Jerry Brown, Charlton Heston face off over Gulf War

[ANNETTE HADDAD]

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BURBANK, Calif. (UPI) -- Former California Gov. Jerry Brown called
Wednesday for an immediate halt to the aerial bombardment of Iraq and
urged President Bush to use ``back-channel diplomacy'' to find a
peaceful solution to the Persian Gulf War.
``I recommend that the president take some action -- a pause -- and see
what happens. It would be a lot saner than committing our troops to (a
ground) battle,'' he said during taping of the syndicated talk show
``Donahue.''
Brown's comments came after he faced off with actor Charlton Heston
in a classic hawk vs. dove debate on the merits of war.
Heston, a conservative, has steadfastly maintained that he is not a
candidate for any political office, but since the Persian Gulf conflict
began he has regularly used public forums -- to the point of inviting
reporters to his home -- to argue in favor of the allied attack on Iraq
to force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait.
``What we should do now is not stop when it seems we're close to the
verge of victory,'' Heston said in his familiar thespian's baritone.
Brown, chairman of the California Democratic Party, has said he will
resign his party post to explore a possible run for the U.S. Senate in
1992.
The broadcast was scheduled to air Wednesday in parts of the East
Coast and Thursday in the rest of the nation.
Heston, known for epic roles such as Moses in ``The Ten Commandments,
'' criticized the vocal opposition to the war throughout the nation and
suggested that anti-war protests were ``more useful to Saddam Hussein
than in the spirit of democracy.''
``Wasn't there ample time for appropriate dissent (before Jan. 16),''
Heston asked as he turned to the audience, most of which was roundly
booing him.
The audience of about 150 appeared stacked against the war and
against Heston. ``Donahue'' spokesmen said they invited both anti-war
activists and members of the California Young Republicans, but only one
member of the conservative group attended.
Heston enflamed the studio audience when he suggested that anti-war
activists were hypocritical for saying they support U.S. troops in the
Gulf but not what the troops are required to do -- fight a war.
``You can't support the troops and not support the war,'' he said.
Brown, among the more provocative of American politicians, ran
unsuccessfully for president in 1980, served two terms as governor,
studied Buddhism in a Japanese monastery and worked with the poor in
India under the guidance of Mother Theresa before taking the helm of the
state's Democratic party.
During the 60-minute debate -- minus breaks for commercials -- Brown
attempted to put the Persian Gulf conflict in a historical, theological
and political context.
He used ancedotes from ancient and modern times to expound on his
point that in the long run, the United States' military action in the
Middle East could create unforeseen and insurmountable problems.
Brown said the Gulf War -- the ``slaughter and killing of people'' --
is unjustified because the U.S. government and its allies failed to give
economic sanctions against Iraq enough time to work before attacking.
``If we are really serious about a new world order, we have to take
as much of a risk for peace as we are for war,'' he said.
It is not too late, he said, for the allies to ``pause'' before
ground fighting begins and re-impose sanctions.
``With or without a ground war, President Bush has got to find a way
... and use informal, back-channel diplomacy to bring this to an end,''
Brown told reporters afterward.