Here are excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States and abroad. --- Nov. 13 Birmingham (Ala.) Post-Herald on the Persian Gulf crisis: Whatever lies ahead in the Persian Gulf, the large new deployment of forces ordered by President Bush is justified. ... The magnitude of the force being built up in the gulf sends a necessary message, too, to all Americans: This commitment is irrevocable - and may be costly. War against Iraq would be no quick-fix intervention on the order of Grenada or Panama. It could be long and bloody. President Bush, who has handled many aspects of the gulf crisis with skill, has yet to level with the public about the possible sacrifice ahead. --- Nov. 11 Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald on the Persian Gulf: It would be reassuring if Bush toned down the rhetoric while he built up the armies, as well. There may yet be a diplomatic solution to this crisis. There have been suggestions that Iraq might be satisifed with better access to the sea, control of an uninhabited sandbar and an indemnity for Kuwait's well-documented theft of oil and its shenanigans in the oil cartels. With these conditions, Kuwait could be restore as an independent nation, perhaps with a U.N. peace-keeping force stationed there. If such a settlement is possible, it ought to be sought. It is far more attractive than the war. Saddam may yet reject it, of course. Then the consequences are on his shoulders. If it is not offered before thousands of lives are lost, the president will need to explain his failure as a diplomat to his people and to history. --- Nov. 13 The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette on the Persian Gulf: Is President Bush preparing to invade Iraq and Kuwait, without asking Congress for a declaration of war, just as he invaded Panama without Congress' approval? Would he do it without a United Nations decision authorizing warfare? Questions like these hang in the air as Bush continues his bellicose tone and his military buildup in the Middle East. ... Bush contends that he is acting to deter aggression, to undo Iraq's seizure of tiny Kuwait. But that's window-dressing. ... No, America and other nations are acting strictly to protect the Mideast oil supply that sustains the industrialized world - an understandable goal. The nagging question is: does one man have the right, all by himself, to plunge America into a major war? ... We would feel less uneasy if he would promise not to send 400,000 young Americans into a blood bath without asking Congress first. --- Nov. 13 Delaware County Daily Times, Primos, Pa., on the death of Stormie Jones: Doctors are vigorously trying to find out what exactly killed Stormie Jones, the 13-year-old Texas girl who underwent a historic heart-liver transplant in 1984. ... But all forensic medical technology in the world is useless in telling us what kept Stormie going and her chin up the past 6{ years. Stormie battled her way through hell - a living hell. She survived a war in which many of us would have been mentally conquered. ... This courageous little girl captured the hearts of America - time and time again as she showed us all how to manhandle adversity and what it really means to live. ... --- Nov. 8 The Marietta (Ohio) Times on the U.S. elections: An expert, as most people know, is someone who offers an opinion from far away. ``Pork barrel'' is used to describe government money that funds a project in somebody else's neighborhood. Now, Tuesday's national election figures have given us a new definition: ``Bum'' is somebody else's congressman. ``Throw the bums out!'' supposedly was the cry of the land, at least according to media prophets before the election. Wednesday morning, however, America woke up to find Congress almost exactly as it was before the vote - before the budget-tax debacle, before the savings and loan bailout, before the pay raise issue, before ethics inquiries, before any of the other decisions that supposedly inflamed right-thinking patriots ... So, basically, on election day, we got what we asked for. We apparently are being duly represented. --- Nov. 12 The New Mexican, Santa Fe, N.M., on the elections: What the voters did on Nov. 6 should give neither the Republicans nor the Democrats much comfort. Neither major party really won or lost much. Although the returns gave a few members reason to worry because of the closeness of the tally, they set the U.S. on no new course. The state of the economy and events in the Persian Gulf will probably do more to shape politics in the next two years than did Election Day, 1990. . .. If messages were sent to Congress they were that taxes are unpopular, perhaps even more unpopular than the Democrats believed. Despite the difficulty of this year's tax fight, and the votes' reaction to it, taxes will probably be an issue both in 1991 and 1992. The sour taste of the 1990 tax debate likely sets the stage for harder fights over budget cutting in 1991 and 1992. ... ---
