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doing precisely that. Mr. Brezhnev,
in a much stronger position than his
predecessor in a previous Cuban cri–
sis (Nikita Khruschev in 1962),
would not budge an inch.
The Monroe Doctrine-once the
cornerstone of U.S. foreign rela–
tions- now líes as dead as a doornail.
(1t 's been dormant since 1962 any–
way.) President Monroe, in his
famous message to Congress in 1833,
sa id with rega rd to independent
Western Hemisphere countries:
" ... We could not view any interpo–
sition for the purpose of oppressing
them, or controlling. in any other
manner their destiny, by any Euro–
pean power, in any other light than
as the manifestation of any unfriend–
ly disposition towards the United
States."
Many have tho'ught that Monroe's
unilateral "doctrine" was directed
mainly toward the colonial powers of
Western Europe (Spain, France and
England). However, the initial thrust
was against Russia. Reports Latín
American historian Donald M. Doz–
er : "This principie was intended to
thwart the territorial pretensions of
the Russian Czar, Alexander 1, along
the northwest coast of the North
American continent. A specific
warning to this effect had already
been pointedly communicated by
Secretary of State John Quincy
Adams to the Czar's government,
and in Monroe's message it was
broadened into a general principie."
Now the Russians have been
a llowed to get away with stationing a
permanent armed force in the West–
ern Hemisphere, 90 miles frorri U.S.
shores. And late reports indicate the
Soviets are upgrading facilities a t the
Cienfuegos naval base for use by
their naval vessels, including subm-a–
rines.
· Secretary of State Cyrus Vanee
even admits that one building the
Soviets are erecting is of the same
type they norma lly use for storage
and repair of nuclear missiles! In
1970 the Soviets tried to sneak into
Cienfuegos-but President Nixon
put his foot down.
Why the Decline
How has the United States come to
find itself in such a dilemma? A brief
6
review of current history gives us the
answer.
In 1945 America emerged from
World War 11 as the strongest mili–
tary and economic power in the
world. Never had there been a nation
of such preeminence.
Because of its unchallenged posi–
tion, the U.S. was thrust into the role
of leader of the free world.
lt
helped
put defeated enemies, Japan and
Germany, as .well as the rest of
war-torn Europe, back on their feet.
l t thereby prevented these strategic
a reas from falling under the world's
newest threat to freedom--commu–
nism.
Washington subsequently pro–
ceeded to construct a global system
of alliances to contain the advances
of communism. For a while it suc–
ceeded. But slowly America 's resolve
begari to erode. Communist aggres–
sion was thwarted but not defeated in
1953 in Korea. U.S. leadership
spurned the advice of General Doug–
las MacArthur, who told both houses
of Congress that there could be "no
substitute for victory."
The Uni ted States failed to re–
spond to an opportunity caused by
relative Soviet weakness in 1956. A
popular uprising overthrew the Com–
munist regime in Hungary. Freedom
!asted for about a week while Mos–
cow waited to see if Washington
would step in with more than mere
words to seal the pro-West ·victory.
When Washington did· nothtng, Red
Army tanks rolled in.
When a simila r event threatened
· to occur in Czechoslovakia in 1968, .
the Kremlin knew it didn't even have
to wait for an American response.
It
would not be forthcoming.
Prlde of Power Broken
The folly of fighting a
"limited '~
wa r
in the style of the Korea stalemate
was doomed to be repeated later- in
Vjetnam-with far more devastating
consequences. After an expenditure
of $300 billion and 55,000 American
lives, Vietnam was lost.
Quickly, in domino fashion (prov–
ing that the theory was correct after
all), went Cambodia and Laos. The
appalling horror of Cambodia to–
day-with the gruesome prospect of
the starvation of three million people
(the ruthless Poi Pot regime having
already killed off another three mil–
lion previously) could have been pre–
vented had the United States fought
to win in Vietnam.
Furthermore, the experience in
Southeast Asia shattered American
confidence. True to Bible prophecy,
the · pride of America's power was
broken (Leviticus 26: 19).
Shortly after the Vietnam debacle
in 1975, the pace of aggression and
opportunism around the world picked
up. Washington was in no mood to
react. Angola was lost to the West–
with victory in sight-in 1975, Ethio–
pia in 1978.
The fall of Ethiopia was extremely
critica! because another Communist
government had already established
. itself across the southern tip of the
Red Sea in the former British protec–
torate of Aden (a strategic "seagate"
Britain gave up). The new People's
Democratic Republic of Yemen–
supplied with money from Moscow
and radical Libya-now trains leftis t
terrorists from all over the world in
the art of gúerrilla warfare.
Cold War "Wished Away"
While the challenge of communism
and radical "liberation" movements
grew all the more severe, the most
remarkable change of all occurred in
Washington. The new Administra–
tion which took over in January 1977
unilaterally decla red that the Cold
War was over!
In a major speech at Notre Dame
University in the spring of 1977,
President Carter exclaimed that the
American public was ready to shed
its previous "inordinate fear of com–
munism." Thus, with a whiff of
rhetoric, t he global st r uggle for
power in existence since the end of
World War
11
was magi ca lly
whisked away. Better yet,
wished
away.
According to this new approach,
world problems should henceforth be
viewed in the light of supposedly
commonly shared " human issues"
instead of ·concentrating further on
"political confrontations."
The man who became Mr. Carter's
National Security Advisor, Zbigniew
Brzezinski, had earlier outlined this
(Continued on page 40)
The
PLAIN TRUTH