Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 8, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Itu Winnipeg free press january Page focus Bush ignores War curbs Washington while covering this City in the Early 1970s for the Mon Treal i watched the Congress pass the War Powers Resolution with which president George Bush had to comply when he sent troops into Panama in Bush complied with neither the spirit nor the letter of the resold he did not consult Congress he did not meet the deadline of reporting within 48 hours to Congress his dispatch of it was a sign of his administrations limited respect for a Law even less respected when Ronald Reagan was in no president has liked the Resolution since it became Law in Richard Nixon vetoed it and saw his veto overridden by both houses of he was he called it both dangerous and Gerald who succeeded him As president when he resigned the following opposed the Reso Lution in House debate while he was House Republican minority he resented it As when he used troops in Southeast Asia to end the Mayaguez Inci less vocal Democrat Jimmy who Defeated Ford in the 1976 presiden tial was less vocal but faced similar circumstances when he ordered the ill fated desert one attempt to Rescue diplomatic hostages in the War Powers Resolution has been As a spiteful act by congressional Liber als against it did become Public Law num Ber 93148 during his presidency and some Liberal democrats did see it As a Way to wound him other Liberal demo fought like tigers against they argued that it would give him in that he did not have in the constr the Resolution actually was the culmination of a Congress White House Battle that had begun to wards the end of the it sprang from mainly Senate dissatisfaction with what was seen As Lyndon Johnsons imperious con duct of the undeclared Vietnam War on the basis of the Tonkin that Resolution was passed by an overwhelming majority in both houses in a fit of patriotic indignation Over an incident in the Gulf of Tonkin that May never have Hap elected in was in the White House by the time congressional rage had coalesced into at tempts to push through a form of War Powers Resolution in 1971 and it would have happened no matter who was in the Oval the fundamental Issue was con an Early draft of the Constitution would have Given Congress the Power to make the 1787 constitutional convention in Philadelphia changed that verb to the president was Given the Posi Tion of Coinman Perinchief of All armed with the implied responsibility of repelling at tacks on the Young no Congress has placed limits on presidents right to deploy troops David Macdonald Washington editor body was thinking about involvement in foreign wars at that after the constitutions 1789 Rati for the remainder of the 18th Century and for most of the 19th presidents interpreted their Powers As allowing them to use troops to protect lives and property outside the republics Bor for chasing criminals who skipped across Borders and for suppressing the presidency of Franklin de Lano Roosevelt and the second world War saw an increase in presidential notably to commit troops to no congressional declarations of War were made when presidents sent troops to Korea and then Vietnam to fight what were obviously the epic political Battle of 1973 Over War Powers took place in the context of the secret bombing of it outraged opponents of the Vietnam War on general it angered Many in con Gress specifically because they regarded it As an arrogant Assumption of the kind of absolute authority that had led to the War of Independence against the House of representatives voted May to command a halt to the bombing of the Senate followed an aggrieved Nixon signed the Bill into Law that summer because he calculated that he had no political the bombing ended August that same the War Powers Resolution was passed by both this Nixon did use his eight times that year he had vetoed each Congress had failed to prod uce the two thirds majority in each House to override his veto and Force the measure into four reasons this time was for four one was congressional rage about the secret another was the watergate scan still unfolding thanks to Brilliant newspaper reporting and dog ged congressional a third was widespread anger at Nixon imperious firing of water Gate special prosecutor Archibald whose of unimpeachable integrity rivalled that of Abraham a fourth was a developing Row Over disclosure of tapes of Nixon watergate discussions in the Oval after a tremendous corridor Bat the for the House voted 284 135 on november to override Nixon Only four votes More than the required two thirds a four hours the Senate concurred by which was a comfortable 13 More than the required the measure became Law and presidents were henceforth compelled to notify the congressional leadership in writing within 48 hours of sending troops abroad to any such excursion was limited to 60 a president was permitted to take a further 30 if solely for the purpose of ensuring the Safe withdrawal of the the president was urged to consult with Congress before and after sending troops to an area of hostilities or imminent How did Bush do he failed to consult Congress before invading he by Tele key congressional leaders december a few hours before the 82nd airborne division began jumping into Long after any plan could be he sent written notification of what had happened to House speaker Tom and Senate Leader Robert Byrd on december a full 60 hours after the invasion since the Capitol can be seen from the White House grounds and can be comfortably walked to in half an the lawbreaking 12hour delay was obviously in tended to express presidential Dis pleasure at this crimp on what Nixon called executive priv he will get away with it because invading Panama was massively popular in the United so despised is Manuel he will also get away with it because few in this City of the Short political attention Span recall the political passions of 1973 or the reasons Why the Resolution seemed like such a Good idea at that frigate program in trouble again by John Best special to the free press biggest Mil itary equipment program a billion scheme to provide the Navy with a dozen new Frig ates has hit Stormy and the Outlook is for More trouble lust up with increasing embarrassment for the Mulroney gov the extraordinary tale of the Frig ates took an especially bizarre turn recently with the outbreak of open hostilities Between the prime con tractor and its major subcontract the apparently Long brew broke out after the Quebe gov Enmen owned Mil group disclosed that it was in deep financial difficulty largely because of the frigate Quebec has warned that the Mil shipyard at near Quebec might close unless Federal help is since three of the first six ships Are supposed to be built at that would Deal a serious blow to the Bug infested frigate Arthur president of Saint John shipbuilding the prime has shown Little sympathy for mils he suggested that any Mil contract default will be a result of mismanagement and a Lack of Mil for its part has accused Saint John shipbuilding of withholding in drawings and other vital the spectacle of the two principal contractors feuding in Public casts a thick pall Over a program plagued with design problems and other bugs from the Start nearly seven years the first originally scheduled to be delivered to the Navy last is not now expected to be handed Over until this fall at the the defence departments project office although deeply is maintaining a cautious neutrality in the War of words Between Saint John shipbuilding and it is a sensitive says Commodore Mike the project he manages to put on a Brave front one Way or another Well get asked whether All six ships in the first Batch could end up being constructed at Saint rather than three there and three in que Bec Saker anything is but he quickly added i dont think its Worth speculating on what can the which Saker did not have to spell is simply that any speculation along those lines is Polit ical politics Are at the Root of Many of the problems now engulfing the frigate it was in a general that drove the Trudeau Liberal government to compel Saint John As a condition of being awarded the main contract in to share the work with Lawrence River that decision added around million to the Cost of the first six an argument can be made nevertheless that it was a Small Premium to pay in the larger inter est of National trouble arose from another source a dizzying series of corporate restructurings which saw the original versatile it was replaced several metamorphoses later by Marine industries and then Sim ply with the Quebec govern ment As major somewhere along the some body Profita Dloss calculations slipped out of Mil is now said to be losing Money not Only on the frigates but on a Federal govern ment ferry and a billion and counting contract to update four tribal class perhaps stung by its thoroughly miserable experience with the first Batch of the Federal government reversed itself on the Sec Ond awarding the contract As Well As All the work to Saint this infuriated Quebec who claimed that the province had been promised it would again get a slice of the it is hard to resist the feeling that Quebec present hardball position represents a pitch for a Federal bailout of among the provinces demands Are a renegotiation of the frigate but Quebec mils con tract is with Saint John not the Federal and from the Way Saint Johns Arthur Nightingale has been Saint John hardly seems in a renegotiating Saint Johns attention these Days is riveted on getting the first the delivered to the it is a priority most eagerly shared by the Federal project which is painfully conscious of the toll this whole program could now take on Public support for Mili tary purchases especially in a period of declining East West ten the first delivery is already about 18 months behind and the delay is having a serious Ripple effect on the rest of the but when the Halifax does enter it will give the government something to show at Long last for the More than billion already poured into this Battle scarred artists rendition of a new Canadian ecologists study at Chicken Little collegiate Why do we get the impression that putting four environmentalists in a room will result in at least six different opinions on How we should save the world consider the most recent controversy Over the location of a new Headquarters for ducks ducks unlimited was an environmentally conscious organization before the words meant anything like they do ducks unlimited is made up of human beings who practice True if not always for motives considered to be pure in today they want the Duck population of North America to they do not advocate mindless avoidance of Contact Between who make up one animal with another species which were once part of the food Chain of the they advocate the prudent harvesting of the surplus Duck in a manner which would guarantee an Exten Sion of natures own conservation the survival of the fittest and considering these it is not Surpris ing that ducks unlimited has had a Runin with some who Call themselves environment ducks unlimited needs a new head quarters to accommodate its expanded it wants to build this Headquarters adjacent to a where employees can get a first hand View of the reason for their a View of a vibrant and healthy Duck in the eyes of others who claim the Protection of the environment As their first of fog and ducks Jug not Good Miro human beings Are basically animals who have Learned to manage their waste the these waste Fred Cleverley cities to other a dese cration of the Duck the pattern being taken by the dispute is it is a danger to the the Headquarters of an organization devoted to conservation offends the conservation objectives of others who apparently think that the Only place suitable for humans is in Urban we have a Hole in the no one knows for sure How Long we have had the Hole in the but we Are asked to behave As if it is a relatively recent a real and present danger to life on and to act we do not know for sure what caused the or what can be done to repair it needs but we Are asked to act As if we did know the cause and the procedure for we Are told that we might be in danger from electric transmission scientists have been unable to replicate in Labora tories any changes in cells which could be directly related to the presence of electric transmission no scientist has been Able to produce Clear evidence that trans Mission lines Emit any kind of electro magnetic Field or radiation of Energy that adversely affects human because frag suggested that such danger May we Are asked to behave As if it to spend vast sums of Public Money to protect against a danger that defies measurement if a danger cannot be How much avoidance is justified what it All boils Down to is the impossibility of proving a we May not be Able to measure a and yet we cannot state with absolute certainty that absolutely no danger one of the Best examples of or the perception of gone mad can be found quite easily in the now Long about the possibility that fish we ate contained unacceptable Levels of we did not know what an acceptable level of Mercury but we had the ability to detect five parts of Mercury per million parts of we set the acceptable level of Mercury at the detection As a result we managed to wipe out most of the fresh water fish Industry in Whitefish and other species taken from Lake Winnipeg in most greater than five parts of Mercury per million parts of they were taken off the it was assumed that the fish were unacceptable because of manmade where people had been adversely affected by eating fish which contained much higher Levels of the Metal could be traced to nearby pulp it did not seem to occur to anyone that there were no pulp Mills located anywhere that could produce Mercury in Lake Winni it also did not seem to occur to anyone to determine what the level of Mercury would be if there were no manmade contamination of any this was not determined until Long after the Freshwater fishing Industry largely Dis appeared from Only then were fish tested which came from lakes so Remote that there was no possibility of pollution because of anything Mankind had the results of these tests the fish were found to have Levels of Mercury which were above the acceptable and detectable Levels which had been adopted As a Benchmark to satisfy environmental not too Many people Are in any danger of eating Mercury polluted fish from mainly because not too Many fish from Manitoba still reach their traditional mar the fact that there was never any manmade Mercury pollution present in Lake Winnipeg fish is unfortunate for those who once earned their living by fishing the but of no great concern to the Environ there Are new worlds to the air is becoming the planet is heating and of there is always cause to worry about the not Only the few species that Are really end an but All just ask anyone from doonesbury by Garry Trudeau Hou about maximum to Consul Amian ing Ruof mamas govern ing institutions Wisa ;