Newspaper Page Text
Page 16
Griffin Daily News Monday, April 12,1976
Mining Cuban possibility
By NEA/London Economist News Service
President Ford says he means it: He will not accept another
Cuban military intervention in Africa, Angola-style. Saying it
is one thing; doing something about it is another. What action
could the Americans take against Cuba if its army does go into
another African country? It comes down to a choice between
bombing Cuba, invading it, clapping economic sanctions on it
again, and blockading it.
Bombing bv itself is not much good. It would make America
a villain, Cuba a martyr Besides, it would be hard to identify
the sort of target that could achieve the desired result The
airfields used to fly Cuba's troops to Africa might seem the
right target, but it would take a lot of bombing to keep all the
possible airfields closed for any length of time, or to destroy
all the aircraft that ferry the soldiers to Africa.
With the new laser-guided and tv-directed precision
weapons, there might be fewer civilian casualties than there
would have been 10 years ago. Even so. bombing would be
slow to take effect, and arouse anti-Americanism from the
moment of the first strike.
Invasion is an even less plausible idea. It is certainly possi
ble for American troops to occupy Cuba, either by advancing
from the naval base at Guantanamo Bay or by landing
somewhere else. But a Guantanamo operation would require a
lot of troops: it is a long way from there to Havana, and much
of the way lies through rugged country. An amphibious landing
near Havana would probably be easier.
An invasion has the theoretical advantage that it could
depose Fidel Castro and his government. But it would not be a
walkover; and it might not be easy to find an alternative
government for Cuba that did not require a prolonged
American occupation The United States could wind up with a
very large albatross around its neck
The Americans tried economic sanctions year ago They did
not work very well then, even though most of Latin America
and a lot of other countries joined in applying sanctions —
because the Russians and their allies did not. They are even
less likely to work now, because a number of Latin American
and other western countries would probably not accept the
Cubans' actions in Africa as a reason enough for sanctions.
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This leaves the possibility of a physical blockade, which
would have a better chance of success, and would probably
cost fewer lives, than either bombing or invasion. A blockade
now would be harder in one way, and easier in another, than the
quarantine imposed in the missile crisis of 1%2. It would be
harder because the American navy has fewer ships now than
in 1962, and numbers of ships are what count in a blockade.
In 1962 every available ship in the American Atlantic Fleet
that could move was used to put a ring round Cuba, and even
that number was barely enough Besides being fewer in
number now, most of the best sort of blockade ships — the
destroyer-frigate size — are around six knots slower than
their 1962 counterparts.
Commentary
This is the curious result of the modernization of the
Amerian navy since 1962. Almost all the 1945-model ships are
gone. Their replacements tend to be larger, more expensive
and chiefly designed to fight aircraft and submarines. Neither
of these jobs is considered to require a great deal of speed, so
money, space and weight have been saved by putting in less
powerful engines. But a given number of blockading ships that
can do only about 21 knots will intercept fewer blockade
runners than 27-knotters would.
In one way, though, the operation would be easier than in
1962. What happened then was not a total blockade, but a selec
tive quarantine on Russian arms shipments. The American
navy's job was to stop Russian ships and check whether they
were carrying missiles. This meant inspecting at close quar
trs a great many (although not all) of the merchant ships
entering the quarantine area If the United States were now to
impose a general blockade, a closed zone for all ships could be
declared around Cuba and patroled from the air; only in
truders would have to be intercepted on the surface. So maybe
fewer ships would be needed than in 1962.
What would the Russians do'.’ After all, the dramatic expan
sion of their navy over the past few years is due almost wholly
to the hard lesson in the use of sea power they learned in the
1962 crisis The Russians now have a large, modern fleet
Would they use it to break an American blockade? There
might be some tense moments if Russian cruisers and
destroyers tried to escort some of their merchant ships
through. But the Amerians would certainly see them coming,
and the Russians know that the Americans have enough air
power close at hand to destroy anything the Russians could put
into the Caribbean
There is no doubt that the Americans still have superior
strength in that area. The question is whether the Russians
would fight, and whether the Americans are prepared to un
dertake a blockade knowing they might.
But there is a variation of the blockade option that would en
tail almost no risk of a confrontation with the Russians This
would be the mining of Cuba's main ports. Mines could be
planted from aircraft —as they were off Haiphong in 19 7 2 —
which would switch themselves off after, say, three weeks.
The whereabouts of tht? mined areas would be made public; no
one would get hurt unless a government ordered its ships to
sail through them. If at the end of three weeks the Cubans had
not abandoned whatever they were doing in Africa more mines
could be laid Even if Russia sent some of its mineswpepers
over, it would take them months to clear the area
This all sounds pretty hypothetical. But the Americans' allies
were more disturbed by the almost unopposed, and successful.
Cuban intervention in Angola than is generally realized The
shock is still seeping through the western political system, and
the United States could probably count on fairly wide support
if it decided to take limited military action against Cuba in
retaliation against another Cuban intervention in Africa
Of the actions it might take, a blockade would be the most
effective, and blockade by mining the best way to do it.
(c) The Economist of London
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Terry Moore says
Hughes was ‘best’
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.
(UPI) — Actress Terry Moore,
who claims she was married to
Howard Hughes in the late
19405, says the eccentric
billionaire “really wasn’t fond
of money” and taught her to
“never put anything in wri
ting.”
“I have lost the greatest
friend I ever had,” said the 47-
year-old movie actress, who
said she met Hughes when she
was 15. “Howard raised me.
Howard was the greatest lover I
ever had. He was the best.”
Miss Moore, once an Acade
my Award nominee, for her
performance in “Come Bade
Little Sheba,” was interviewed
during the weekend at Fort
Lauderdale, where she is
starring in a movie about the
annual Fort Lauderdale-to-
Bimini balloon race.
She said she was married to
Hughes for eight years between
his marriages to socialite Ella
Rice and actress Jean Peters.
She declined to say where the
wedding took place or where
they were divorced or whether
she had any children by
Hughes, but did say she plans to
make no claim against his
estate, either on her behalf or on
behalf of any children.
“I know this sounds difficult
to believe, but Howard wasn’t a
materialistic man,” Miss
Moore said. “He really wasn’t
fond of money. He never carried
money around with him and
neither do I.
“Howard taught me never to
sign anything. ‘Never put
anything in writing,’ he said. So
now if I write notes to friends, I
Just sign it ‘Me.’”
Miss Moore, whose three
other marriages also ended in
divorce, said she is a Mormon in
good standing and it was she
who first introduced Hughes to
the Church of Latter Day
Saints. Hughes was an Epi
scopalian but favored Mormons
as close aides and confidants.
The still-shapely actress said
she is writing her autobiogra
phy “for money.” She waved
gold rings and bracelets at
reporters and said, “Howard
gave me these. This one (a gold
ring with diamond-studded
branches) Howard called the
Tree of Life and it was one of his
favorites.
“It has symbolism but I can’t
explain it, because if I tell you,
no one would want to read my
book.”
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Drunk injured
in hippo dive
TOKYO (UPI) — A drunken
plumber attending a cherry
blossom viewing party in
Southern Japan suffered light
injuries when he entered a
hippopotamus cage and dived
intoa pool shared by two female
hippos, police said today.
A police spokesman said
Hideyuki Sato was hospitalized
with minor cuts and bruises
after he was found unconscious
and wearing only his shorts in
the hippo cage of an amusement
park in Oita City on the
southern island of Kyushu.
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Boyfriend
blamed
in shooting
LOS ANGELES (UPI) —
Police say Carlos de la Torre,
30, went on a shooting rampage
at a home in the Highland Park
area out of jealousy over his
estranged wife’s new boyfriend.
Officers called to the scene
Sunday by neighbors who heard
the shots found the wife, Maria
de la Torre, 30; her father,
Angelo Prado, 64, a retired
Cuban judge; and her mother,
Olga, 57, dead in the home.
Their assailant, who appar
ently shot himself with his .36-
caliber revolver, lay critically
injured and died a few minutes
later.
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