Hussein's To Blame--Again

By MARK THOMPSON

As the U.S. debates going towar against Iraq, the Navy has lodged its own grievance against Saddam. In a report released last week, it basically concluded that Iraq is responsible for the drowning of two U.S. sailors in the Persian Gulf late last year, even though the men were not properly trained for the mission. Benjamin Johnson, 21, of Rochester, N.Y., and Vincent Parker, 38, of Preston, Miss., died when the decrepit ship they were guarding, which had been seized by the Navy for smuggling Iraqi oil, went down during a violent storm. The sailors were part of a decade-long effort by the Navy to stop ships it suspects are carrying Iraqi oil in violation of the U.N. ban on such shipments. Until the sinking, there had never been a death among sailors or smugglers. That changed on Nov. 18, when the 200-ft. Samra sank at 4 a.m. in 10-ft. seas, drowning the two sailors and four Iraqis. Sixteen were rescued, including six U.S. sailors. The leaking vessel, owned by a United Arab Emirates shipper, was built to transport grain but secretly carried four large tanks inside its cargo hold for smuggling oil. The Navy's first mistake was to underestimate the amount of oil on board, which made the ship more likely to go down. But it also dispatched a guard crew from the U.S.S. Peterson to the Samra that had never done this kind of work before, and the men forgot to bring life preservers. Despite these shortcomings uncovered by the investigating officer, his commander decided that none of the Peterson's officers should be found negligent. "The price of national security is that our young men and women are occasionally sent on dangerous missions from which they do not return," the Navy investigation concluded. --By Mark Thompson