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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 5, 1982
PAGE 8
Finlandized, the balance of power everywhere would irrevocably
and fatally shift in favor of the Soviets.
It would be
economically, politically, and, perhaps most important, morally
disastrous for the U.S. To abandon our allies because they are
lagging is the ultimate act of shooting oneself in the foot.
Another expert, R.G. Livingston, a former president of the German Marshall
Fund, added his "two cents" to this growing controversy in an article he
wrote for the WASHINGTON POST. He put his finger on the real danger that
would result from "pulling our boys back home"--reopening the as-yet-un
resolved "German Question" in the heart of Europe. He wrote:
••.It is bizarre to be hearing calls to pull our troops out of
Europe...brandishing our ultimate leverage may unhinge a good
deal more than we imagine••••NATO was conceived to provide secu
rity not only against a Russia that is aggressive, but also
against� Germany that�� aggressive. Together with the
European Economic Community, the alliance is a framework within
which German talents and energies turn to - constructive and
cooperative�-
Ger�an sovereignty is uniquely limited: Germany renounced having
its own army and placed the Bundeswehr under NATO--u.s.--command.
It also forswore production and ownership of atomic weapons....
The West Germans--all our NATO allies, in fact--exacted a corre
sponding price from us, of course. U.S. soldiers on the ground
and in sufficient numbers to make it inconceivable that we would
ever sacrifice them••••
Start to remove U.S. troops and to degrade NATO, and we invite
the Germans to consider nationalism, neutralism, and collusion
with Russia.
America "Naive"
American officials accuse the Europeans of being too timid to "punish" the
Soviets and the military junta in Warsaw over the crackdown in Poland; the
Europeans, wary of sanctions, are accused of "putting money before moral
ity."
The Europeans, in
the whole affair.
a 90-minute-long
Poland."
turn, claim that the United States is acting naively in
They were embarrassed when the U.S. government sponsored
Hollywood-style showbiz piece entitled "Let Poland Be
The fact is, American officials do not appear to understand the conse
quences of trying to alter the status quo in Europe. This was forcefully
argued in another NEW REPUBLIC piece, "Poland and the Ghost at Yalta."
Author Ronald Steel had this to say:
...Any radical political change in Poland would have incalculable
consequences for the political balance in Europe.
Although Solidarity began by seeking relatively limited changes,
the revolution--and a revolution it certainly was--developed a