Voice of America, 00-04-12

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] NATO / CLARK (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

[02] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

[03] WEDNESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY JON TKACH (WASHINGTON)

[01] NATO / CLARK (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

INTRO: NATO has formally said farewell to its military commander, Wesley Clark. General Clark, who led the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia, is vacating his post a few months early at the insistence of the U-S Defense Department. Ron Pemstein reports on the farewell ceremony at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

TEXT: /// MILITARY BAND MUSIC - FADE UNDER /// This is a ceremony that should have taken place later this year. General Wesley Clark is leaving his post early -- but not because of any lack of respect at NATO headquarters. NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has worked with General Clark, first when Mr. Robertson was Britain's defense secretary and, since September, as NATO's civilian leader.

[02] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices were lower today (Wednesday), as technology issues sold off for a third straight day. The technology-weighted Nasdaq composite closed below four-thousand for the first time since January 31st. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The weakness in the Nasdaq market pressured the "blue-chips" (largest industries) in the last hour of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 162 points, more than one percent, to 11-thousand-125. The Standard and Poor's 500 index slid over two percent, losing 33 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite dropped another seven percent, as big-name technology stocks sold off. Trading was relatively light until that final wave of selling. Analysts say more investors than usual are uncertain about the current market and prefer sitting on the sidelines (not participating).

[03] WEDNESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY JON TKACH (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Complaints that the U-S government is being too nosy in how it is carrying out the census is the subject of several editorials this Wednesday. Other topics receiving coverage in U-S editorial pages are the recent arrest of an accused war criminal in Bosnia and China's continued condemnation of the U-S bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. We will also take a look at what papers have to say about the possibility of President Clinton's being indicted after he leaves office for his actions during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Now here is _______________ with a closer look and some excerpts in today's editorial roundup.

TEXT: Every ten years the U-S government takes a head count of the country's residents. But this year, the census has been an especially hot topic - with many complaining that some questions on the form the government sent out to residents constitute an invasion of privacy. The Dallas (Texas) Morning News says the government should learn a lesson from the uproar.

VOICE: People believe Census 2000 went too far with its questions. They don't appreciate inquiries about the mental health of family members or the number of hours they work each week at their jobs. Most of the inquiries can be justified as necessary for federal and state budget planning. But justification doesn't help much when people take a pass (do not fill out the census form). The response should alert those who prepare Census 2010. They should weigh the government's need to know against the public's right to privacy. . So far, Census 2000 only seems to be receiving a good assessment of the public's lack of trust.

TEXT: The Houston Chronicle also weighs in on the debate over the census, but it argues that people might be overreacting a bit:

VOICE: Along with the laggardly response has come a lot of grousing about the forms and what is perceived as growing government intrusiveness. However, a little perspective is probably in order. The practice of putting supplementary census questions to a sample of Americans actually began in 1940 under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. It has continued in every census since then, regardless of party, and the current long and short forms are the shortest in 60 years. The Census 2000 long form designed under the Clinton administration has 53 questions and was sent to one in six households. The short form, which went to the other five homes, has eight questions. . The 1940 long form, by the way, had 81 questions, and the short form defied its "short" label with 65 questions.

TEXT: The international effort to bring indicted war criminals to trial took a step forward last week when French troops arrested Momcilo Krajisnik, a Serb nationalist indicted by the War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague. The Akron Beacon Journal in Ohio says the arrest is a sign that the net of justice might finally be tightening around Bosnian war criminals.

VOICE: Radovan Karadzic, the architect of Bosnia's "ethnic cleansing," was indicted for crimes against humanity in 1995. He has eluded responsibility for his atrocities partly because of a political unwillingness by the West -- especially the French -- to doggedly pursue him. . Krajisnik, the rabid Serb nationalist who as Karadzic's right-hand man helped design the terror unleashed against Bosnian Muslims, is the most senior of 39 war-crime suspects now in custody at The Hague in the Netherlands. . Krajisnik's arrest moves forward efforts to ensure that perpetrators of state- sponsored brutalities are brought to justice.

TEXT: During NATO's campaign against Serbia last May, U-S bombs hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade - touching off a storm of protest from Beijing. Though the United States has insisted the bombing was a mistake, China's outrage has not subsided much nearly a year later. The C-I-A's recent punishment of seven employees the agency says were responsible for the mistake has not satisfied China's leaders. The Boston Globe says if looked at from the Chinese perspective, their anger is pretty understandable.

VOICE: The CIA explained that agency target-selectors were working with a year-old unclassified military map. . The Chinese find such incompetence in the world's greatest military and technological power implausible. . The Chinese also find suspicious the fact that at least one of America's smart bombs penetrated a secure intelligence room in their embassy building. Since Beijing at the time had been vociferously protesting NATO's bombing of Serbia, the bomb that killed three PRC journalists . struck Chinese sensibilities as a crude American suggestion that Beijing mind its own business. . A disadvantage of being the world's sole superpower is that lesser powers cannot believe the blunders perpetrated by America's intelligence agency.

TEXT: Turning back to domestic affairs, President Clinton's legal troubles are still the topic of some discussion in editorial pages. A government prosecutor has said recently that Mr. Clinton could be indicted after he leaves office for lying under oath during the Monica Lewinsky investigation that led to his eventual impeachment. The Washington Post says an indictment really is not as unlikely as many people think.

VOICE: Mr. Clinton, after all, lied in a deposition and before a federal grand jury. A plausible indictment of Mr. Clinton, who has never publicly acknowledged the extent of his wrongdoing, could surely be drawn. Moreover, some opponents of impeachment argued during the congressional proceedings that Mr. Clinton's susceptibility to criminal prosecution after his term in office was a powerful reason not to remove him. . But none of those arguments outweighs the case against indictment. Mr. Clinton has hardly gone unpunished for his offenses. . The historical record will not be without evidence of his misdeeds. . Mr. Ray has said that he must vindicate the principle that nobody--not even a president--is above the law. The principle is important. But the rule of law is not robotic. . Mr. Ray to date had appeared serious about bringing this sprawling investigation to a close. It would be a great service on his part to continue behaving with restraint.

TEXT: And on that note, we end today's look at the editorial pages of the U-S press.
NEB/JON/KL 12-Apr-2000 12:04 PM EDT (12-Apr-2000 1604 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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