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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, FEBRUARY 4, 1983
PAGE 14
The battle to restore the nuclear balance in Europe will not be
easily won•••• More directly, the growing antinuclear movement has
spread through the West with many �eople now viewing nuclear�
themselves--and not the Soviet Un1on--as the greatest threat to
peace.
They argue that following the concept of deterrence,
although it has ensured peace for decades, will now lead to an
uncontroled arms race, and, eventually to World War III••••
If Moscow can
[stop the NATO plan], it will have demonstrated
tnat it can�verse a NATO military decision and that it now has
more influence over Western Europe than the United Stat�ha's:"
This would signal a fundamental shiftinthe postwar security
arrangements on the Continent.
The
Soviet goal of a divided,
defenseless Europe, split away from America but still providing
essential capital and technology to the Soviet empire, would be
achieved.
NO Missiles, End of NATO?
Now this February 2, 1983 dispatch over our Associated Press wire machine:
A top State Department official says any retreat from its deci
sion to deploy nuclear weapons in Western Europe t1ii"s"year would
be "the beginnin
1
of the end" of NATO as an effective alliance.
Undersecretary o
Sta�Lawrence EagleE'urger said Tuesday night
•••" If the Soviets learn that we and our allies lack the will in
the face of missile rattling to carry out difficult decisions
commonly arrived at, then we can look forward to· even more
aggressive behavior each time we seek to respond to Soviet provo
cations••••"
A Worried France Looks On
The nation most deeply concerned about Western Europe's slow slide into
Moscow's grip is France.
The NEW YORK TIMES of January 24, 1983 reported
the
worrisome
French
perspective
in
a
lengthy
dispatch
from
Paris
surrounding President Mitterrand's speech to the Bundestag.
Here are key
excerpts:
In a direct, forceful presentation Thursday (January 20 in Bonn],
Mr. Mitterrand said in substance that the debate on the deploy
ment of American medium-range missiles in Europe was really less
one of numbers than of political will, with the essential test
for the Atlantic Alliance being itsa"bllity to stop!!! attempt to
1'c!ecouple" the united States and Western Europe.
Although he never used the word neutralism,
Mr.
Mitterrand
attacked "all those who would bet on decoupling" and said they
were the people who risked creating an imbalance of forces that
would threaten peace.
Coming from the podium of Parliament, the
speech served as a warning about the consequences of the rise of
neutralism in West Germany, and as an attack on those west German
politicians who would not fully support Mr. Mitterrand's thesis
that Europe "must not be deprived of
a
means to answer the
nucTear weapon�eclflcaily directed""aga1nst her."