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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, November 14, 1979
Page 12
It all comes down to the factor of respect, or the lack of it. America
has become the Rodney Dangerfield of the world--"I don't get no respect."*
Because U.S. prestige around the world is so low, Khomaini's mobs could
get away with storming the American Embassy with no fear of reprisal.
As former Energy Secretary James Schlesinger said: "An image of weakness
is going to elicit this kind of behavior. Wild as the Ayatollah seems
to be, he would not dare to touch the Soviet Embassy."
A country such as Mexico enjoys far more respect and prestige than the
United States. Before the Shah went to Mexico last June 10, Iranian
officials warned that his admission would affect official relations. The
Mexican government rebuked Iran. It said no country can "dictate our
policy." Moreover, Mexican diplomats say privately that the Mexican
Embassy in Tehran was given security reinforcement to minimize the risk
of an occupying mob.
At the same time that the Mexicans were telling Khomaini's zealots to
mind their own business while the Shah took up residence at Cuernavaca,
the State Department and the Administration were ringing their hands in
fearful anticipation that the Shah might have to come to the U.S. some
day for medical treatment. Worse yet, when he did come, the State
Department rejected all suggestions to increase security measures at
the Tehran Embassy. Why? The reason, some officials believe, was that
it would have been "provocative" to the Ayatollah.
"America Must Expect to be Spat On"
The most ringing denunciation of cringing American foreign policy to
date has been delivered by syndicated columnist George F. Will. Here are
key excerpts of his column as it appeared in the November 12, 1979 Los
Angeles Times:
"It is difficult, and not at all desirable, to be coolly clinical about
photographs of American citizens bound and blindfolded and spat on by
rabble, but the freezing truth is that Americans had better get used to
such photos, if they are not already. Enduring the contempt of the
contemptible is just one severity that life has in store for a declining
nation.
"A nation that, in gestures aimed at the Middle East, sends an aircraft
carrier steaming in circles in the South China Sea, and sends ostenta
tiously unarmed planes to Saudi Arabia--such a nation had better get
used to enemies who think that it is impotent--:-...
--
"A nation that loses a war that it could have won by confidently employing
its conventional military assets had better get used to humiliation.
/Editor's note: What a tragedy that America did not heed the famous
words of General Douglas MacArthur: "There is no substitute for victory."/
A nation that has no serious response when three ambassadors are murdered
(in Cyprus, Sudan and Afghanistan) had better get used to spittle on its
cheeks....
"A nation that uses an ally such as Taiwan as a pawn for utterly unneces
sary appeasement had better get used to having fewer and fewer allies of
any size, and to the worldwide conviction that it is a nation with no
serious convictions. A nation that collaborates in throwing to the wolves
an ally like the Shah should not expect respect fro� the woJ..ves.--:--:--:-You