nations security council met today on a

proposal for a joint military action to enforce the embargo the five members of the us france britain china and the soviet union there've been reports that the soviet suppose details of the plan when asked about that president bush acknowledged there are differences with the soviets ever further us action the soviet military officials said today that nearly two hundred soviet military advisors are in iraq he said there were sent there before the invasion to train iraqi soldiers to use and maintain soviet weapons but you said they're not involved in any military operations the us aircraft carrier saratoga pass through the suez canal the day sewed into guided missile cruiser is they are headed for the red sea where they will join a photo of other us ships that includes four carriers in the battleship wisconsin turkey's defense minister said his country was considering joining the multinationals for some adult turkey's air force has been on alert says the iraqi invasion of kuwait august second charlayne hunter gault will have an interview with turkish

president was all later in the program jordan closed its borders to refugees from kuwait and iraq today the announcement followed a news conference by king hussein in which he said jordan was having difficulty handling the influx is seven hundred and eighty five thousand refugees have come to his country since the beginning of the crisis two thirds of them remain there the gang also announced that he would go to a rack and other arab nations beginning tomorrow to try to prevent a war in the region the us government will defy racks order to close all embassies in kuwait by friday state department spokesman richard boucher said the embassy staff would be reduced but the facility would stay open he said there are one hundred and twenty us diplomats there now explain their mission all essential embassy personnel or remaining to wait for the express purpose of serving american citizens detained in going this is government wants american citizens to be assured bigger welfare is foremost in our thoughts we are determined to continue working for your release from kuwait and

your safe return to your habits we advise you stay in close contact with us embassy in kuwait stay in your homes and keep a low profile and he said any american attempting to escape kuwait should planned carefully he said iraqi forces are under orders to stop them there are plain today the two unidentified aircraft penetrated its airspace and the direction of saudi arabia or x official news agency said the plane's crossed five miles past its southern borders iraq now considers away which it annexed after its invasion to be part of its territory the report did not identify the planes or say whether there were military and iraqi oil tanker was allowed into a port in yemen today the tanker had ignored warning shots from us warships over the weekend viewership shadow of the tanker until it reached yemeni waters yemen allow the ship to dock despite its promise to abide by the embargo against iran might

we go now to some perspective on president bush's decision to mobilize military reservists is the first time the citizen soldiers have been mobilized since the peak of the vietnam war nineteen sixty eight when a few thousand reservists and national guardsmen were called up bruce van wart says the senior national security affairs correspondent for time magazine who has been traveling in the middle east with the uncertain jerry cheney martin banged them is a former air force officer now senior fellow at the brookings institution in washington his latest book is on the reserves of national guard we spend northwest the club based on a real military me or a desire to send a message to rest of both of the eyeball i think it's clear that the military necessity is there ever since we've had the total force concept the military has been clear that you have to call cruz referred rapidly the notion that these reserves are so troops sitting back and barracks or oregon at home all waiting for an emergency because of the mystery

of misleading idea because in fact the us cannot mobilize there are substantial portions of the recall have on those reserves isn't do it i suggest though there's probably also a political consideration terrible for the american people and for the iraqis making clear that we are her seriousness of the bank and why is this why is it that we can mobilize their supposedly what is it sixty five thousand troops now they're supposedly and in the middle east likely we mobilize ever that that that number of truth to that calling up reserves will we certainly have the capability of using other active duty forces in place of some of these reserves that that's clear it's equally clear that because of the actions of the army has taken in the past have to put a lot of its capabilities in the reserves you find some of the functions almost exclusively in reserve so she is water purification units are found mostly in the reserves civil affairs units are found mostly in reserve so

that when you need these kinds of units you have to go to the reserve that i i think it's important i understand that while many americans feel that this reserve mobilization as a bolt out of the blue it certainly isn't that what we're witnessing now is the normal next step in the implementation of the persian gulf continues the plan which we've had for ten years ever since president carter drew the line the sand called the car or die we've had contingency plans for the use of military force in the persian gulf which purposely integrated the reserves very closely and gave them an early to plan that mission and so they share you know the us that will be mobilized for those will not be surprised by being mobilize because they have trained for this mission and for the most part they're not combat troops as not correct him in their support give us a feel for the world of photovoltaic based on the information that's been given so foreigners not clear which units are being mobilized but the army reserves generically

as composer two components the army reserve in the army national guard the army reserve is principal a support units the army national guard as principal a combat unit so we have this caught based on the information we have so far is going to be concentrated among support units although it wouldn't be too surprising to call up some national guard combat units of the most likely would be the other is one national guard brigade injured the georgia national guard called the forty eighth infantry brigade that is assigned to the twenty fourth infantry division elements of which are already deployed over their business and by design that division is composed of two active brigades and one national harbor day the cons of being if we mobilize them even if we deploy that division that we would mobilize at brigade of the georgia national guard rose on the specifics of the kind of folks are going to be called well it will be basically a combat

support types of the structure you know this whole idea of reserves was in many respects the costs cutting for a fort we're trying really to save money and with a new all volunteer army we could not afford as many troops as we needed to have to manage all of our divisions so there are these these overzealous will do the sorts of things i'm martin mention of the water purification drivers some maintenance people and they will fill out and do essentially the non combat that's what's come back in combat but the non combat source of jobs while wally of those who train regularly will be doing the fighting this billboard one of course that they're not at this point going into combat and the most part that's true the continuing debate on just how qualified than the reserves in the guard are they certainly training thirty days a year are not going to score closer to reform act of the service they receive their euro around with that sector cheney in his forties last for five days around the middle east was this reserve decision a big

deal decision or was it considered more us a routine decision that had to be made as soon as the bank and said once the decision was made to deploy this money trove of a commission last week that this was inevitable that went to the fore structure that one before that to do this there's also of course is what a concert version of jewelry or for the us bid population of iraq so then there there is no immediate need for them right now they could fill this although regular officers but they want to force they want the political impact some nuts and bolts on this mr armenta and they aren't and whatnot this week the law requires any reservist who's called an active duty at the law requires his or her employer to hold the job openings iran that's right that there are loopholes in that for example that now requires that they hold a job but also there'd be individual be granted the pay increases it normally would have been given during a period however there's also a provision that says

if that job would have been done away with in a while the individual is gone at you your best to take him back so is the breadth of their other loopholes you could drive a truck through in that and there's no there's no provision for any kind of loss of hay i mean a big differential there and that varies by bite you have three different types of actions one is there are some employers who will continue to pay for play for a certain very time present in the federal government will pay an individual who was mobilized for pay for fifteen days some organizations like general motors in some barriers strong union organizations do likewise others will make up the difference in pay between what what a g i will get and what his normal pay is while the majority will do nothing at all what they're what about dependence of the reserve is called up who stayed stateside in a can they go with the reserves oh you mean that now i may know the sentiments of these voters on the space

sciences will they be treated like any other professional military i would either because the i think the intention here is is to plan on short term deployments because the president ali has the authority and this is a relatively new authorities using to be able to mobilize reserve without declaring a national emergency or without a declaration a war he has the authority to mobilize with the stroke of a pen which he did today to sign an executive order to call up to two hundred thousand for a period ninety days after that ninety days he can extend for another ninety days but beyond that that are made a period it would require congressional action or the declaration of emergency so he's planning i think at this point on short term and would probably not in fact i would be certain that they would not move dependence two to the bases where these people are going to sign what is the issue what is the thinking with that within a defense department but how long been an atheist i think that iran is gearing up for a long term deployment out there in the field the troops are at the moment of course many of them live in intense

of the blue when you come out that the troops are inside our eyes and then think going to say here i were in for for quite a quite a long time before those volunteers all the real question of course is how large does this deployment overseas is going to become so how many additional reserves of america for more than forty thousand of them are involved in this one is a difficult question but not apologize for his casket what is the thinking around defense secretary cheney and the top echelon in the military about whether or not this thing can be result short of war short of a military action or confrontation of some kind the secretary keeps repeating the same objectives of the presidential race they were there to to defend and to tour our flood it's clear that we're getting involved in an international embargo on a blockade which has an interesting implications for us and therefore nobody can say words going to go but it is clear that there's every possibility that this thing

somehow or other to get out of hand and so therefore they're very very concerned as a high level of nervousness and do they do the military people are they concerned critically about something happening accidental confrontation between two fighter planes at thirty five thousand feet or somebody stepped over a line here and there's two ships not identifying each other properly and why i am with every passing hour we have more more forces so equipment and weapons aimed at each other out there and who knows what could happen when so when the aircraft or more ships or would you dig it involves like that but i think it's i think that they would be going to constrain that what we really must think in terms of is whether in fact the defensive effort that we are four of preparing for now might not at some point when an actual support that development isn't something that offers a force and they're prepared to do that we should see the troops out there you know and we were on the eisenhower for example in there but they're operating full tilt in

with the troops in saudi arabia and there are big and they're working hard the trending all day and into the night which by the way when we import it goes will play a vital bridge and bore next tonight we begin a series of reports and charlayne hunter gault in the middle east we start with turkey which has become one of the most important allies of the us senate showdown with a rat turkey is the gateway between europe and the arab world between the mediterranean in the west and the persian gulf and a rock in the east sharing a two hundred mile border with iraq and reversed prior to iraqi oil pipeline which it is closed turkey is now on the front lines of the crisis with a population of over fifty million people it has that nate region's most populous country it also has one of its lower standards of living with a per capita income of just over a thousand dollars a year the country's armed forces journal six hundred sixty thousand men and nearly

five thousand american troops are there as part of nato most urban air force base in incirlik in the south five hundred miles from the iraqi border here charlayne hunter gault reports from turkey's capital city ankara the crisis erupted he was one of the first countries us officials visited and turkish president herbert bowles always quick to act he shut down the iraqi oil pipeline that traversed his country and join the economic blockade turkey is not an arab country it's a secular state with many of its elites identify more with europe and the middle east but most of turkey's population is muslim ha ha its ties to the arab world dating back to the era when the ottoman empire extended as far as saudi arabia and included most of north africa turkey's membership in nato has led to longstanding cooperation with the

united states including the use of a base is mostly in the southern part of the country so far turkey has not offered the base is to be used as staging post for moves against the rock nor his church be committed troops to any multinational force relations between the presidents bush and also as said to have grown warmer and warmer during their frequent telephone communications in the current crisis a development that may help ease the tensions that have existed between the two countries over turkey's dismal human rights record and torture for example is still officially sanctioned hear us officials say turkey's human rights record is improving earlier today i went to the presidential palace where i got an update from president also about the current crisis mr president thank you for joining us how much closer toward do you think the situation is now i can tune i have a few million there is a tension it's really about an especially

due to hostage crisis which has served much begich in the numbers compare to others hostage crisis it is not going to help or if you see a peaceful world and is forcing us for wolfe the house and six as titian and there i also told the same thing this and that called it i can dance and i said this is going to be for while because of war and to say that this is a luxury and they're the zone of it you let these people go oh what do you think should happen if saddam hussein does not respond to your in treaties or the entries and others to let the hostages go what what's going

to happen and what should the united states do it's very difficult time in her it's very difficult no one will become india place off prison wolf i mean he has to make in this decision that i have different manufacturer's i can turn an icy air it is too difficult and i don't want to see what we can do but that citizen i city opera will be more than you have to more than maybe one or three days or four days is is timing element in this i mean does something have to happen soon either the us acts soon awesome down acts soon on the hostage issue otherwise something else terrible a hostage issue is

riveted by now i'm in it is not only in her fifty forty people like they're talking about ten thousand much given the americans and beautician some other lessons and some other unmet biggest to do too many had to handle it just too difficult it was too many people too difficult to try a military rescue but how else could you get the united states didn't take military action or some kind of aggressive action to get the hostages out how would be received in in this part of the world i think we're generally speaking though i totally bbc i said to want to miss this of punching his ruling about the closest calling them guessed but doesn't let them go and they're not guests i said yeah i guess they will

be able to go one and they unleash this is inconsistent coalition and so you're saying that people use to unite states to make any o'toole became those people oh i think probably in the inauguration in our country because saddam going against islamic traditions and the majority of the people in this region are islamic affairs who says that yeah defense ministers ministers said today that he will be considering your move yet where you're from your refusal so far to deploy troops in the area what is causing a reconsideration and at what point would you decide to do a movie you see the point of group also adopted that means no cost fish and there's an act of god because if his mom playing the japanese of john

liechty an article says that they cannot send troops outside of the country but no one case the article says to use turkish koop's alternative to the conclusion of the parliament i'm involvement has to paint that permission once the human toll get permission the parliament today warned the condition that the twinkies at that this is an issue was that for horses and yes but now there's a reconsideration in the defense minister said it if it were considered to be in turkey's best interest what has changed to cause this revaluation and what is turkey changes the if you think of detect

especially in the east tribal for i mean marlon looked especially the mother harms and there you'd be in trouble and they're therefore you have to be a baby before and at the same time maybe for teaching that's best interest of taking a stance on groups or some force also of turkey and that we would like to have good relations with the rest of the countries that he's a bridge between east and west and therefore if it's maybe and i believe his synthesis of taking if countries or sold or some other companies in the gulf in favor of course that their differences on rich and interesting in terms of that so that's how you dress to fly the requests argument this you write in a request from

the arab world as opposed to the united states as a us when george mason the top of course but i believe that that of some kind of indication they may request and errol morris i mean so do i do you make of the latest speech saddam hussein and the iraqi foreign minister in amman the of the day calling for talks saying that everything is on the table and then trouble in november to the station that's when an addictive now there are indications that the example of what they have given to iran's guidance in his war they made they launch many people in order to get the helpful to shrug a life change to nine thousand five hundred years to think that and davis texas ago they talked about but not the hindu and

everything they got why they must be in their very biggest fish what do you think the chances of a political solution are expanding it it's rarely one one push into a political solution festival day and that will launch forints leave iraq and pension may come down and then i'm going to be pulled on and they're often that huge the pullback from kuwait that stealing wages or for a political solution i was a president do you think the arab world and not an end to this region the middle east would ever be the same again after this crisis

soon the big problem i mean could be here is a prominent out from the base short this problem is the army is ryan crocker but now after the sky says being sold for long they will end up a rocket because i don't know about an unusual don't think that called them completely off so for groups than their lustful problems that come off the ocean that putting the spot because it is not only arab israeli conflict not the problems among our apps they didn't exist before then not exist much before but it is not on this office now at the sink the shah poor watch these countries it is most countries i think his vision

and the it's social lifeline of the industrialized countries and therefore we have to be very careful that the initial version of components coming up the thai food for the coming benjamin to use the first does not act for moment to move what the solution of the problems with the schools most true for short term interests and their amended much bigger problem than that was to president ketchikan again and thank you still to come on the newshour tonight a conversation with henry kissinger and first this is pledge week on public television we are taking a short break now so your public television station can ask for your support that support helps keep programs like this on the air for their citizens not

taking a pledge right the newshour continues with further excerpts from president bush's news conference today in kennebunkport like yes please about your hostage policy you're very firm the other day in warning saddam not to form the america but i wonder as commander in chief's or do you consider the us and provoke right now consider what has been as the united states is now a question of the united states i think it's a question of the whole world is being provoked by this illegal action outrageous action plan for getting higher don't discuss hypotheticals contingencies that i would reiterate is a grave concern to all the countries those leaders of talk to you know in the unites states gives safe haven to our citizens in clayton iraqi if in the end of things reasons came to the embassy seeking seeking support and help clearly we would do that yes i think anytime you move

american forces and anytime you are up against what most of the world now considers to be an outrageous violator of international law that the best thing is to be prepared desperation i certainly sensitive to their sense of isolation in a sense i think the urgency in the statements and the high hi a moderate tone is due to work worldwide isolation and i think that's very clear and i think he's trying to whip up support and make this iraq versus the united states and indeed it is a rock versus the rest of the world and i took the leader after leader after leader talked at length the helmut kohl today and he's been making just that point it will continue to make that point but yes i think there is some of that feeling that as they become isolated from there are brothers and they are and as they become from isolated from traditional trading partners and they are there is a

sense of emergency state secrets there's a lot of activity and going on a lot of diplomatic activity i'm continuing to conduct a good deal of it and secretary baker is a mission his recent call with those shevardnadze other countries are reaching out to friends trying to work to be sure that word all that we all stay together in this and indeed other japanese i might say have a very big diplomatic initiative going now and i must say once again that i think the prime minister's chi through his willingness to help some of these countries that they might be victimized by a full enactment of the sanctions is very good oh the turks of those are totally been heavily involved i talked to the tv on mr mitsotakis in greece today who've been cooperative so there's an awful lot of diplomatic activity behind the scenes

three things that last wednesday the pentagon that portable where forty or standing for veterans are wearing white or our way of life the usage of energy much more so than any other industrialized country we haven't really vertical gardens to service or those prizes is to conserve the great patriotic uncertain times like this on the other hand oh we're doing everything we can to guarantee that we don't panic americans and that there will be an adequate supply of hydrocarbons conservation a lot of the rest of america will probably or recreate i don't think we've reached the point where a lot of call on everybody and recreation industry to shut it down where everybody's taken a vacation in america to a shuttered and so it's not a tough question is a very fair question and i would simply say that there's a lot of industry a lot of people that they're looking for vacations in this country and i

would not suggest the situation at home or cars they stay at home or that they don't use their recreational facilities the price of oil climbed again on the futures market today posted more than thirty one dollars a barrel a five year finally tonight another in a series of conversations on the crisis in the persian gulf tonight we hear from henry kissinger he served as secretary of state in both the nixon and ford administrations currently he's a consultant and writer on international affairs kissinger thank you for joining us jere with the president of turkey that we are as a result particularly of a hostage situation we are closer to war than we were three or four days ago i agree with the president a pretty big hit in a very complicated situation and with every

day that goes by without the issue being resolved we can really slip most of the war he also said he didn't believe that the prospect for any political solution was been as he put it unless another silence all foreigners get out but i would not put the whole issue on foreigners and on hostages the fundamental issue is that the iraqis must leave collected and destroyed the government that they overthrew that is what started the crisis if they can take hostages and get themselves confirmed in possession of this territory for releasing the hostages they have one they have achieved that objective of course the girl with the flip different the key issue which is the unprovoked aggression against a peaceful neighbor saddam hussein's other neighbor jordan king hussein said today were almost facing the kind of crisis of a world gone mad

the sense of the situation you know i think what has gotten mad because his neighbor iraq and even though they had done that they have a perfectly rational objective which is to control the supply of oil from iran from the persian gulf and to image as the unifying force in the arab world against western interests it from his point of view a perfectly rational objective is against the vital interest of the industrial democracies and if it succeeds groups that lead to any gender war in the middle east and a rare circumstance to the extent that any president in a complex of jewish americans can be in control of events how much tonight as president bush in control of the situation which is why the prison glitch and so but the tradition of great food

i believe that he has stated the american objectives clearly and they happen to be the objectives of most of the reign of saddam hussein knows what he has to do he has to leave to implement a political evolution of going to follow its normal the problem is just this the president of decades and has just left the territory conquered in an equally on progress in it on the affordable of lady have killed about two hundred thousand of his own people and the processes and now he's moved out of their papers so that he can face as if he'd just as invasive the us there dangerous woman president bush has been criticized and has the only criticism virtually linear times criticized him today for moving unilaterally to block iraqi shipping

without waiting for the united nations the president says us as always the arctic means that it may wait for some further un action before proceeding further what you think about that statement the situation getting out before is that saddam hussein built through that could believe that that the united states will have said that on the course and richard harries at and that he won't try to settle down to an enduring conflict then we will have several hundred thousand troops in saudi arabia i mean he will have his troops in kuwait gradually pressures will build up though for the light at the end of the tunnel and that they will start in this country and certainly among our allies and that is the greatest danger i believe that it's obama said he's convinced that there is a finite time to american patients that at some

point the force that has been put into the middle east will be used to achieve the objectives of the united nations and the neighbor demanded it is with the hostages there will be a peaceful resolution if with a lot of noise haven't seen what he has to gain actually go into all over the united states because this is not vietnam this is not a jungle it does not have a major supply as he does not have a friendly country had a sport that has no means of replenishing its military machine and there's no place to hide in now in iraq and all of the neighbors of iraq are hostile to it so and the laws of his military capacity that we couldn't go in his immediate neighborhood and frankly that's one of its neighbors want this is what the president of coke it was really hinted at that they should be a general solution which means we can and get out and that connects that moment when rescue or a question that arises out of all those others seem to be suggesting some in this country some

overseas that in the first crisis after the cold war the us is the only country with the power to lead but that it needs united nations approval to legitimate the use of that power rich little softly played is that true and what the united states needs of the voters to be perceived at the end of this crisis as having acted in the general interest that is not necessarily and what nations will say before every individual american x action and this is a very important test of the new world order that its image in the question actually not and the conditions of the cold war saddam was they might've calculated that he'd been more or less friendly to the soviet union would be opposed by the united states' automatically now he may be made with every local but then it's

free of the constraints of the cold war so we have an opportunity to establish the principle of a peaceful and emotional and i am convinced from what i know of that if this ends with the achievement of the un objective third of it actually withdrawn from calais had a distillation of the government leaders have in our lives whether we have good and conversely if we fail or leave the odd having achieved its objectives we will have lost a great deal of respect and prestige and they will be moving into a very chaotic let's connect your earlier point that saddam hussein used to be convinced that the us is prepared to is prepared to act was a new york times editorial calls you lose by implication a hasty hawk today for suggesting that the

us may have to use force before american public patience wears thin explain your real business and so much american publication my reasoning is that the presence of hundreds of thousands of foreign troops and south is over it's a massive intrusion in the governance of a country that has lifted more or less secluded life that if they a stalemate develops that is it that in our guest incorrectly said that that gradually became friendly countries to us and get it implemented it will be painted as having invited him to they're in paris and they stop some wonderful stuff and the question will be as minister light at the end of the tunnel it's not self evident than that the

blockade will be maintained if the price of oil keeps going on and and the longer announced as an occupation of going the cricket the fundamental issue will be forget i'm not saying we should back tomorrow morning and i know the president has a very difficult decision to make he has to balance the need for being perceived to have acted prudently against the dangers that i'm describing but it's a finite than that bull and this is in a better position to judge of the nine and if it goes beyond that and we are pushed into really got action then i believe the most of what the invention is the bag and because of these local of those other issues so i want to understand

we appeal to the point of no return and if we do not achieve the un of chickens that then we live in american troops were conventional wisdom at the moment is that the presence of all those citizens their whatever the state however much hostages they are that should not run us policy everybody's been saying that presidential pick up the way president carter was trapped when in fact does their presence not do exactly what saddam hussein wants it to do and that is prevent any us attack to force him out of kuwait or to preempt the lab goes out of the president in his decision that entity it relatively easy to sit here and talk about it without that responsibility that he faces the fact is however that at any one point in time that tens of thousands of americans around the rim if any brutal response of the government can see several cell thousand of them in there

masoud of its tourist and aggressive designs and it's been protected ironically by americans then a more american lives will be lost because so now later this process will lead to lead to an explosion that no no group of american hostages can i do not believe that the iraqis when push comes to shove permit many american hostages to be killed because once that process starts this situation will get worse and worse and the american rage against them will get credit and credit the more american i'll get killed or found out what it is it's a major cities i believe however that the best way to avoid hostages they've taken in the future is to de value of the hostages that exits and the more

we focus on hostages the more likely be mitigated started reporting in iran you know that i couldn't i mean we're just have less than a minute could literally do you see a situation now rising where would become so important to as you put it in an article over the weekend surgically and progressively reduces military assets militarily that that would become more important than alive than risking some american civilian lives it's north of saddam hussein remains convinced that this is the president's ultimate determination if he hadn't convinced of that that it's a good probability of a peaceful solution ahmed ahmed west of the nile river kissinger center richard journalist ha ha yeah in other news today nasa lost radio contact with a magellan

spacecraft for the second time in five days engineers heard a brief signal from at the sackler no raising halted contact could be restored the magellan is orbiting venus its mission is to take pictures of the planet so it can be mapped the first pictures came in yesterday they showed a landscape blanketed with craters and level flows as well as readers and balance and south africa sixty nine more people were killed in violent between rival black tribes happen overnight into black townships near johannesburg police moved in after dawn the death toll from the fighting there in the past ten days is up to five hundred and eight once again today's developments in the middle east crisis president bush activated military reservists to bolster us forces in the persian gulf were said the us does not heed need additional un approval to enforce the blockade against iraq another aircraft carrier task force arrived in the head area bringing us our mother to more than thirty ships iraq claimed to unidentified aircraft penetrated its airspace from the direction of saudi

arabia the state department rejected rats order to close the us embassy in kuwait by friday jordan said it was closing its borders to refugees from kuwait and iraq and the president of turkey told the newshour tonight with the region has pursued the war than ever imagine and i'm robin we'll see a long night with among other things a conversation with defense expert edward edward looper i'm jim lehrer i thank you and goodnight funding for the newshour has been provided by at and t at and to connect and equipment working on computers to communications at and t the right choice and by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation a catalyst for change and by pepsico and made possible by the financial support of viewers like you and the corporation for public broadcasting

schools public libraries other organizations and home viewers may purchase news hour video cassettes by calling toll free eight hundred four to four seven nine six three yes mm hmm and as tensions rise in the delta america exports its military options what will be the outcome of the whole picture on the macneil lehrer newshour

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