Rumsfeldia: Year One – The Job He Always Wanted
[FONT="]Monday, January 26, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Lewis I. “Scooter” Libby, Karl Rove, Lee Atwater and Stacey C. Koon are appointed as special assistants to White House Chief of Staff Dick Cheney. They soon become known as “Cheney’s Hatchet Squad.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wednesday, January 28, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Arabian rebels under Mahrous Bin Laden attack the Qatif oil facility, causing major damage and tying down Iraqi troops.[/FONT]
[FONT="]February – June 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Over the course of the spring session of Congress the Rumsfeld Administration, working with Republican leaders in Congress brings forward several of President Rumsfeld’s inaugural measures requiring Congressional action:[/FONT]
[FONT="]A proclamation urging Congress to cut its pay – which was converted into a more sweeping measure to cut the pay of federal officials. An implementation for professional civil servants and employees was immediately actionable. Those for political appointees at the sub-cabinet and Cabinet level and for the President and Vice President had to be directed to begin with the next term for each office, as directed by Constitutional restrictions on changing pay during a term. Similarly Judicial pay-scales had to be adjusted for future appointments and not current judges. Congressional members could vote to cut their own pay, and at the end of the process were placed in a position of having to take some measure in line with everyone elses’ pay-cuts, lest they appear to be favouring themselves. These measures were highly popular with voters generally, as the Rumsfeld Administration knew from polling conducted during the transition period.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An Act requiring the Commissioner of the IRS giving small businesses a one-year tax holiday: there were very few members of Congress of any party (apart from the Socialist Workers Party) who were ready to stand against tax breaks for small business.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An Act requiring NASA to privatize or outsource its activities: this was more controversial, and widely opposed by many Democrats and some Republicans who had been around during the years of NASA’s greatness. Sen. Ted Kennedy in particular denounced the measure as “destroying the great work of a generation of American engineers, scientists and destroying a generation’s greatest achievement in the name of blind, narrow minded cost cutting. This is not government acting responsibly, this is irresponsibility on a national scale. Space is the frontier of all our people, it’s exploration and development is the pinnacle of a combined effort of government, industry and science. To cut government from the equation and leave the future of our space program to whims of private corporations, whose values are those of the bottom line and not the national good, is to invite the ruthless destruction of our science and our lead in this great effort.” Despite the opposition of Kennedy and others, the measure (widely supported by the Libertarians in particular) passed the Senate 60 – 40 and the House of Representatives 230 – 215. [/FONT]
[FONT="]President Rumsfeld: “Our liberal critics see one government running one space program which produces one result – a bloated, expensive space program which this nation can ill afford. By turning space over to the creative minds of the private sector, and making it a truly competitive enterprise like our other transportation sectors, then the discipline of competition and genius of the free market will produce for us a truly lean, efficient and effective space program devoid of the block think imposed on it by government acting alone.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]President Rumsfeld cancelled further Skylab launches (he was convinced that the U.S. was getting diminishing returns from these missions and they weren’t worth the cost) and authorized only a maximum of two test launches for the shuttle program at this point.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An act that eased the “Gavin taxes” on imported oil and reduced federal restriction on domestic oil pricing: was generally popular in oil producing states and among oil consumers who would see their gasoline and heating oil prices drop. As with the small business tax this was hard to oppose politically, and only a few voice, notably those of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Sen. Jimmy Carter (D-GA) were raised against it. The act passed both Houses of Congress with significant majorities.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An act to merge the Departments of Commerce and Labor: was more controversial, and support more directly divided along conservative-versus-liberal lines, as moderate to liberal legislators fought to retain both departments. In the end the Republicans, supported by conservative Democrats and the Libertarians, pushed these measures through. The act called for a new Department of Commerce and Labor to be in place by January 1, 1982. (In the end Secretary of Commerce Gerald Ford retired and Secretary of Labor Hugh Gregg was elevated to the new post of Secretary of Commerce and Labor).[/FONT]
[FONT="]An act to faze the Education portion out of the Department of Health Education and Welfare: This one passed with a coalition of Republicans, Christian Values members and Libertarians and no Democratic support. As of January 1982 the department was renamed the Department of Health and Responsible Communities [HRC], and the Secretary re-titled the Secretary of Health and Responsible Communities.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An act to cut block grants to states in areas of “discretionary spending:” failed. While it had broad support among the Republicans and Libertarians in Congress, this measure directly attacked funding for states, and as such state Governors of all parties got involved in opposing this as a direct attack on their own budgeting powers. Many Republican members reacted to home state pressure and moved away from the Rumsfeld Administration on this, and as such by June 1981 this act had not made its way out of committee study.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Still, as a legislative agenda for a President who had been elected with less than 40% of the popular vote, a 7-1 success rate was sufficiently impressive. More importantly, on 6 out of 8 initiatives the Rumsfeld Administration had managed to split the Democratic Party in Congress into regional and ideological blocs, giving support to the conservative Democrats from the sunbelt in return for their support of the Administration. (Republicans were dismayed by how many Southern Democrats President Rumsfeld appointed to the federal bench in his first year in office, for example. Southern Democratic members who went along with the President also found themselves as favoured as Republicans when it came to distributing federal largess in their districts.). There were splits among Republicans as well, but the President was less concerned with soothing liberal Republicans than he was with winning over conservative Democrats.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We The People supported the first two measures but opposed the other six.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Libertarians were among the supporting coalition in all of these measures, and in many respects key to the 7-1 success rate, especially on the unpopular effort to end the Education responsibilities of the federal government. They also pushed hardest for the end of discretionary bloc grants and were least resistant to home state pressure on this point, however their support was not enough in this case. President Rumsfeld rewarded them with a few White House meetings and a few Libertarian recommended federal appointments as well.[/FONT]
[FONT="]CHAD[/FONT]
[FONT="]Although Libyan intervention enabled Goukouni Oueddei to win militarily, the association with Gaddafi created diplomatic problems for GUNT. In January 1981, when Goukouni and Gaddafi issued a joint communiqué stating that Chad and Libya had agreed to "work for the realization of complete unity between the two countries", an international uproar ensued. Although both leaders later denied any intention to merge their states politically, the diplomatic damage had been done.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Throughout 1981 most of the members of the OAU, along with France and the United States, encouraged Libyan troops to withdraw from Chad. U.S. demands were blunt, calling on Libya to withdraw altogether, but commitments in China and in Southern Africa prevented the Rumsfeld Administration from carrying though on anything more than a covert support action for the anti GUNT factions. One week after the "unity communiqué", the OAU's committee on Chad met in Togo to assess the situation. In a surprisingly blunt resolution, the twelve states on the committee denounced the union goal as a violation of the 1979 Lagos Accord, called for Libya to withdraw its troops, and promised to provide a peacekeeping unit, the Inter-African Force (IAF). Goukouni was skeptical of OAU promises, but in September he received a French pledge of support for his government and the IAF.[/FONT]
[FONT="]But as Goukouni's relations with the OAU and France improved, his ties with Libya deteriorated. One reason for this deterioration was that the economic assistance that Libya had promised never materialized. Another, and perhaps more significant, factor was that Gaddafi was strongly suspected of helping Goukouni's rival within GUNT, Acyl Ahmat, leader of the Democratic Revolutionary Council (Conseil Démocratique Révolutionnaire or CDR). Goukouni feared Acyl because he and many of the members of the CDR were Arabs of the Awlad Sulayman tribe. About 150 years earlier, this group had migrated from Libya to Chad and thus represented the historical and cultural basis of Libyan claims in Chad. By contrast the U.S. backed FAN was in chaos since the assassination of Hussein Habre and represented little real threat to GUNT.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Goukouni and Gaddafi also feared the growing power of the PJO in Mali. Although Gaddafi had made a side deal with the PJO, whereby they left him alone in return for pay-offs and the occasional delivery of recruits (mostly Islamist opponents of the Libyan and Chadian governments expelled to Mali), neither leader felt secure with the militants on their border. [/FONT]
[FONT="]After the Gulf of Sidra incident with the United States in July, Gaddafi decided to annex Chad after all. In mid September 1981, despite protests from the OAU and the French, Gaddafi moved to annex Chad, seizing N’Djamena, and forcing his erstwhile ally Goukouni into an uneasy exile in Sudan and then Zaire, where he was chased by Libyan hit squads. (Unlike the ones feared in Washington at the end of 1981, these were very real). 1981 ended with Libya occupying over 90% of Chadian territory and the Libyan leader Gaddafi being regarded as an international pariah.[/FONT]
[FONT="]President Mitterrand in particular reached a determination by December 1981 to get rid of Gaddafi, though he was loathed to share the project with the Rumsfeld Administration.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gaddafi meanwhile, made a new deal with the PJO. He turned a blind eye to their using Chadian territory for training and basing, and provided continued assistance for their de-stabilization efforts in Niger, in return for continued PJO neutrality toward Libyan forces and interests. At the same time he moved Libyan troops into portions of northern Niger, creating a buffer zone along his southern border.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, and many of the west African states surrounding Mali and Niger were all displeased with these developments and made various representations to Paris, Washington, London and even Moscow about that fact. Mauritania was particularly moved to sign a security and friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in order to receive East German and Czech support troops.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Soviets in turn signalled their disapproval to Gaddafi of his support for the PJO (and indirectly his actions in Chad and Niger which made the deals with the PJO politically expedient). However, the most immediate response was to increase the price of the arms the USSR sold Libya. Since Gaddafi bought them, even at the inflated prices, the flow of hard currency had the reverse of the intended effect. As long as he was buying arms at the inflated price, Gaddafi was supporting the Soviet economy with hard currency. Of course, he was re-selling some of the arms to the South Africans, not because he supported their cause, but they paid an even higher price (often in gold and uranium) which in turn off-set some of Libya’s outlays. [/FONT]
[FONT="]It is worth noting that the Israelis, who also sold arms to the South Africans, began back channel supports to Libya, not because they liked or trusted the virulently anti-Israel Gaddafi, but because they concluded that eventually Libya would be compelled to go to war with the PJO, and they wanted Libya sufficiently well armed to win that fight. (Dr. Ickle and William Casey took a similar view; much as they despised Gaddafi, the thought of the PJO gaining control of a costal nation was enough to persuade them that the United States needed an ally of convenience if not like in the area – the Soviet move into Mauritania reinforced this notion).[/FONT]
[FONT="]-----------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
[FONT="]Most of 1981 in Southern Africa is characterized by a war of attrition between the combined forces of South Africa and Rhodesia, backed by the United States and various mercenary units. The ZPLF forces, backed by the national armies of Zambia, Botswana and Angola engage in a guerrilla war, while their opponents strike back with attacks on bases and supply lines. The United States contributes advisors with long experience in Vietnam, logistical and material support. The U.S. also provides long range bombing support for the South African forces. The U.S. bombing makes large scale military action on the part of the ZPLF and its allies impossible. There are no dirty bomb incidents in 1981, although the South Africans are still believed to be engaged in a crash nuclear development program.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Related insurgencies in Angola and Mozambique continue. In these countries the Soviets begin to rely on their Portuguese allies, who have local knowledge from the colonial period. The return of Portuguese military advisors, even under the guise of a Marxist state, causes dissention between the regimes and their Soviet allies.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]China – January – September[/FONT]
[FONT="]A series of uprisings create critical instability within China; these are driven by people rebelling against starvation and the oppression of the regime. At some point the Lesser Mao and his cadre are driven from Peking by rioting. The Lesser Mao disappears into the hinterland.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Independent of any government control, Chinese forces along the frontiers – especially along the Hong Kong frontier – begin negotiating with allied forces for food and medical assistance. The deplorable state of the forces, many of which have been ravaged by hunger, disease and brutal treatment, makes them more of an armed mob than a military in the recognizable sense.[/FONT]
[FONT="]As uprisings and foreign encroachments continue, loyalist troops (mainly security forces) retreat to the interior with the remnants of the Lesser Mao PRC government. Within the interior much of the order and discipline collapses, ushering in a return to the warlord period, with constant fighting between various factions.[/FONT]
[FONT="]While foreign military forces are greeted largely with celebration by local civilians, there are areas of resistance which create a sense of caution among military commanders.[/FONT]
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[FONT="]Sunday, February 1, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Underarm bowling incident of 1981: At cricket's World Series Cup between Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne, Australian bowler Trevor Chappell and his brother, team captain Greg Chappell, became infamous for the way that the match was won. On instructions from Greg, Trevor forwent an overarm throw and rolled the ball along the ground to New Zealand's final batter, Brian McKechnie, to preserve Australia's 235-229 victory. The rules were changed afterward to ban the practice.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The National Football League season extended to February for the first time as the NFC all-stars beat the AFC 21-7 in the Pro Bowl at Honolulu. The Super Bowl was played in February for the first time. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 24 – 21 in Super Bowl XV..[/FONT]
[FONT="]Monday, February 2, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]For the first time in PGA Tour history, there was a five way tie at the end of the scheduled rounds of golf, with Hale Irwin, Ben Crenshaw, Bobby Clampett, John Cook, and Barney Thompson all taking 209 strokes on 54 holes at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. Irwin beat Cook on the third extra hole and won the $40,500 prize, more than his entire earnings the year before.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tuesday February 3, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Lars Skytoen was named as the Prime Minister of Norway after the ruling Norwegian Labour Party chose him as its new leader to succeed Odvar Nordli, who resigned for health reasons.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wednesday, February 4, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]U.S. Congressman Jon Hinson (R-Mississippi) was arrested, along with a 28-year-old male employee of the Library of Congress, at a restroom in a Congressional office building, and charged with homosexual sodomy, a criminal offense under the laws in effect at that time. Hinson resigned his seat a month later.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Kishtwar National Park was established in the Jammu and Kashmir State in India. The park covers a total area of 42,500 hectares or about 164 square miles (420 km2).[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thursday, February 5, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]A fire broke out at 5:33 a.m. at the State Office Building in Binghamton, New York, and ended up contaminating the building with toxic polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and a cleanup job that took more than 13 years and cost $47,000,000.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Willard Mitt Romney, the son of George Romney and an associate at a struggling Boston management consulting company, is named Assistant Treasury Secretary for Domestic Financial Markets by President Rumsfeld. Upon his confirmation on March 6, at the age of 33, Romney became the youngest Assistant Secretaries in United States government.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The British and Argentine governments begin negotiations over the squatters on the Falklands. Argentine President Carlos Humberto Perette calls the squatters on the islands “national heroes; Argentina will never abandon these heroes, nor submit to the humiliation of having any part of our territory held captive by a foreign colonizer. The Malvinas are not Hong Kong, and we shall never lease them out under the threat of force.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]James Callaghan MP (British Foreign Secretary): “The Falkland Islands are not occupied territory – I know of no oppressed population there. Rather I know only of a peaceful community of British farmers who have been living there, in some cases, for many generations, who wish to remain under the British flag. The current squatters are all Argentinians who have come to make trouble, for the sake of trouble, and so that President Perette and his government can use a nationalist excuse to distract the Argentine people from their current pressing problems. His Majesty’s government, in keeping with our international commitments and understanding that peaceful resolution is preferable to any sort of violence, will negotiate with the Argentine government over this issue, but all parties must be clear from the outset – the status of the Falklands shall not change as a result: there will be negotiation of the Falklands’ status, nor shall we seek to lease what is already a part of Britain.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Eduardo Duhalde (Argentine Foreign Minister) :”If this is the attitude of the British, that the Malvinas, stolen from the heart of Argentina by a foreign power, cannot be returned to their rightful people, then the British government leaves us little to negotiate.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Friday, February 6, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ugandan Bush War: The National Resistance Army, led by Yoweri Museveni began a rebellion against the government of Uganda with an attack on army barracks in the capital, Kampala.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Buckingham Palace announces that King George VII has asked Veronica Ann Cross, the former Miss United Kingdom (1973), to marry him. Controversy attaches to the choice due to Miss Cross’ performing background and the fact that she is not of noble lineage. The King is reported to be attracted to her opera singing as well as her physical charms.[/FONT]
[FONT="]King George: “As a matter of personal right, it is my belief that I have the right, as a person, to choose the woman of my choice as my bride. Ms. Cross who has graciously consented to marry me, has neither been married before, nor I understand been compromised under current law. There is, of course, the question of her status, but I would hope that in the modern Britain, in the modern world, that social status alone would set a limit on one’s capabilities or potential. The fact that Ms. Cross is not high born should not in itself exclude her from being my bride if she chooses. We have agreed that she will not be crowned Queen, but will in the same manner as my father had been, be regarded as my consort, and as such as my partner in life. Once, not many years ago, a King was forced to choose between love and his crown. I believe that Britain has progressed, that the British sense of nation has grown since those days, that a King would not have to make that choice, not when the lady in question is of superb character and unquestionable background.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Prime Minister Healey: “His Majesty is right in as much as this is not a situation like 1936, many factors are different. If it is decided that Ms. Cross is not be crowned Queen, but named as consort of His Majesty, and presumably mother of the future heir, the government has no interest in standing in the way of the marriage. There is no threat to the crown or the succession, which remains to Prince Andrew until such time as there is issue.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Hugh Montefiore, Archbishop of Canterbury: “It is a difficult question of course, and not one to be passed over lightly or glibly. We’re talking about more than a simple country parish wedding, after all. The religious question does not pertain in this circumstance, and while an objection has been mooted with regard to the social rank of the bride, I am not in the business of making assignments based solely on a person’s social pedigree. His Majesty has expressed his wishes, and I have yet to hear an absolute legal disqualification of the intended bride. “[/FONT]
[FONT="]From the time of the marriage announcement Veronica Crossin becomes the focus of intensive tabloid coverage, to the point that she has to call the police several times to have paparazzi removed from the front and rear areas of her home.[/FONT]
[FONT="]----------------------------------------------------[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), led a group of 500 men up a hillside in County Antrim at night. Those taking part in the gathering were photographed holding firearms certificates above their head. [Firearm certificates are issued by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to those people who possess legally held firearms. The implication of the demonstration was that those taking part could as easily have been holding their weapons above their head.] [/FONT]
[FONT="]The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) bombed and sunk a British coal boat, Nellie M, off the coast at Moville, County Donegal, Republic of Ireland.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Saturday, February 7, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bangalore circus fire: A fire broke out during a matinee performance of the Venus Circus in Bangalore, India, with the big top tent burning while 2,000 people attended. Seventy persons, mostly children, were killed during the panic.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A plane carrying 70 Soviet military officers from Leningrad to Vladivostok, crashed during a takeoff, killing all persons aboard, including 24 admirals and generals. The fatalities, which the Soviet government never publicly acknowledged are said to include Admiral Emil Spiridonov, Commander of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, and Lt. Gen. Georgi Pavlov, Commander of the Pacific Air Wing. Also reported to have died are several members of the Soviet backed People’s Republic of China General staff.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Jordanian troops, backed by U.S. advisors, move into position along the Trans-Arabian Pipeline road, securing the western flank of Jawf province.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sunday, February 8, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Karaiskakis Stadium disaster: At a soccer football match at Piraeus, Greece, 21 people were killed and 54 seriously injured. Olympiakos F.C. had defeated visiting AEK Athens F.C., 6-0, and fans rushing to a blocked stadium exit were trampled.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sunday February 8 - Monday, February 9, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]An apparent attempt to topple the Polish Junta by several officers in a coup fails. The Polish military quickly organizes another round of arrests of dissidents, military officers and other “suspect persons” immediately after the coup attempt. Generals Jozef Uzycki and Czeslaw Kiszczak appear on television to assure the nation that the coup has failed.[/FONT]
[FONT="]NBC inaugurates “Late Night” hosted by former Republican Presidential Candidate and California Governor Ronald Reagan. Among his first guests are former President Richard Nixon and Texas Governor George H.W. Bush.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and other senior members of the DUP held a rally at Belfast City Hall were they signed a covenant, the 'Ulster Declaration', based on the Ulster Covenant of 1912. Paisley also announced a 'Carson Trail' which was to be a series of protest rallies against the continuing dialogue between Denis Healey, then British Prime Minister, and Charles Haughey, then Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister).[/FONT]
[FONT="]Bill Haley, 55, American rock and roll pioneer (Rock Around the Clock), died.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tuesday, February 10, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Unconfirmed reports that Soviet President Yuri Andropov has suffered a serious heart attack. He is not seen publicly again until September.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Eight people died and 350 were injured at a fire that broke out at 8:00 pm on the 8th floor of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel, and then spread upward to the 22 stories above. Philip Bruce Cline, a 23-year-old busboy who had at first been praised for alerting guests to the blaze, was later convicted of arson and murder, and received eight life sentences.[/FONT]
[FONT="]U.S. President Rumsfeld signs Executive Order No. 122307. This order disbands the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The Executive Protection function of the service is transferred to a new Executive Protection Agency under the jurisdiction of the FCTB. The areas of jurisdiction involving Treasury related matters (such as counter-fitting) are transferred to a new United States Bureau of Financial Security. Under the Executive Order the BFS also absorbs the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The BFS remains under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Treasury. There is suspicion that the BATF was disbanded in order to send positive signals to the Liquor, Tobacco and Firearms industry lobbies. The dismemberment of the Secret Service is explained as “an administrative and budgetary efficiency.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wednesday, February 11, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]A misunderstanding at the Sequoyah Nuclear Generating Station Unit #1 near Chattanooga, Tennessee led to a nuclear accident in which 105,000 gallons of radioactive water flooded the containment building and contaminated thirteen Tennessee Valley Authority employees. After being asked to verify that a containment spray valve was properly closed, an auxiliary operator opened the valve instead, diverting the water to a sprinkler system and giving the persons inside "a chilly but slightly radioactive shower".[/FONT]
[FONT="]The forces of the Mauritanian Junta manage to expel the PJO from their territory into Mali. They also reach a ceasefire with the Polisario guerrillas, who have no love of the PJO either. This allows Mauritania to consolidate its western and northern frontiers.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Although the Junta has a pro-western orientation, they choose to seek military aid from the Soviet Union and the Cubans under the belief that they can get more and better weapons from them than they can from the west.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Iraqi troops confront Jordanian troops in Jawf province, escalating tensions. Iraq backs down only when the United States makes clear that it will back Jordan and the Soviet Union equivocates on backing Iraq in a direct confrontation with the U.S.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thursday, February 12, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]The discovery, of a previously unknown symphony by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,was announced in Munich by Dr. Robert Münster, a spokesman for the BavarianState Library. Written 216 years earlier, in 1765, when Mozart was nineyears old, Symphony in F major, K. Anh. 223 (19a)was purchased by the library from an unidentified seller who had found it "among some private papers in Bavaria last fall".[/FONT]
[FONT="]In a meeting of the National Security Council at the White House, President Rumsfeld made the decision to support the South African regime with covert weapons and continuing recruitment of mercenaries. A stepped-up program of indirect U.S. involvement was also discussed, including a secret bombing campaign to be conducted by high-altitude U.S. bombers on the model of operations used in Vietnam a decade before. Finally, provision was made for the introduction of U.S. Special Forces to provide support and training to the South African and Rhodesian regimes. Although Presidential findings were drafted authorizing U.S. intelligence gathering and monitoring on Southern Africa, none of the arms activity or the use of U.S. Air Force bombers and U.S. Special Forces was reported to Congress.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ian Paisley, then leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), was suspended from the House of Commons when he repeatedly called Bill Rogers, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, a liar.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Indian Prime Minister Ram Sundar Das announces a further series of economic liberalizations. Sanjay Gandhi uses these to organize a populist opposition to the Das government, proclaiming that the Prime Minister has sold the Indian people out to imperialist-capitalist forces. He characterises the on-going imprisonment of his mother as part of a Das government plot to steal India from the people.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Saturday, February 14, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Stardust fire: Forty-nine people were killed and 214 injured in a fire at the Stardust Cabaret discothèque in Dublin. More than were 700 people were present for a Valentine's Day party when flames were observed at 2:00 a.m.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An investigation concluded that the fire was intentionally set.[/FONT]
[FONT="]ZPLF guerrillas manage to kill eleven local officials in Durban before being killed.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sunday February 15, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]NASCAR driver Richard Petty came from fifth place to win the Daytona 500, after the four drivers ahead of him lost their leads by getting their tires changed. With 26 laps left, Bobby Allison changed the right side tires, and in a process that Petty later described as "follow the leader", Buddy Baker, Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd did the same. Petty and his crew elected to use his final pit stop for fuel only, and "The King" won Daytona for the 7th and last time.[/FONT]
[FONT="]General Alexander Haig, Director of the Federal Counter-Terrorism Bureau, causes a stir on CBS’ Meet the Press when he suggests that the new Rumsfeld Administration’s anti-terror policy includes the assassination of both terror suspects and their relatives (“if deemed necessary in order to degrade the operational capability of any terrorist cell belonging to any[/FONT]
[FONT="]terror-employing group.”).[/FONT]
[FONT="]The PJO sends into Niger wandering teachers, who convert the dispossessed and youth to their Salafist beliefs. This is a repeat of practice they have undertaken in Mali and Chad. They also encourage young soldiers to come to the cause, either by deserting their posts or acting as spies within the Army.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Monday, February 16, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]At a press conference President Rumsfeld says this about General Haig’s comments:[/FONT]
[FONT="]“I have no quams about killing terrorists. They’ve decided to kill our citizens, murder the innocent, and that makes them targets, by their own choice, and not just for retribution but for preventative measures. Who among us would wait until an innocent citizen is murdered if he or she could act to prevent that murder? Anyone who would is, in my book, reprehensible. As for the relatives of terrorists – the easiest way for them to avoid becoming a target is to assist us in stopping these terrorists. If we can arrest a terrorist, if their relatives and friends will assist us in doing that, then no one need die. It’s up to them, but we are at war with those who would use violence against us and our society, and we have to be ready to use any and all measures at our disposal to prevent the slaughter of innocent civilians by those who have voluntarily and through their choice to commit violent acts given-up all claims to what we commonly regard as humanity and humane treatment.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Twenty minutes before Pope Pius XIII was to arrive at to celebrate mass with 70,000 people at Pakistan's National Stadium in Karachi, a hand grenade exploded in a stairway behind the VIP grandstand, killing the man who had been carrying it. Despite security concerns, the Pope insisted on going through with the mass. The Pope was on the first stop of a 12-day tour of Asia, after departing Rome earlier that day. After delivering the mass, he flew on to Manila.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tuesday, February 17, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]U.S. President Rumsfeld "dramatically altered the political landscape" by issuing Executive Order 12291. Executive branch agencies could not issue new rules and regulations without first submitting proposals to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), along with a cost-benefit-analysis that could demonstrate that "the potential benefits to society for regulation outweigh the potential costs".[/FONT]
[FONT="]DC comics acquires Marvel Comics in a hostile take-over bid. Marvel has been faltering due to slow sales (as has DC), but DC hopes to revive its prospects in the business by fusing the best of both under a combined DC-Marvel label. This includes a moderately successful Marvel comic called Star Wars based on the 1979 animated science fiction film.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wednesday, February 18, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]In a 35-minute speech to a joint session of Congress, President of the United States Donald Rumsfeld outlined the details of a package of reforms that would reduce both inflation and unemployment by reducing federal government spending and cutting the federal income tax rate. The annual inflation rate was 11.58% at the beginning of 1981 while the unemployment rate hovered around 12.2%. Rumsfeld also urged Congress to pass his tax holiday for small business.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thursday, February 19, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Entertainer Frank Sinatra was cleared of longstanding rumors that he had ties to organized crime, 18 years after the Nevada Gaming Commission had revoked his license to operate a casino. In 1963, mobster Sam Giancana had visited Sinatra's Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe, and the license had been suspended. A factor in the Commission's 4-1 vote in favor of Sinatra was a statement of support from Ronald Reagan, with an attorney authorized to say that Reagan "considers him an honorable person — completely honest and loyal"[/FONT]
[FONT="]James Molyneaux, then leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), dismissed as 'ludicrous' claims by Ian Paisley that the UUP were conspiring to kill him.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Friday, February 20, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 342 collides with the top of Tower One of the World Trade Center, causing an explosion and fire that kills all 58 aboard the Boeing 707 and 17 people (mostly cleaning staff) in the building. A subsequent investigation shows a failure in communication between the plane and the tower and a suspicion that the pilot was intoxicate at the time ofthe crash. Heavy fog and darkness (the collision occurred at 10:05 pm) were also contributing factors to the crash. A more senior air traffic controller, Donald Zimmerman, had been relieved by a less experienced controller just minutes before the crash. Control tower tapes later showed that the Argentine pilot had trouble understanding the controller, who spoke English with a Jamaican accent. The top of Tower One smoulders for days afterwards, but the Tower does not collapse.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Saturday, February 21, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]In a broadcast made from Radio Veritas in Manila, Pope Pius XIII made what was described as "the most far-reaching call for interfaith dialogue ever made by a pontiff", proposing to meet with representatives of the world's major religions. "The church of Jesus Christ in this age experiences a profound need to enter into contact and dialogue with all these religions," said the Pope, and that Christians must commit to discussions "so that mutual understanding and collaboration may grow, so that moral values may be strengthened, so that God may be praised in all creation". He also outlines his idea of a system of nations working together under a plan of “spiritual guidance and moral direction” as opposed to “tired ideologies of subjugation and tyranny driven by merchant values, or the evil counsels of Marx.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]The PIRA carried out a series of fire bomb attacks on eight shops in Belfast and three in Derry which resulted in damage to all 11 stores.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Sunday, February 22, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Patrick Trainor (28), a Catholic civilian, was found shot dead on waste ground off Glen Road, Andersonstown, Belfast. Trainor had been killed by the PIRA who alleged that he had been acting as an informer.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Monday, February 23, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Terrorists from GRAPO (First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Groups) attempt to storm the Spanish Chamber of Deputies and take members hostage. They are stopped in a bloody shoot-out with Civil Guard forces, which claim that all seven terrorists in the action were killed, along with five policeman and one Deputy killed and another nine people injured. The manifesto put-out by GRAPO referred to the liberation of Spain the previous year as “a bourgeois, capitalist feint to preserve Francoism without Franco, and to promote capitalist tyranny at the expense of the Spanish people.” The manifesto called for a Portuguese style Marxist Revolution in Spain, leading many to suspect that the Portuguese had put GRAPO up to the attempt. (The official state information service of the DPRP condemned the attack but was sympathetic to the group’s goals, which in turn drew further protest from Madrid at Lisbon’s policy). As a result there were several large anti-Portuguese demonstrations in a number of Spanish cities, and the headquarters of the Spanish Communist Party in Madrid was firebombed by “persons unknown.” Even ETA, the Basque Terrorist group, issued a statement condemning the attack.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A White House statement condemning the attacks states – “The new Spanish authorities have failed to anticipate the level of violent intent by the radical left, and would be well apprise to root out such organizations quickly. The United States stands ready to assist in any such measures as the Spanish Republic may require.” This draws protests from the Spanish government because it implies that the new Spanish government cannot provide security and is sympathetic to violent terrorist groups.[/FONT]
[FONT="]For the first time, the seat of a member of the United States Congress was declared vacant by reason of disability. Gladys Noon Spellman, U.S. Representative from Maryland, had been comatose since suffering a stroke shortly before her re-election in November. By voice vote, with no objection, the House of Representatives passed a resolution noting that[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Mrs. Spellman has been unable to take the oath of office due to a de-capacitating illness" and that her position should be declared vacant. Spellman never recovered and died in 1988.[/FONT]
[FONT="]An earthquake in Greece, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale, struck at 10:53 pm local time, killing 16 people and injured more than 400.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Wednesday, February 25, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]A bank robbery was made of a branch of the New York Bank for Savings at Rockefeller Center, by a 9-year-old boy who used a .22 caliber pistol and got away with $118, then surrendered to the FBI two days later. "Robert M." was tried in the state's juvenile court system and found guilty of bank robbery on June 8 and placed on supervised probation in the custody of his family. However, “Robert M.” was soon tried by the federal government with a different outcome.[/FONT]
[FONT="]President Rumsfeld publicly endorses an effort to repeal the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (popular election of Senators). He had previously campaigned for this repeal while serving as Governor of Illinois.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Carter-Wright Amendment is submitted to the States for ratification. It would abolish the Electoral College and elect the President by popular vote.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Valery Giscard d’Estaing announces that he will be a candidate for President of France.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Palestinian Jihad Organization establishes an Islamic Republic in Mali. The State is lead by a Council of Islamic Scholars (PJO fighters who assume the title and are accepted as such). It is governed by the Quran and strict Sharia Law, according to a hard-line Salafist tradition. Infidels are ordered to convert or die. The IRM issues no official passports as it claims not to recognize the international system as having any validity. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Thursday, February 26, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]Joey Coyle, and unemployed longshoreman in Philadelphia, was driving behind an armored car when its doors opened and two bags of money fell out. Coyle retrieved the bags and found that he was in possession of more than $1,200,000 in cash. Over the next six days, he spent or gave away an estimated $196,000 before being caught by the FBI. He was later convicted of theft and the unlawful disbursement of currency acquired by theft. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. His story was later the basis for a film, Money is Nothing.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A new record for penalty minutes in a National Hockey League game was set when the Boston Bruins hosted the Minnesota North Stars. The first fight, between Boston's Steve Kasper and the Stars' Greg Smith, broke out seven seconds into the game. Eventually seven Minnesota and five Boston players were ejected, Stars' coach Glen Sonmor fought with a fan, and 406 minutes were assessed. The Bruins won, 5-1.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Friday, February 27, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]A daring prison escape in France is foiled by a traffic accident. The plan had been for a pair of men to force helicopter pilot Claude Fourcade to fly to Fleury-Mérogis Prison, where armed robbers Gerard Dupre and Daniel Beaumont were incarcerated. At gunpoint, Fourcade was to land at a soccer field on prison grounds, and take-off again with Dupre and Beaumont on board, and then land at a Paris athletic field where the gang was to escape in a waiting car. The plan was carried off, but the getaway car was involved in a traffic accident en-route to the landing field. By coincidence an off-duty Paris police officer was parked in his car near the field when the helicopter landed (smoking marijuana according to some[/FONT]
[FONT="]reports). Mistaking his vehicle for the getaway car, Dupre, Beaumont and their accomplices piled in, paying little attention to the identity of the driver. The off-duty officer quickly realized what was going on, and drove the car and passengers to a nearby police barracks where all were arrested. Dupre, Beaumont and their accomplices were later convicted of prison break, endangering citizens and a series of aviation offences. The police officer received the Legion of Honour for his quick thinking.[/FONT]
[FONT="]This incident was the basis of the 1982 American film Field Day in which George W. Bush played the off-duty officer (in an American setting). The film explicitly had the off-duty officer smoking pot, the smell of which fooled the escapees into accepting the unknown driver as one of their own. A further controversy from the film was the allegation that actor Bush was actually smoking marijuana on-set when his scenes were shot (and thus was smoking pot [and committing a crime] on film).[/FONT]
[FONT="]A large van bomb exploded in the centre of Limavady, County Derry, causing damage to 40 premises. [It was believed that the PIRA were responsible for the attack, although the INLA took credit for it.][/FONT]
[FONT="]Saturday, February 28, 1981[/FONT]
[FONT="]1981 Irish hunger strike: At the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland, IRA member Bobby Sands ate an orange, and then refused to eat again until the inmates were allowed to wear civilian clothing. Other IRA prisoners joined the hunger strike along the way. Sands was forcibly put on liquid nutrition by the British authorities as were the other hunger strikers, which prevented any deaths. The strike was called off in October when it became clear that it would not lead anywhere.[/FONT]
[FONT="]During a state visit to Canada U.S. President Rumsfeld causes offense when he states that Canada “made a mistake when it refused to join the American Revolution. Canada’s history since has been testimony to a second-tier existence outside of the larger American reality.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]PM Lougheed response:“The President is, of course, entitled to his opinion, though I’m not sure it is grounded in an accurate reading of our history. I would like to point out that the original articles of Confederation invited Canada to join the American Union, but that the matter was always a choice for the people of Canada. The Canadian people have made that choice in the tradition of democratic government which both our countries respect, and so revision of history at this point overlooks the essence of our democratic choices, and of course our subsequent history, particularly in the last forty years, has shown that Canada has contributed to the first-tier of world affairs in both diplomatic ways, and with the blood and toil of many of our citizens.”
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