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[02] GERMANY / NAZI LABOR (L-ONLY) BY JONATHAN BRAUDE (BERLIN)

INTRO: Talks are taking place in Washington on the amount of compensation that German industry should pay to the victims of Nazi forced labor during the second world war. Jonathan Braude in Berlin has this report on the German position.

TEXT: The talks in Washington may be overshadowed by a threat from the victims' lawyers to walk out of the discussions unless the German side increases the offer to compensate the victims of Germany's forced labor program. The companies are reported to be offering a total of about four billion (U-S) dollars. The German side says the more than 20-billion dollars demanded by the lawyers is absurd. Both sides fear that failure could be costly and damaging not only for German industry, but also for United States-German relations. An estimated 10-million people were forced into service as slaves to the Nazi war effort. Some were Jewish concentration camp victims. Many others were the ordinary citizens of European nations occupied by Germany. Working conditions were grim, and the death toll of the forced laborers was high. The little money paid out by German industry for its unwilling workforce went to the S-S, Hitler's hated security police, not to the victims. The arguments now are over who should be responsible for compensating the victims and how much the vixctims should be paid. The talks between German industry, East European, German and U-S government representatives and the victims' lawyers is an attempt to reach an agreement on paying up to 2.4-million survivors. The German government says it is prepared to pay for those forced to work for the municipalities. German companies also will have to contribute. But industry spokesman, Wolfgang Gibowski, argues that compensation is a matter for the German government. Industry, he says, could only meet rigorous wartime production goals by using forced labor.

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

INTRO: Stock prices in the United States were up today (Wednesday) as investors seemed to shift their attention from interest rates to corporate earnings expectations for the quarter. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 187 points - a one-point-eight percent gain - to close at 10-thousand-588. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed up 24 points, at 13-hundred-25. The Nasdaq gained two percent. Some analysts say stock prices rose on optimism that U-S businesses will report solid profit growth for the third quarter.

[04] WEDNESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: At midweek, U-S editorial pages continue to discuss the rapidly approaching vote on the Comprehensive [Nuclear] Test Ban Treaty. Another popular topic is the merger between telecommunications giants M-C-I and Sprint, respectively, the second and third-largest U-S long-distance phone companies. There is also comment on the Russian assault in Chechnya; an alleged U-S massacre in South Korea during the Korean War; implementing the peace accord between the Palestinians and Israel; India's election; and a feud between the President and a White House reporter. Now, here is ____________ with a closer look and some excerpts in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: President Clinton signed the latest nuclear test ban treaty several years ago, but since then the Senate has chosen not to ratify it. Now, in a sudden move that has caught both the White House and congressional democrats by surprise, a vote has been scheduled for next week, after only limited debate. The U-S press is generally upset. Here is The [Minneapolis Minnesota] Star Tribune.

VOICE: The usual conservatives -those who have never met an arms control treaty they liked-are arrayed against the CTBT. To hear them tell it, this is the treaty from hell ... Senate Majority Leader [Trent] Lott offered their typical hyperbole when he said it would "unilaterally disarm" the United States. [Mr.] Lott's claim is total bunkum [rubbish]. The United States hasn't conducted a nuclear test since 1992 and has no foreseeable need to test; computer simulations suffice to keep this nation's nuclear arsenal in top shape. This treaty is to keep others from testing.. Ratification by the United States is critical .

TEXT: The San Francisco Chronicle worries that:

VOICE: Cynical politics threaten to undercut a landmark treaty to ban nuclear testing around the world. . Senate Republicans now want a hurry-up vote by the end of next week . Because they believe the votes for approving the treaty aren't there, and GOP leaders want to hand President Clinton a big-time drubbing [defeat.]

TEXT: And in Chicago, The Tribune says it is "Time to Ratify the Test Ban Treaty." ///OPT /// adding:

VOICE: No treaty is perfect, but the potential benefits of this one far exceed its costs, and it is far too important to America's -and the world's- security to let partisan differences scuttle it.

TEXT: Turning to domestic business news, a 115- billion-dollar merger proposed by two of the nation's largest long-distance telephone companies, M-C-I and Sprint, has drawn attention in the editorial columns. The Los Angeles Times is urging caution:

VOICE: This is the biggest yet in a string of mammoth mergers. The two companies and industry analysts believe . the merger, announced Monday, makes good business sense and will benefit stockholders of both companies. The federal regulators must make sure this is a good deal for consumers as well.

TEXT: In Kansas City, where Sprint has a major operation, The Kansas City Star says the merger creates hope but also uncertainty.

VOICE: [The] merger . is an event of worldwide financial importance. [with] the potential to dramatically affect the future of competition in the entire communications industry, plus the quality of telephone and Internet services available to billions of people. But today, up to 15-thousand Kansas City area Sprint employees ... and business leaders . are much more concerned about less global matters. ... What will happen to Sprint employees in the metropolitan area?

TEXT: While in Chicago, The Chicago Tribune says of the proposed merger:

VOICE: It really isn't about long distance service. It's about being able to offer customers a complete range of telecommunications services.

TEXT: Turning to international developments, Russia's assault on Chechnya draws this comment from Wednesday's Baltimore Sun.

VOICE: Three years after Russian troops were driven out of Chechnya, they are pushing back into the Islamic breakaway republic. As of yesterday, they had retaken a third of the mountainous region surrounding the capital of Grozny. This success has emboldened Moscow: What started as an operation to form a security buffer along the Russian border is turning into an attempt to wipe out the rebels altogether. [However] the deeper Russian ground troops push, the more exposed they become. That may be the goal of Chechen rebels.

TEXT: The alleged massacre of South Korean refugees at the start of the Korean war by U-S army troops, and the resulting furor over the incident, draws this rebuke from The Tulsa [Oklahoma] World.

VOICE: Here we go again. The crowd that former U-N Ambassador Jeane Kirikpatrick called "blame America first" are having a revisionist field day over the [allegations]. Did any American soldiers kill civilians in Korea? Probably, just as some Vietnamese civilians were killed during the Vietnamese war. But people sitting in comfort looking back one events of 50 years ago have no right whatsoever to pass judgment without trying to learn the circumstances of the unanticipated, murderous invasion of South Korea by North Koreans ...

TEXT: Turning to the Middle East, The [Forth Worth [Texas] Star Telegram hails the new highway linking the West Bank and the Gaza strip as a: VIOICE: . major milestone on the road toward a lasting Middle Eastern peace agreement. Palestinian officials have hailed the agreement on the "safe passage" across Israel as tangible evidence of an improved atmosphere in the peace negotiations.

TEXT: Turning now to the general election in India, The Chicago Tribune notes:

VOICE: India's national parliamentary elections, . completed Sunday, were neither a welcome event nor a pretty sight. . Indians . were forced to shoulder the burden not because of any deep popular desire for change, but because a single small party defected from the ruling coalition, abruptly bringing down the government of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. . Unfortunately . at least two candidates were murdered, and one village leader who had the nerve to cast a ballot had his hand chopped off by leftist insurgents. . But the marvel is not how much went wrong but how much went right. In poor, problem-ridden societies, political violence is not uncommon, but democracy is.

TEXT: Turning again to domestic issues, the presidential election campaigns continue to draw a lot of attention. As regards Vice President Al Gore's campaign headquarters shift away from Washington and to Nashville, Tennessee, The Pittsburgh Post- Gazette says:

VOICE: Try as he will, Mr. Gore's wheels seem to be stuck in the mud, while [former New Jersey Senator, and Democratic candidate Bill] Bradley and [George W. Bush, the Republican front runner,] are picking up speed. And now [ethics] questions have been raised about his campaign manager, former U-S Representative Tony Coelho. Moreover, there's the Clinton thing. Vice presidents who have sought the White House in this century have all had to contend with resolving their relationship with the previous chief executive. That burden is complicated for Mr. Gore by the residue of the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

TEXT: And lastly some sharp criticism of President Clinton from The Augusta [Georgia] Chronicle, for his angry outburst at a news reporter, Washington bureau chief Paul Sperry of the Investment Business Daily, who asked the president to answer questions about "illegal money from China and the campaign finance scandal."

VOICE: "I don't like your accusatory tone" the president angrily responded. "It sounds like you've already got the story written." [Mr.] Sperry . politely repeated the public wants answers "about the allegations of illegal contributions from China . to influence the 1996 election." At this point, say reports, the president went ballistic, [became intensely angry] shouting, "I've been all around this country, and you are the first person to ask me about it. Not one person has brought that up." Of course not because, as [Mr.] Sperry had pointed out, the president won't hold press conferences. He confines his appearances to admiring friends and cronies, avoiding exposing himself to critics."

TEXT: With that, we conclude this sampling of comment from the editorial pages of Wednesday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/KL 06-Oct-1999 11:55 AM EDT (06-Oct-1999 1555 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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