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EUROPE
AT
THE CROSSROADS!
American weakness coupled with Soviet strength is sending a cold chill through the capita/s of
Europe. The Continent's politicai leaders will soon be faced with two choices: submit to
Moscow-or turn Europe into a third superpower force.
T
HE RIFT
between America
and its allies is growing
wider by thc month.
Even Britain- America's most
s taunch a lly- is going its own
way more often than not. London,
for example, has defected from a
unitcd (albeit diluted) European
stand su pporti ng President Ji m–
my Carter 's plea for trade sanc–
tions against Iran.
Continent Slips Away
Across the Channel, President
Va lery Giscard d ' Estaing of
France surprised Washington and
everybody else by surfacing in
Warsaw for a surprise summit
conference with Soviet President
Leonid Brezhnev. Only days be–
fore, French Foreign Minister
J ean Fra ncois- Poncet had lec–
tured America's new Secretary of
State Edmund Muskie on t he
virtues of allied consultation.
The West Germans are also
showi ng increasing signs of inde–
pendence. Chancellor Hclmut
Schmidt wavered on his earlier
support of stationing a new gener–
ation o f nuclea r weapons fo r
NATO.
Moscow's tug on Bonn is get–
ting stronger. T he German chan–
cellor wcnt to Moscow in late
Junc for his own summit with
Mr. Brczhnev. The dependencc
of Wcstern Europc upon Mideast
oil is now leading to what could
be the most serious rupture o f all
in thc a ll iance.
To insure acccss to futu re cner-
August 1980
by
Gene H. Hogberg
gy supplies, the Europeans feel
they must display more sympathy
with the Arab cause. In their
June summit in Venice, the Euro–
pean Econom ic Community
(Common Market) countri es
stopped just short of political rec–
ognit ion of the Palestinc Libera–
tion Organization (PLO). Only
intense pressure from Washing–
ton forced the EEC to postpone
sponsoring a controversia! resolu–
tion in the United Nat ions Secu–
rity Council calling for Palestin–
ian "self-determination"-a code
phrase for a Palestinian state in
thc ls raeli -occupied West Bank.
Can' t Trust " t he Policeman "
The reason why Europeans are
showi ng more independence in
t he Western camp should be
obvious: Jt is due to the shocking
d ecl ine of American leadership in
the Free World , coupled with the
virtually uncontested growth of
Soviet military might , right on
Western Europe's doorstcp.
Everywhere in Europe these
days, there is loose talk about
America's inconsistency and in–
competence. Arthur Schlesinger
Jr., former aid to President John
Kcnnedy, notes in a rcport from
London, that the Unitcd States is
bccoming the ' ' Inspector C lou–
scau of nations"- likcning Amer–
ica to the bumbling detective.
pl ayed by Pctcr Sellcrs, in the
popular " P ink Panther" films .
European mist rust in Ameri–
can leadership of the Free World
is now matched by growing
doubts about Washington's abili–
ty to militarily defend its allied
partners.
The debacle of the American
rescue mission in lra n has had a
profound impact upon Eu rope.
One of the world 's leading mili–
tary st rategists, Dr. Edward Lutt–
wak of the Georgetown Center
for Strategic and 1nternational
Studies in Washi ngton , D .C.,
notes that "the abandonment of
the dead, of secret documents and
intact he licopters is contrary to
all the customs of war and the
usages of the service. T his has a
powerful effect in intens ifying
the
great loss of prestige
that the
country has suffered as a result of
this debacle."
This expert in military affairs
also contends that the United
States " hasn't carr ied out a single
major successful mil itary opera–
tion
in the /ast 30 years.
"- ever
since the brilliant Inchon landing
operation in Korea conducted by
General Douglas MacArthu r.
The Soviet Union suffered a
humiliating sctback t oo- in
October , 1962- when President
Kennedy forced Soviet Prcmier
Nikita Khrushchev to pull his
missiles out of Cuba. Bu t the
Soviets made th eir embarrass–
ment pay off.
Since that time. the Russians
have closed the gap in ncarly all
military fields with the United
States. And the momcntum is al l
in their favor. They are advancing
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