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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Janvary 22, 1991 -- 7 ABOUT THIS WAR It's Friday morning, January 18 as | write this (the start of day three of the Gulf War). Like most Canadians, and indeed people in many countries, | have spent a fair amount of time in front of the TV set and with my ear tuned to the radio, trying to keep on top of the latest information about the Gulf War. Strange how times and dates of important world events stick in one's mind. Last Wednesday evening, for example, when the news came over the TV about the first massive Allied air attack on Iraq and Iraqi po- sitions in Kuwait, | was just getting ready to go out for an evening walk. | finally got that walk some four hours later, men- tally exhausted from watching the TV and trying to make some sense out of all the facts and information thrown my way by an army of commentators, ex- generals, university profs, and systems analysts of nds. | continued to watch the TV that first night of war well into the small hours of the morning before finally drifting into a troubled sleep. A couple of times that first night, as | sat in Pyia- mas and house-coat, my feet up, sipping a hot cofiee, listening to talk of 600 or 700 air sorties (he sounded like a commentator at football game) | thought of my own comfort and by contrast the agony that hun- dreds, perhaps thousands of people must be feeling at that very moment, those on the receiving end of the weapons delivered by the 600 to 700 sorties. Of course | was heartened by the initial reports from Washington that the air strikes had achieved re- markable success in knocking out Iragi chemical plants, fighter planes, airports, communications and command centres, and the launching sites of those SCUD missiles. Amazing, | thought to myself, that all the Ameri- can, British, Kuwait and Saudi planes returned safely. Amazing that the strikes against Baghdad were So accurate, taking out strategic targets while leaving the residential areas almost un-scathed. Well, as it turned out, the Allied Forces did lose four planes that first night of battle. And like the commentators said time after time that night, where was the Iraqi counter-strike? Where were all those Mirage and MiG-29 front line jets? Where were the dreaded missiles, the ones armed with chemical and gas war-heads? Like many perhaps, | hoped that the initial strikes by the Allies had been so devastating and so accu- rate that they had dealt a mortal blow to the war ma- chine of Saddam Hussein. Of course, the more | thought about it, the less sense it made. Saddam has had months to prepare his positions for the initial heavy air attacks. There is just no way that one night of bombing would destroy the capacity of Saddam to wage war. The next night, (day two of the war) he did strike, sending eight or ten SCUDS into Israel. And what a dastardly move that was; an unbelievably crude at- tempt to draw the Israelis into this mad conflict. The fact those initial SCUDS fired at Israel were aimed at civilian areas is a pretty good indication of what kind of lunatic the world is dealing with in Sad- dam Hussein. The targets of those SCUDS had absolutely no strategic importance for Iraq. It was simply a cold- blooded attempt to kill civilians and force the Israeli government into retaliation, which in turn would drive a wedge into the United Nations coalition. Up until Saddam's first SCUD attack on Israeli NEL, li ll ae am iNt cities, my feelings about this war were mixed. Natu- rally, | hoped it would end soon. And | even hoped \ that Saddam would come to his senses, realize that he can't win, realize what terrible agony the war would bring to the Iraqi people. I hoped that all sides would find a way to end this | conflict through negotiation. J But my thinking changed last Thursday evening | about 7:00 PM EST., when the first reports of the SCUD attack on Israel reached North America. Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called Saddam "diabolical." For the first time in months, | agreed with Mulroney. By his crude attempt to bring Israel into this con- flict, Saddam showed his utter cold-blooded disdain for human life. He wants to turn other Arab states against the UN Allies and Israel; turn the conflict into a Regional war with fighting on several fronts; fighting that would be horrendously high in terms of human ife. | think at that moment, | became a hawk in this one. There is no reasoning with Saddam no matter how many of his people die, how much destruction rains down on his country. This guy is a bona fide threat to world peace. The Allies have no choice but to "take him out," and destroy as much of his armed forces in the pro- cess. - Which brings me to one final point. Remember, it is Friday morning (Jan. 18) as | write this. | have no way of knowing what happened over the weekend. Now that the real war is on, Canada's role has to change. We must do our part, painful as it may be, just as we'did in 1914, 1939 and 1951. This is not a peacekeeping action. This is war, total war, and there can be only one conclusion. Remember Letters to the editor | Slow mail delivery to Guadeloupe When? 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 17, 1946 Port Perry Junior C Hockey team played in Stouffville but lost the game by a score of 5-2 for Stouffville. Gordon Goode played an outstanding game in the nets for Port Perry. Word was received that the following personel were on the Queen Elizabeth which docked at New York and are expected home: Gdn. S.R. Kendall, Cpl. R.D. Burley, Pte. L.A. Ropers. Col. Bill MacBrien, a former Port Perry boy remembered his home town and treated the Port Perry Juvenile Hockey Team and their coach Mr. Roy Cornish, to a Maple Leaf Hockey Game on Young Canada Night at the Gardens. Before the game he took them on a tour of the mammoth ice freezing plant. Coach Cornish took the two captains Art Sheridan and Keith Marks to the players dressing room, where they were presented with hockey sticks autographed by all of the Maple Leaf players. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 19, 1956 Miss Hazel Reesor, a missionary on furlough from Nigeria, was the speaker at the W.M.S. meeting in the United Church. The Officers for the Royal Canadian Legion were installed for 1956. They were Frank Godley, president; Mike Hlozan, vice- president; Charles Brignall Sr., secretary-treasurer. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 19, 1961 Anson Gerrow, Reeve of Scugog Township was elected to [the office of Warden of the County of Ontario for 1961. On the third ballot the vote was Anson Gerrow 23 and Mr. Scott, Reeve of Pickering Township, 15. The new wing of the Port Perry High School will be official- ly opened by Hon. M.B. Dymond, Minister of Health for Ontario. 156 YEARS AGO Thursday, January 20, 1966 The rented home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Bonnell, Prince Albert was totally destroyed by fire last Sunday. Lack of water was blamed for the failure of Port Perry's Fire Department's efforts to save the house. A rink from Markham, skipped by Harold Coulter, won the Annual Senior Bonspiel held at the local curling arena and were the recipients of the Roy Cornish Trophy. Reeve Wilfred Gould of Uxbridge was elected Warden of On- tario County on Tuesday, January 18, 1966. Manchester News - Three properties have recently been sold in Manchester - the Tom Donnelly home, the J.W. Crosier (Turn to page 10) To the Editor: I am positive that I am your only Guadeloupe subscriber, and as my subscription is com- ing to its end, I would like to make a few comments about the delivery service between Port Perry and Pointe a Pitre, French West Indies. My subscription expired November 6, but I surely will Explanation of de Cuellar To the Editor: Why do news reporters and commentators always seem to refer to the UN Secretary- General by his full name, Javier Perez de Cuellar? Admittedly it is a mouthful, hard on the vocal cords, but it can be done. Sandy Rinaldo (CTV-CFTO) finally got it right without stumbling, although she had a baby in the meantime. But it isn't necessary to distinguish Javier from his putative brothers, Pedro, Gon- zalo, and Rodrigo Perez de Cuellar, nor any other Perez de Cuellar; they are not on the world stage. In Spain, the name Perez is about as common as our Smith; but the geographical surname Cuellar (accent mark on the e) distinguishes him from any other Perez. Cuellar is a small town (pop. in 1946 was 4,120) about half- way between Segovia and Valladolid. I trust this explanation will make it easier for everyone. Yours truly, Warren T. McCready Greenbank keep receiving the Port Perry Star until February, 1991. You see, I receive my week- ly Star every eight to ten weeks. For example, in December, I received all four of the October issues. Usually, they dribble in one at atime. As much as I enjoy compar- ing angry letters to the editor about teen-age music abuse (by the way, thank you for the let- ters from certain teen-age mu- sic abusers themselves) I had a . good laugh. This has gone on for one year, and as of today (Jan. 3,91) I am still waiting for the No- vember issues. My mother, who gave this subscription as a gift, visited the Star office several times to try to speed up delivery by de- leting postal or country codes on the address, all without suc- cess. The only thing that arrived here with incredible speed was the renewal notice asking for more money. I love reading about Port "Perry, but I'm not sure how in- teresting it will be to read about the ice going out of Lake Scu- gOg......... in the middle of July, which is when my paper will likely arrive in Guadeloupe. If you can possibly speed up the service, I would like to re- new my subscription. But if I have to spend another $60 for service like this, I guess I will just have to forget about Port Turn to Page 8 wi / ih ©1990 MILLER FEATURES -'h i J if /] 12 9 if) fi -- "You are two completely different personalities. That'll be 75 bucks each."