January 18, 1991

At least seven Iraqi missiles carrying conventional warheads fell on Israel early this morning in an area running from Tel Aviv to Haifa. The army said that seven people had been slightly injured "from a number of different hits in different parts of the country."

The Iraqi missile attack on Israel could seriously complicate Washington's strategy in the Persian Gulf war. Much depends on whether Israel retaliates and if it does whether any of Washington's Arab allies bolt the anti-Iraq coalition. President Bush said tonight that he was "outraged" at the attack, and American officials appealed to the Israelis to limit any reaction so as not to play into the hands of the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein. Ambassadors Summoned Secretary of State James A. Baker 3d, working at the White House alongside President Bush, immediately called the Ambassadors of Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Mr. Baker was understood to be trying to encourage the Israelis not to engage in any large-scale retaliation that might be used by Iraq to transform the gulf war into an Arab-Israeli conflict.

With the outbreak of war, could anything seem more trivial than a suburban feature column? And yet this is how I've spent my last five years, often rising at dawn to get over the Throgs Neck Bridge to beat the traffic to reach another suburb. For what? To watch Joe Dore, a boy who loves cars, compete in the Chrysler/Plymouth trouble-shooting contest. ("I've been thinking about it a year.") To experience the efficiency of a Montclair, N.J., carpool that's been commuting to New York for 28 years. ("May I introduce the carpool president?") To sit in a Connecticut garage listening to the new Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan complain about how hard it is to get his hat to stand straight up. ("As wizard I'm going to change the lining; this muslin is uncomfortable on your head.") To be in Wanaque, N.J., on Good Friday morning for a demonstration against a nursing home's accepting AIDS patients. ("Well, don't put them in our backyard. We believe in Nimby, too! Nimby! You said it, Nimby!") To witness firsthand a cockatoo being fitted for braces.

After a day of allied successes in the war against Iraq, Baghdad struck back today with missile attacks on Israel and Saudi Arabia. Preliminary reports indicated that seven Iraqi missiles hit Israel, and there were reports of injuries but no deaths. The missiles did not appear to be armed with chemical warheads.

New York City school employees and administrators spent an anxious day yesterday, worrying about the possibility of thousands of immediate layoffs and the not-so-distant prospect of hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts. Rumors and anger swept the system as negotiations aimed at avoiding up to 4,000 layoffs by Feb. 1 remained deadlocked, leaving principals uncertain about staffing their schools and many teachers and other employees worried about their future. The teachers' union and the Board of Education are seeking a wage deferral to help make up for nearly half of $90 million in midyear budget cuts, but the bargaining stalled, primarily because the city would not guarantee that there would be no layoffs in February.