DATE=08/17/98 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10864 TITLE=TERRORIST BOMBINGS CONTINUE BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS CONTENT= INTRO: POLICE AND EXPLOSIVE EXPERTS IN NORTHERN IRELAND AND EAST AFRICA ARE ENGAGED IN THE GRIM JOB OF SIFTING FOR CLUES IN THE RUBBLE FROM BOMBS THAT KILLED CLOSE TO 300 PEOPLE AND INJURED MORE THAN A THOUSAND. THE CARNAGE FROM THESE TWO BOMBINGS HAS ELICITED OUTRAGED EDITORIALS IN THE U-S PRESS AND WE CALL ON ________________ TO PROVIDE US A SAMPLING NOW IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE NORTHERN IRELAND BOMB EXPLODED SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN A CROWDED SHOPPING STREET IN THE VILLAGE OF OMAGH. AT LEAST 28 PEOPLE WERE KILLED OR DIED LATER IN HOSPITALS, AND AT LEAST 200 OTHERS WERE INJURED. THIS BOMBING WAS BELIEVED DETONATED BY A SPLINTER GROUP OF THE IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY. A CALLER INFORMED POLICE THAT A CAR BOMB WAS ABOUT TO GO OFF, BUT GAVE THE WRONG LOCATION, SO THAT OFFICERS MOVED BYSTANDERS DIRECTLY INTO THE PATH OF THE EXPLOSION, WORSENING THE CARNAGE. MEANWHILE IN NAIROBI, KENYA, AND IN DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, F-B-I AND OTHER U-S AGENTS, WORKING WITH LOCAL AND FEDERAL POLICE FROM THE TWO NATIONS, CONTINUE TO PROBE THE MASSIVE BLASTS THERE. A MAN DETAINED AS HE WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE PAKISTAN FOR AFGHANISTAN, AND WHO REPORTEDLY ADMITTED A ROLE IN THE BOMBING, HAS NOW RECANTED AFTER QUESTIONING IN NAIROBI. MEANWHILE, NORTHERN IRELAND POLICE ARE QUESTIONING FIVE MEN IN CONNECTION WITH SATURDAY'S BLAST. THE MEN WERE DETAINED DURING PRE-DAWN RAIDS ON THEIR HOMES NEAR OMAGH ON MONDAY. U-S EDITORIAL WRITERS DEPLORE THIS TYPE OF WARFARE AGAINST MAINLY CIVILIAN TARGETS. WE BEGIN WITH THE LATEST BOMBINGS, IN IRELAND, AND SOME THOUGHTS FROM "THE NEW YORK TIMES." VOICE: EVERYONE'S WORST FEARS ABOUT NORTHERN IRELAND WERE REALIZED ON SATURDAY WHEN A CAR BOMB EXPLODED IN THE TOWN OF OMAGH, KILLING 28 PEOPLE. WHILE THE MAJORITY OF VOTERS ENDORSED THE PEACE AGREEMENT IN MAY, BOTH PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC SPLINTER GROUPS HAVE THREATENED TO EXPRESS THEIR OPPOSITION THROUGH VIOLENCE. NOW ONE OF THEM ... HAS CARRIED OUT THE DEADLIEST ATTACK IN NORTHERN IRELAND SINCE THE CONFLICT BEGAN THREE DECADES AGO. THE GROUP'S AIM CAN ONLY BE TO PROVOKE THE RETURN OF VIOLENT CLASHES BY INSPIRING RETALIATION BY PROTESTANT GROUPS. IT IS UP TO POLICE AND POLITICIANS TO INSURE THEY DO NOT SUCCEED. TEXT: "THE [NEW YORK] DAILY NEWS" NOTES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN THE REACTION TO THE LATEST BOMB, WHICH MAY BRING SOME GOOD. VOICE: LIKE THE RECENT ATTACKS AGAINST U-S EMBASSIES IN EAST AFRICA, THE SHEER SAVAGERY HAS UNITED ALL PARTIES. ... 'I CONDEMN IT WITHOUT ANY EQUIVOCATION WHATSOEVER,' SAID [GERRY] ADAMS ... LEADER OF THE I-R-A-ALIGNED SINN FEIN ... THAT IS ALL THE MORE IMPORTANT GIVEN THAT THE BOMBING IS THE SUSPECTED WORK OF AN IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY SPLINTER GROUP SEEKING TO KILL THE PEACE. IT IS THE FIRST TIME [MR.] ADAMS HAS EVER DENOUNCED A REPUBLICAN ATTACK. AND IT COULD MARK THE FINAL PASSAGE OF HIS MOVEMENT FROM A GANG WITH GUNS TO A RESPONSIBLE POLITICAL PARTY. ... TEXT: REGARDING THE BOMBS IN EAST AFRICA, JONATHAN CLARKE, A FORMER BRITISH DIPLOMAT, WRITING IN "THE [CLEVELAND, OHIO] PLAIN DEALER," SUGGESTS THAT AMERICA'S PLACE AS WORLD SUPERPOWER IS BEING ERODED. VOICE: THE TWO BOMBS IN NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM BRUTALLY REMIND AMERICANS OF THE IMPLICIT COSTS OF WHAT PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON CALLED 'AMERICA'S UNIQUE LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES.' MR.] CLINTON'S WORDS HIGHLIGHT A MELANCHOLY PARADOX. ... THAT ASSERTIONS ... THE WORLD STANDS ON THE THRESHOLD OF A 'NEW AMERICAN CENTURY' ... ARE NOT GREETED WITH ENTHUSIASM OVERSEAS, BUT HAVE PROVOKED - - LITERALLY IN THE CASE OF THESE OUTRAGES - - A DEADLY COUNTERBLAST. LEADERSHIP IS A QUINTESSENTIALLY AMERICAN IDEA, BUT IT RECENTLY HAS SUFFERED MULTIPLE CHALLENGES. CHINA HAS JUST COMPLETED A HOME-AND-AWAY SWEEP, LEAVING U-S IDEALS IN TATTERS. SADDAM HUSSEIN ONCE AGAIN IS BREAKING OUT THE FLAG OF DEFIANCE; INDIA AND THEN PAKISTAN OVERRODE INTENSE PRESSURE FROM A PHALANX OF WASHINGTON EMISSARIES TO JOIN THE NUCLEAR CLUB. LOWLY VILLAINS LIKE LIBYA'S MOAMMAR GADHAFI AND THE BURMESE JUNTA SCENT THAT THE LION IS WOUNDED. ... THE HARD FACT IS THAT AMERICAN LEADERSHIP WILL CONTINUE TO BE CHALLENGED UNTIL THE UNITED STATES RECAPTURES A 'BIG IDEA' TO REPLACE THE EARLIER IDEAS OF ANTI-FASCISM AND ANTI-COMMUNISM THAT WORKED SO WELL. SADLY, NO NEW IDEAL HAS TAKEN THEIR PLACE. INSTEAD, THE NEW PROPONENTS OF AMERICAN HEGEMONY BELIEVE THAT AMERICA'S MILITARY AND COMMERCIAL MUSCLE ARE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE WORLD IN LINE. TEXT: IN NEW JERSEY, BILL GANNON OF "THE NEWARK STAR LEDGER" TAKES A LOOK AT PROSECUTING THE RESULTS OF RECENT TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES. HIS CONCLUSION, THAT THE POWERFUL WORDS ISSUED BY PRESIDENT CLINTON AND SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, AFTER THE EAST AFRICAN ATTACKS, ABOUT FINDING THE KILLERS, MAY BE HARD TO CARRY OUT. VOICE: ... CONTRARY TO TOM CLANCY NOVELS AND HOLLYWOOD THRILLERS, TRACKING DOWN TERRORISTS AND BRINGING THEM TO JUSTICE IS A RARE FEAT. THE CHILLING RULE OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM - - PARTICULARLY THE KIND DEMONSTRATED IN NAIROBI AND DAR ES SALAAM LAST WEEK - - IS THAT ATTACKS ON U-S TARGETS OVERSEAS OFTEN GO UNSOLVED AND THE TERRORISTS REMAIN AT LARGE, EXPERTS SAID. BLOOD IS SHED AND RESPONSIBILITIES ARE CLAIMED - - BUT ARRESTS ARE FEW. CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING CASES: IN APRIL 1983, A SUICIDE CAR-BOMB ATTACK ON THE U-S EMBASSY IN BEIRUT, LEBANON, KILLED 63, INCLUDING 17 AMERICANS. A SHADOWY RADICAL SHI'ITE MUSLIM GROUP, ISLAMIC HOLY WAR, CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY. NO ONE WAS ARRESTED OR CHARGED. IN OCTOBER 1983, A RADICAL SHI'ITE SUICIDE TRUCK-BOMB ATTACK ON A U-S MARINE BASE JUST OUTSIDE BEIRUT KILLED 241 SERVICEMEN. NO ARRESTS HAVE EVER BEEN MADE. ... AN INTERNATIONAL-TERRORISM EXPERT, PAUL WILKINSON OF ST. ANDREW'S UNIVERSITY IN SCOTLAND, SAID THE PERPETRATORS OF [THE EAST AFRICAN] ... ATTACKS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF WHAT APPEARED TO BE AN AFRICAN BLIND SPOT IN A GLOBAL ANTI-TERRORISM WATCH MOUNTED BY THE UNITED STATES. TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF THE LATEST EDITORIAL COMMENT ON THE CONTINUING RASH OF HUGE CAR BOMBS THAT HAS STRUCK NORTHERN IRELAND AND EAST AFRICA WITHIN THE PAST FEW DAYS. NEB/ANG/KL 17-Aug-98 2:24 PM EDT (1824 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .