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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 4, 1983
PAGE 11
word as it is, and not as men interpret and twist it. It hasn't
been easy for me to withdraw from my church group, but I felt I
should keep the Sabbath. I will be contacting you soon.
Mrs. V.G. (Mackay, AUSTRALIA}
I've seen your program on WGN-TV via satellite here in Colombia.
It is very inspiring. I have just begun to watch it and will
continue to do so every week. I'm interested in your offer of The
PLAIN TRUTH in Spanish.
F.F. (Medellin, COLOMBIA}
I watch your show on television, and can honestly tell you I
enjoy it. I not only wanted to let you know I like it, but I
would like to have the booklets you advertised--The PLAIN TRUTH
ABOUT CHRISTMAS and NEVER BEFORE UNDERSTOOD. I would also like
to let you know I'm not a Christian woman and do not go to any
church, but your show made me sit up and listen.
ON THE WORLD SCENE
S.Q. (Aylesford, CANADA)
--Richard Rice, Mail Processing Center
SPECIAL REPORT: THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FUTURE OF EUROPE
For the past three weeks the Federal Republic of Germany has been the scene
of an extraordinary amount of East-West political sparring. The reason:
West German national elections are only about a month away (March 6) and the
balance-of-power in Europe is at stake. Never, in recent memor t , have
other powers tried so hard to influence the outcome of one nation's aliot"='
�- West Germans�re"ltlready calling"""Tt the Rakettenwahlkampf (m1ss1le
election campaign).
Here, briefly, is a summary of what has been happening. First, on January
16, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko came to Bonn carrying both an
olive branch and a filled nuclear quiver. Mr. Gromyko spent three days urg
ing West Germany's· leaders to reconsider their official support for the
NATO stand on intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Moscow and Bonn, said
Gromyko, "are under the same European roof," and should therefore keep
pressing for detente� The Foreign Minister denounced American leaders as
being "ready to plunge humanity into a nuclear catastrophe for the sake of
their ambitions••••"
Gromyko's main aim was to weaken Bonn's commitment to accept the Pershing
II missiles slated for deployment on west German soil, beginning the end of
this year. All 108 Pershings are to go into Germany, with the 464 land
based cruise missiles scheduled for at least four other NATO countries be
sides the FRG. The Soviets are concerned most of all about the Pershing II,
a missile with a powerful nuclear warhead that could reach Soviet targets
in seven to eight minutes from launch time.
(The slower, ground-hugging
500 mile-an-hour cruise missiles would take up to two hours.) Mr. Gromyko
warned the Germans they would be swept up in a dangerous confrontation with
Moscow if they agreed to accept the new missiles.
Mr. Gromyko blandly denied that Moscow had any favorites in the March 6
election, but it was clear to all that the Kremlin has already "cast its
vote" for Social Democratic candidate Hans-Jochen Vogel, who is already on