
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991                   TAG: 9102050560
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-9   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOE TENNIS/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD                                LENGTH: Medium

PROXMIRE SAYS WAR IN GULF UNAVOIDABLE

Former Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire gave his view on "America in the Gulf: The Road Ahead" at Radford University on Monday night, saying he could not recall anything "more engrossing, more exciting" than war.

"Some things in life are unavoidable," he said about the United States' involvement in the Persian Gulf war. "And you've got to pay for them."

But Proxmire said "it looks like a war we can't lose. . . . It's a real puzzle [that] Iraq has been able to hold out as long as it has."

Proxmire, who retired from the Senate in 1989 after 31 years, said he would not have decided to drop bombs on Iraq as quickly as President Bush did.

Instead, Proxmire said economic sanctions should have continued longer. "They would weaken Iraq, which they did," he said. "My position is: Give sanctions a longer time."

More than 200 attended the speech at Radford's Preston Hall Auditorium. Many appeared to be students taking notes for class reports on Proxmire.

"We pay more taxes than we've ever paid," Proxmire said. Criticizing the recent federal gas tax, Proxmire said, "It doesn't make any sense to raise taxes in a recession."

Democrat Proxmire said the U.S. military force was in the Middle East to "stop further aggression," but he entertained the idea of a war for oil and suggested ways for Americans to cut down on their dependence on oil.

One way is for the government to require new autos to be more fuel-efficient, he said. And he urged other forms of energy such as natural gas, solar power, nuclear power and gasohol be used.

Proxmire suggested the United States search for oil in other parts of the world. Importing oil from Middle East nations, he predicted, will always be a problem for the country. "We can expect to be in trouble there forever," he said.

Still, if the war is focused on the oil issue, Proxmire thinks other countries should be sharing the military responsibility with the United States. Proxmire said 61.6 percent of the allied military presence in the Persian Gulf consists of American personnel. He cited a list of other military percentages, then came up with the conclusion: "We should institutionalize international cooperation."

During a question period after Proxmire's speech, a student asked: What would happen if Iraqi forces pulled out of Kuwait tomorrow?

"The war would end," Proxmire guessed.

by CNB