DATE=08/11/98 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10855 TITLE=EMBASSY BOMBING AFTERMATH:HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= INTRO: U-S NEWSPAPERS CONTINUE TO REACT WITH OUTRAGE AND FRUSTRATION AT THE EMBASSY BOMBINGS IN EAST AFRICA. ___________________ HAS A SAMPLING FOR US NOW IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE AMERICAN PRESS IS FILLED WITH RECRIMINATIONS AGAINST WHICHEVER GROUP COMMITTED THE BOMBINGS, PHILOSOPHICAL DISCUSSIONS ON HOW SAFE IS SAFE ENOUGH FOR U-S EMBASSIES ABROAD, AND CRITICISM OF THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S HANDLING OF PAST FOREIGN POLICY CHALLENGES THAT BELIES THE PRESIDENT'S TOUGH TALK ABOUT THIS LATEST ATTACK. THE CONSENSUS IS THAT THIS WAS NOT THE WORK OF A SMALL GROUP OF MADMEN, BUT A WELL-ORCHESTRATED ATTACK BY A WELL-ESTABLISHED GROUP OF TERRORISTS. AT LEAST ONE COMMENTARY PINS PART OF THE BLAME ON THE SUDAN, WHICH BORDERS KENYA AND HAS HARBORED TERRORISTS IN THE PAST. SEVERAL PAPERS MAKE MENTION OF THE RENEGADE SAUDI ARABIAN MILLIONAIRE AND TERRORIST-SUPPORTER OSAMA BIN LADEN. HE HAS DECLARED A JIHAD OR HOLY WAR AGAINST THE UNITED STATES, AND NOW RESIDES IN AFGHANISTAN, AS A FUGITIVE FROM SAUDI JUSTICE. WE BEGIN OUR SAMPLING OF ADDITIONAL COMMENT ON THE BOMBING AND ITS AFTERMATH IN NEBRASKA, WHERE "THE OMAHA WORLD-HERALD" NOTES HOW HARD IT IS TO MAKE ALL THE EMBASSIES AND CONSULATES TOTALLY SAFE FROM TERRORIST ATTACKS. VOICE: THE BOMBING OF U-S EMBASSIES .... ILLUSTRATED THE UNFORTUNATE FACT THAT NO AMERICAN EMBASSY, NO MATTER HOW ISOLATED FROM TERRORISM IT MAY SEEM, CAN BE CONSIDERED SAFE. ... EXPERTS WHO STUDY TERRORISM AND SECURITY HAVE SUGGESTED, IN REACTION TO THE BOMBINGS, THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO DETER AN ATTACK EXCEPT TO BE AWARE OF IT BEFORE IT HAPPENS. THAT WOULD REQUIRE IMPROVEMENTS IN INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AND ANALYSIS. ... THE C-I-A HAS NOT DISTINGUISHED ITSELF IN RECENT MONTHS IN INTELLIGENCE-GATHERING. TEXT: HERE IN THE NATION'S CAPITOL, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" LAMENTS THAT EMBASSIES COULD HAVE BEEN SOMEWHAT SAFER IF A THOROUGH SECURITY STUDY, CHAIRED BY THE FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE C-I-A, ADMIRAL BOBBY INMAN, SOME YEARS AGO HAD NOT BEEN CUT BACK BECAUSE OF THE COST. VOICE: MR. INMAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS, PRODUCED IN 1985, WERE EXTENSIVE. FOR PURPOSES OF THE CURRENT INVESTIGATION, IT IS RELEVANT THAT THEY INCLUDED TWO-AND-THREE-QUARTER-METER-WALLS AROUND EMBASSIES AND A SET-BACK OF ROUGHLY 30 METERS FROM THE STREET -- TO ABSORB THE IMPACT OF A POTENTIAL CAR OR TRUCK BOMB. THE ESTIMATED COST OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS WAS FOUR-POINT-FIVE BILLION FOR 280 EMBASSIES, AN AMOUNT CONGRESS SLASHED TO TWO-POINT-SEVEN BILLION -- A SUM INSUFFICIENT TO COVER ALL INSTALLATIONS THAT NEEDED IT WORLDWIDE. .... SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT HAS SUGGESTED THAT SHE MAY ASK CONGRESS FOR MORE FUNDING FOR EMBASSY SECURITY, AND CONGRESS NEEDS TO ACT SPEEDILY ON MRS. ALBRIGHT'S PROPOSALS. TEXT: THE EDITORIAL HEADLINE IN TODAY'S "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" READS: "TERRORISM IN AFRICA DEMANDS STERN ACTION," BUT THE PAPER GOES ON TO LAMENT THE LACK OF RESULTS IN PROSECUTING TERRORISTS. VOICE: "THE NEW YORK TIMES LISTS 13 TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST U-S INTERESTS ABROAD SINCE 1983 IN WHICH 630 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED. IN NONE OF THOSE CASES HAVE THE TERRORISTS BEEN BROUGHT TO TRIAL. ALTHOUGH JUSTICE MAY BE UNCERTAIN IN SUCH TERRORIST ATTACKS IN FOREIGN LANDS, WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP THE PURSUIT. 'WE DON'T FORGIVE. WE DON'T FORGET, SAID P-J CROWLEY, SPOKESMAN FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL. THAT IS EXACTLY THE MESSAGE THAT SHOULD BE HEARD AROUND THE WORLD, AND [PRESIDENT] CLINTON MUST ENLIST EVERY CIVILIZED NATION AS ALLIES IN THE INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT. TEXT: "THE NEW YORK TIMES" RUNS THIS COLUMN BY THOMAS FRIEDMAN, IN WHICH HE POINTS OUT SEVERAL U-S RESPONSES TO A VARIETY OF CHALLENGES BY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS FROM IRAQ TO ISRAEL TO KOSOVO PROVINCE, IN WHICH THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION HAS VOICED POWERFUL RHETORIC, AND THEN DONE, IN MR. FRIEDMAN'S VIEW, ESSENTIALLY NOTHING. VOICE: IN THE WAKE OF THE U-S EMBASSY BOMBINGS ... THE WHITE HOUSE KEPT PUTTING OUT THE SAME SOUND BITE ... 'WE WILL NOT FORGIVE AND WE WILL NOT FORGET.' THAT IS A NOBLE SENTIMENT. THERE IS ONLY ONE PROBLEM. IF YOU LOOK AT THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION'S FOREIGN POLICY OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS THERE HAS BEEN A CONSISTENT PATTERN OF FORGIVING AND FORGETTING. ... WE END UP WITH ALL THE DISADVANTAGES OF BEING THE WORLD'S RICHEST AND MOST POWERFUL NATION -- EVERYONE MAKES YOU A TARGET -- WITHOUT ANY OF THE ADVANTAGES, LIKE FEELING AS THOUGH WE ARE SHAPING WORLD EVENTS OUR WAY. /// OPT /// IT SEEMS IN RECENT MONTHS AS THOUGH WE HAVE GONE FROM A ONE-SUPERPOWER WORLD TO A NO-SUPERPOWER WORLD, AND THAT IS SOMETHING NO ONE SHOULD FORGET OR FORGIVE. /// END OPT /// TEXT: FROM DENVER, "THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS" INTERNATIONAL COLUMNIST HOLGER JENSEN SINGLES OUT SUDAN FOR AT LEAST POSSIBLE COMPLICITY, NOTING: VOICE: GIVEN SUDAN'S REPUTATION FOR HELPING TERRORISTS AND ITS COMMON BORDER WITH KENYA, THERE IS GOOD REASON TO SUSPECT THAT THE BOMBERS AND EXPLOSIVES THEY DETONATED IN NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM EITHER TRANSITED SUDAN OR ORIGINATED THERE. WITHOUT POINTING ANY FINGERS, ONE CAN ALSO SAY THAT MOST TERRORIST THREATS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES ORIGINATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. .... THE 16-MONTH STALEMATE IN IMPLEMENTING THE PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI PEACE ACCORD NEGOTIATED IN OSLO HAS SENT MANY PALESTINIANS INTO THE RANKS OF ISLAMIC EXTREMISM. HAMAS AND ISLAMIC JIHAD CANNOT BE EXCLUDED FROM THE LIST OF SUSPECTS. /// OPT /// AND THE LATEST CONFRONTATION WITH IRAQ OVER U-N ARMS INSPECTIONS RAISES THE POSSIBILITY THAT IRAQI DICTATOR SADDAM HUSSEIN SENT HIS AGENTS OR HIRED OUTSIDERS TO STRIKE AT AMERICAN INTERESTS ABROAD. /// END OPT /// TEXT: FROM TEXAS, "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS" OFFERS THESE SUGGESTIONS. VOICE: ... THERE ARE SUSPECTS APLENTY. IRAN, WHICH THE U-S STATE DEPARTMENT CONSIDERS THE PRINCIPAL SPONSOR OF STATE TERRORISM IN THE WORLD, COULD HAVE BEEN INVOLVED. IRAQ, WHICH CHAFES UNDER UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS FOR TRYING TO DEVELOP WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, COULD HAVE ALSO. AND SHEIK OSAMA BIN LADEN, THE RENEGADE SAUDI MILLIONAIRE WHO HAS DECLARED PRIVATE HOLY WAR AGAINST THE UNITED STATES AND IS BELIEVED TO BE HIDING OUT WITH ISLAMIC MILITANTS IN AFGHANISTAN, TOPS MANY LISTS. ... THE UNITED STATES WILL NEVER BE THE KIND OF COUNTRY THAT PURSUES TERRORISTS USING THE METHODS OF TERRORISTS, ABANDONING DUE PROCESS IN THE RIGHTEOUS PURSUIT OF JUSTICE. BUT SOMEHOW IT NEEDS TO LET TERRORISTS AND THEIR PROTECTORS KNOW THAT THERE IS PRICE TO PAY FOR LARGE SCALE MURDER AND MAYHEM. TEXT: AND LASTLY, FROM "THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH" THIS FATALISTIC SUMMATION. VOICE: WORLD-CLASS POWERS HAVE WORLD-CLASS ENEMIES WHO CAN STRIKE ANYWHERE. THAT MAY BE THE MOST IMMEDIATE LESSON OF THE BOMBINGS .... IN NAIROBI .... AND DAR ES SALAAM ... TEXT: THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF THIS SAMPLING OF PRESS REACTION TO THE EAST AFRICAN BOMBINGS. NEB/ANG/KL 11-Aug-98 1:57 PM EDT (1757 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .