Persian Gulf War

Iran and Iraq, long at odds over control of the Shatt al Arab waterway formed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, have been fighting since Sept. 17, 1980, when Iraq abrogated a 1975 accord dividing the waterway and invaded Iran's Khuzistan province. Iraq expected a quick victory over a foe still in turmoil after the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, but Iran soon regained territory lost in the invasion.

During a forum held a week ago at the University of Alabama to discuss Operation Desert Storm, one of the panelists appealed to the students not to vent their anger and frustrations on people with opposing views. The note of caution was unnecessary: Students here have treated the outbreak of hostilities in the Persian Gulf with near-apathy. Barely 50 people were in the hall, many of them non-students. Not that there have been many pro-war rallies on this 20,000-plus campus.

Carolyn Olson had put on silk pajamas and snuggled beneath her electric blanket to watch the news at 8:41 p.m. Sunday when she got a call saying that the assault ship Tripoli, which carried her husband, had hit a mine in the Persian Gulf. Olson and others with family members aboard the San Diego-based ship were first told there were two missing and four injured.

They're almost sheepish about the boost in business, but cable television operators across the country say interest in Cable News Network's round-the-clock coverage of the Persian Gulf War has paid off by attracting new subscribers. "I'm quite ambivalent, have mixed feelings about this. We like getting new business, but I don't like to get business because of a war situation," said Bill Farmer, general manager of Capitol Cablevision Co. in Charleston,W.Va.

A coalition of anti-war activists Thursday accused U.S. Federal Protective Service police of brutality in their treatment of an 82-year-old Spanish Civil War veteran who died two months after he joined a turbulent Jan. 16 demonstration against American involvement in the Persian Gulf War.

Six months ago, Fouad Halaby proudly opened his second small business in the same Sherman Oaks mini-mall: a gourmet coffee shop, only a few paces from the family-style restaurant where he serves falafel, shish kebab and other Middle Eastern food. But Wednesday morning, the Lebanese-American's newest venture had been reduced to ashes by fire. On the sidewalk in front was scrawled, "Go Home," followed by an obscenity and the word "Arabs."

KOST-FM(103.5) continued to coast along at the top of the radio heap in the latest Arbitron ratings survey, but the most dramatic surge during the past three months was felt by news stations, presumably because of listeners seeking information about the Persian Gulf War. The latest rankings, released Tuesday, cover the period from Jan. 3 to March 27. War broke out in the Persian Gulf on Jan. 16 and a final cease-fire was called on March 11.

Among the predominantly black student body at Eastern High School--the District of Columbia's largest secondary school--the Persian Gulf War seems to have had a distinctly sobering effect. For years, the school has guided promising graduates to the military, where they could get training, educational benefits and steady employment. Until the Persian Gulf War, it seemed, few thought they also could get killed.

"This war is a big lift for the American psyche, the South and the GOP," a beaming Clarke Reed, a long-time power in Southern Republican politics, said Friday as the Republican National Committee met here to chart the party's political future. But when asked by a reporter if he had any misgivings about the outcome of Operation Desert Storm, a still smiling Reed held up his right hand and displayed two fingers, tightly crossed.

As Iraq launched missiles at a major allied military base in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, TV stuck with the NFL. Although both NBC and CBS took several breaks during action to bring viewers quick news flashes from the Persian Gulf, the two networks stayed with their conference championship games. NBC took its first news break during the Raiders-Buffalo Bills game at the end of the first quarter.