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

DATE: MONDAY, April 1, 1991                   TAG: 9104010188
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MIDEAST BATTLE WON, BUT NOT THE WAR

THE MILITARY victory for Kuwait was only a single battle won, not the war. In preparing for the conflict, the government relied on the prospect of a military solution without giving ample consideration to the non-military aspects. As in other Middle East conflicts, and Korea, we have a temporary cease-fire, but no end of hostilities, no peace treaty; and we have an administration that doesn't know who it wants to support in Iraq, and who it should bargain with.

The next stage unfolds. On the Iraqi front: civil war, the use of gas and napalm, the collapse of society, and a fragmentation between ethnic and religious minorities. On the allied front: a collapse of the coalition, a scrambling for financial and political gain, a government crackdown on freedom in Kuwait, a weaseling out of monetary commitments. At home, the administration has used its cache of patriotic fervor, and now raises expectations by promising to bring the troops home soon.

The quagmire of the sands is only beginning. In a year, thousands of our troops will still be in the desert, the Pyrrhic victory will be seen as the temporary rout that it was, many returning troops will be in worse economic straits than when they left, and Congress will plead inability to offer relief. Mr. Bush will be scrambling to maintain a semblance of his former popularity.

We must not pay more so the president can save face and avoid being sucked into the vortex of history where many a pompous leader has disappeared before. We should not follow, but put our hopes in people who have an understanding of history beyond cliches and who have a world vision that relies on our human capacity for reason rather than our baser traits of manipulation and destruction.

JEFFREY W. LONDON\ BLACKSBURG

by CNB