
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 14, 1991                   TAG: 9102140493
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

TAX WAR PROFITS, AID SERVICE FAMILIES

I WANT to emphatically voice my support for our men and women in the armed services, especially those in the Persian Gulf. I am proud of them and pray this war will end quickly and that they will all return safely to their families. I want peace just as much as any of the demonstrators that we see much too often on television. However, there is a point at which you have to bite the bullet and fight for what you think is right.

I am also writing because of recent reports regarding the enormous profits the big oil companies are realizing as a result of the war. It is immoral and simply unthinkable that anyone would take advantage of such a situation to increase profits. Many people are going to die, many more will be injured, and no one knows what the effects of this war will be on the environment, the world economy, political structure and everyday life.

I do not expect corporate policy to change; therefore, Congress should require confiscation of any windfall profits as a result of the war in the Persian Gulf. Those profits should be used to:

Subsidize families of military personnel so that they at least do not have to suffer financially because of the war.

Subsidize the cost of conducting the war in the Persian Gulf. I know that the action that I am suggesting the Congress take is not easy. However, neither is what we are asking of the men and women serving in the Persian Gulf. They are not facing just a financial profit or loss; they are facing death. ALBERT W. LINKOUS VINTON

by CNB