Tage 'Two, Tfie Mletfieia
Why the Crisis ?
By: Shannon Hodgins
Staff Writer
"We don't want war. We
hate war. We know what
war does."
—Saddam Hussein-
apx. one week before
invasion of Kuwait
Students through
out the country are pay
ing close attention to
world events of the past
several months. One
reason may be that
friends, boyfriends, sis
ters and brothers may
very well be at, or going
to the Middle East. For
others concern falls in
the area of rising gas
prices (Which econo
mists predict will be at
$2.00 during the next
couple of weeks). What
ever the reason for your
concern, events in the
world are quite contro
versial.
If you haven't
been updated on recent
events, here is a quick
summary of world
events concerning the
U.S. and Iraq. Iraq's
previous war with Iran
left Hussein and his
country bankrupt.
Hussein faced a dept of
60 billion dollars and a
food shortage, thus the
possibility of being over
thrown. Hussein is re
vered in his coimtry for
advances achieved while
in power, including a
higher literacy rate, but
the situation in Iraq was
quite unstable. At one
Arab conference
Hussein demanded
help, to the tune of 30
billion, and claimed that
if his demands were not
methe wouldinvade and
sieze what he wanted.
Some of his demands
included: Kuwait writ
ing off wartime loans
and the cease of pump
ing more crude oil than
Opec allowed. In addi
tion, Kuwait blocks
Iraq's path to shipping
lands in the Persian Gulf.
Thus, Saddam deployed
troops on the border, also
hiding his intentions to
invade to the press.
Hussein also claimed
that the invasion was in
response to an appeal by
young revolutionaries.
The U.S. plays a
great part in these events
due to the amount of oil
it receives from Iraq and
Kuwait. The Arabs
themselves are a private
people, and do not want
to involve the U.S. un
less necessary. One
political maneuver that
could help the situation
and force Iraq to leave
Kuwait would be sus
taining a leakproof
embargo on the pur
chase of oil from Kuwait
and Iraq. Also, Hussein
is almost entirely de
pendent on good im
ports to his country. A
blocking of imports and
exports to and from his
country could help
speed the release of all
U.S. hostages and the
evacuation of Kuwait.
Russia has lent
support by completely
stopping arms ship
ments to Iraq. France,
Britain and even Japan
have joined the cause to
stop Hussein from keep
ing Kuwait, all with just
reason. The C.I. A. states
that Iraq is only 5 years
away from total nuclear
capability. One student's
opinion states the way
many Americans feel,
"Hussein is crazy, and
very scary." President
Bush is quoted as stat
ing that military action
is not out of the ques
tion, approximately
140,000 troops are al
ready stationed
throughout the Pacific.
Bush states, "We will
review our options."
However, Bush is main
taining a calm outlook
on the world events. His
outlook seems to be level
and strong concerning
the events of the Middle
East.
Night Light
And they over
came him with
the blood of the
Lamb and the
word of their
testimony, that
they did not love
their life even
unto death.
—Revelation 12:11
Ouotables
"Blessed is the
man who, know
ing nothing, re
frains from giving
wordy evidence of
the fact."
—Unknown
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