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Seven U.S. Marines Dead from 'Friendly Fire'

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Seven U.S. Marines Dead from 'Friendly Fire' The Observer VOL. XXIII NO. 85 MONDAY , FEBRUARY 4, 1991 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY’S Seven U.S. Marines dead from ‘friendly fire’ RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Investigators have found that seven Marines were killed by a missile fired by an American warplane during a fierce armor battle along the Kuwaiti border last week, U.S. military officials said Sunday. The officials said four other Marines killed in the battle were hit by an Iraqi tank OPERATION round, apparently the first U.S. DESERT STORM ground fatalities from enemy fire. The death of another Marine, a p p a re n tly by a U.S. clu ste r ■ Weekend roundup/ page 6 bomb, remained under investi­ ■ GCAG protest / page 6 gation, the officials said. ■ Cheney remarks / page 6 The military reported at its ■ World reactions / page 7 daily briefing that two more ■ Military updates / page 7 U.S. aircraft — including a ■ Jordan’s Hassan / page 7 giant B-52 bomber — had ■ Map with attacks / page 7 crashed during missions re­ lated to Operation Desert Storm. The crashes brought to Riyadh overnight, injuring 29 22 the number of U.S. aircraft people, mostly by flying glass lost in the war, including eight when debris crashed into a res­ to non-combat causes. idential area, Saudi authorities Marine Maj. Gen. Robert said. Johnston, the command U.S. aircraft on “ counter Scud AP Photo spokesman, also reported that patrol” spotted the launchings A US Marine guard carries the casket bearing the remains of Marine Cpt. Manuel Rivera Jr. outside St. one of two Iraqi Scud missiles and attacked the sites, causing Anselm’s Roman Catholic Church in the Bronx borough of New York Thursday morning. Rivera, the first fired toward Israel overnight what appeared to be secondary New Yorker to die in Operation Desert Storm, was killed when his jet crashed on a training mission. apparently landed in Jordan, explosions at one, a command which has remained friendly to communique reported. by an Iraqi tank round, John­ guided manually or by a heat- The helicopter was on an Baghdad. The report on the friendly fire ston said. Two other Marines seeking mechanism, probably escort mission Saturday when However, Jordanian officials said a Marine reconnaissance were wounded in the clash. was fired from an Air Force A- it crashed in Saudi Arabia, who spoke on condition of vehicle, known as an LAV, was At the time, Johnston said, 10 Warthog, a close-air support killing both pilots. anonymity said no missile had involved in a head-to-head bat­ the LAVs were firing TOW mis­ aircraft designed as a “tank The Stratofortress bomber landed in Jordan. And Israeli tle with Iraqi tanks along the siles toward the Iraqi tanks and buster.” was returning from a bombing officials would only say that border Tuesday night when a getting Sagger anti-tank mission over Kuwait on Satur­ two missiles landed in the Maverick missile fired by a U.S. missiles in return fire. Twenty- U.S. command officials said day when it crashed in the In­ “central" area — which in­ warplane hit the vehicle, killing two Iraqi tanks were destroyed the latest air losses, the B-52 dian Ocean, short of its base at cludes the occupied West Bank. seven Marines. in the battle, U.S. officials said. and a Marine AH-1 Cobra heli­ Diego Garcia, an atoll 2,000 Another Scud was destroyed Four others aboard a second M ilitary sources said the copter, were due to non-combat miles south of the Persian Gulf, by a U.S. Patriot missile over LAV were killed after it was hit Maverick, a missile that can be causes. officials said. Soviets to speak on ‘what’s really going on’ in U.S.S.R. By SARAH VOIGT Forum on Contemporary Is­ In July 1990 Popov resigned forces and full political plural­ Recently, Notkin was a visiting News Writer sues.” from the Communist Party ism. Fulbright Professor at the Uni­ “We thought that Popov and along with Anatoly Sobchak, Notkin, professor of rhetoric versity of Wisconsin in Madison Moscow’s City Council Chair­ Notkin would be timely speak­ mayor of Leningrad, and Boris at the University of Moscow, is lecturing on “Reporting on the man Gavriil Popov and promi­ ers because of the tension Yeltsin, president of the Rus­ also the anchorman of the pop­ U.S.S.R. Under Glasnost and nent journalist and interpreter within the Soviet Union and in sian Republic. Popov claimed in ular Soviet television program Perestroika.” Boris Notkin will provide first the Baltic states,” Student Body a public statement that he quit “Good Evening Moscow.” This hand insights into the current President Rob Pasin com­ the Party to form a new coali­ program demonstrates the new Popov and Notkin w ill also state of affairs in the Soviet mented. tion that would offer changes in era of glasnost in its focus on give a news conference at 4:30 Union in a lecture Tuesday at 7 the Soviet Union, such as a fully previously untouchable p.m. Tuesday in the Center for p.m. at Stepan Center. As Moscow’s first democrati­ depoliticized news media and subjects such as crooked Continuing Education. Both the cally elected mayor, Popov free market innovations. bureaucrats, shoddy medical lecture and news conference The lecture, titled ’What’s Re­ promised strong local initia­ care and Stalin’s purges. are free and open to the public. ally Going on in the Soviet tives to challenge the Gor­ Popov, now a member of the Notkin has also served as an This lecture series is funded Union," is part of the Notre bachev government and won a Moscow City Council, is work­ interpreter for Ronald Reagan by the Advisory Councils of the Dame's Student Government’s decisive victory over the Com­ ing towards the rapid introduc­ and Edward Kennedy on their Colleges of Arts and Letters and free lecture series, “A Public munist Party loyalists. tion of free-market economic journeys to the Soviet Union. Business Administration. Investigators say air traffic controller sent planes onto same runway LOS ANGELES (AP) — An air traffic voice shouting: “What the hell!” controller directed a US Air jetliner and a Moments later, controllers PATH OF US AIR FLIGHT 1439 smaller, commuter plane onto the same acknowledged a collision and a fire that Flight airport runway, resulting in a crash that had occurred on the runway. origin killed as many as 32 people, investigators Burnett, who gave an oral account of SYRACUSE, said. the tapes, would not say whether the NEW YORK The National Transportation Safety controller had erred. Board (NTSB) released highlights “We don’t deal in terms of fault. That’s Saturday night of about five minutes of COLUMBUS, OHIO a word the safety board doesn’t use,” he conversation between the control tower said. Intended destination and pilots just before the crash Friday Within seconds of touching down after W ASHINGTON, D C night at Los Angeles International a westbound descent over Los Angeles, SAN FRANCISCO ^,,.,,** Airport. the twin-jet USAir Boeing 737 ran into Safety board spokesman Jim Burnett the back of the smaller plane, which was said the taped, tower traffic showed about to take off. LOS ANGELES USAir Flight 1493 twice asked the Eighteen people from the USAir flight controller for permission to land and re­ were listed as presumed dead. Two 737 collides on landing with ceived no response. confirmed deaths on the jet include the outbound Sky West commuter About two minutes before the crash, a pilot, Capt. Colin Shaw, 48, of plane at Los Angeles controller directed commuter Skywest Washington, DC.. said USAir Flight 5569 with 12 people aboard to spokeswoman Agnes Huff. International Airport enter Runway 24-Left for takeoff, and the All 12 people aboard the Skywest plane tape had the same controller giving the were presumed dead, including the pilot USAir pilot permission to land on 24-Left. AP/Karl Tate The tape also included an unidentified see PLANES / page 5 Monday, February 4, 1991 page 2 The Observer INSIDE COLUMN Forecast for noon, Monday, February 4 FORECAST: Mostly cloudy and mild today, high Elephant art around 50. Cloudy and mild tonight, low in the mid -30s. could help out Partly sunny and mild tomorrow, high Snite ------- 40s. TEMPERATURES: C ity H L A thens 36 2 / Atlanta 66 42 a rtists 58 41 I Bagdad Boston 59 38 Now before the art C hicago 50 34 lovers on campus ignite Dallas-Ft.Worth 65 45 Denver 60 27 themselves in rage, I ask Detroit 54 28 them to at least read the Florentine Honolulu 77 68 H ouston 65 31 first part of this column Hoelker Indianapolis 5 8 3 0 and tell me what they London 37 32 Assoc. News Editor Los Angeles 70 47 think. Deal? M adrid 45 34 Miami Beach 76 69 The story I’m about to relate I heard before Moscow 10 10 New York 64 40 Christmas, so a few of the minute details Paris 30 25 might be confused, but it is true nonetheless. Philadelphia 62 31 Portland. Ore 55 48 You can check with NBC if you don’t believe Riyadh 70 54 me. Rome 43 36 37 High pressure Showers Snow V £ Sunny St. Louis 65 San Francisco 65 54 There’s a character in Phoenix by the name Warm front S o u th B end 5 2 3 5 l H] Ice Cloudy PL of Ruby, and Ruby is a painter. Ruby is an Low pressure ^ Tokyo 50 36 Static front Cloudy Washington,DC 64 33 abstract impressionist whose paintings have amassed over $40,000 I believe, and has had her work displayed in local museums.
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