Basic HTML Version
1948. This generation was in its
childhood when the Berlín Wall
was cons tructed-20 years ago this
past August.
T hese people have matured dur–
ing the period of detente- or offi–
cial relaxation of tensions between
East and West. They simply do not
choose to believe their elders when
they caut ion that it is necessary to
upgrade defenses to redress the
g rowi ng mil itary imbalance in
Europe.
To the politically active left , the
United States now represents the
greatest threat to peace in Europe,
far greater than the Soviet Union.
Convenient ly overlooked are the
160 SS-20 missiles, each with three
warheads, that the Soviets have tar–
geted on every major city in free
Europe.
Unfortunate T iming
The neutron bomb decision was
inevi table, given the realities of
the mil itary equation in Europe.
Yet the timi ng of it has fueled
renewed opposition to a not he r
project : the modernization of
NATO's nuclear forces. Pending
acceptance by West Germany and
at least one other E uropean
NATO partner, 572 Pershing 2
medium- range missiles and land–
based cruise missi les are due to be
deployed by 1983.
The 1979 agreement is now in
jeopardy because. of the neutron
bomb go-ahead .
In West Germany, the left wing
of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's
Social Democratic Party is pressur–
ing the chancellor to re nege on his
agreement to accept the missi les.
l n the Netherlands, the neutron
decision makes it vi rtually certain
that any future government in The
Hague will refuse to accept cruise
missi les on Dutch soil.
Italian cooperation may also be
in doubt. ltaly had originally been
considered as the other continental
country that would accept the new
NATO missi les (West Germany
insisted that one other NATO part–
ner had to accept them or it too
would bow ou t).
On August 7, Prime Minister
Giovanni Spadolini announced that
indeed , 112 of the NATO missi les
6
would be based in southeastern
Sicily. Shortly afterward carne Mr.
Reagan 's unexpected neutron
bomb decision. This provided Ita–
ly's powerful Communist Party
with propaganda Jeverage against
Mr. Spadolini 's weak parliamenta–
ry coalition.
Diffe ring Views on
Soviet Threat
There is a growing schism between
Washington and key All ied capitals
over the entire range of East-West
relations. Many Europeans simply
do not share the perception held by
the majority of Americans regard-
RONALD REAGAN
wsves to reporters
upon arrivsl in Ottswa, Ganada. U. S. Pres–
ident dominated recent Free World eco–
nomic summit conference.
ing the nature of the Communist
threat to Europe and elsewhere.
Th is non-meeting of minds was
very much in evidence at the recent
seven-nation economic summit in
Ottawa attended by this author.
One o f the biggest disagree–
ments at the summit occurred
between the American and West
German de legations. President
Reagan personally told Chancellor
Schmidt of his serious reservations
over a massive 3,000-mile-long $15
billion Soviet-West European pipe–
line designed to transport Siberian
gas to the nations of free Europe by
the mid-1980s.
1
f approved by all
parties, it will probably turn out to
be
the biggest deal in the history
ofEast-West trade.
The West Ger–
mans are to play the major Wes tern
role in the project.
Mr. Reagan could not convince
Mr. Schmidt to reduce the scope of
the projec t, which, the U.S. Presi–
dent fears, could lead to dangerous
West German dependence upon
Soviet fue! sources, and pull Bonn
closer to Moscow politically.
Equally serious is the rift that is
bound to widen between the United
States and the new Socialist gov–
ernment in France. Despite the
person- to- person pleasantries in
Ottawa between Mr. Reagan and
President Franc;ois Mitterrand, the
political differences between them
a re bound to lead to friction later.
For no two Free World leaders
could hold more differing views of
modero society.
Mr. Reagan espouses the princi–
pies of free en terprise, with a
reduced role of government in the
marketplace. Mr. Mitterrand, on
the other hand, has vowed to fur–
ther nationalize the French econo–
my so that it wi ll be, when his pro–
gram is completed , essentially a
state-directed one.
Furthermore, the world view of
the French Social ists is 180 degrees
away from t ha t of the Reagan
team. The Reagan administration
views the world essentially as an
East-West ideological struggle, be–
tween the Free World and Com–
munist expansionism. The French
Socialists, while denouncing direct
Soviet aggression such as in Af–
ghanistan, view the world essent ial–
ly from a North-South or rich-poor
perspective. They do not see Third
World revolutionaries as auxiliaries
of Moscow.
Neut ralism Spreading
All across Western Europe (with
the notable exception of France)
neutralism is a rising tide. In
sorne cases, neutralism amounts to
little more than unilateral disar–
mament.
The British Labour Party, for
exarnple, is on the verge of adopt–
ing a policy calling for uni lateral
abandonment of Britain's nuclear
deterrent and the withdrawal of a ll
(Continued on page 42)
The
PLAIN TRUTH