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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 4, 1983
PAGE 9
future. Some even hope Grenada will become another Puerto Rico.
"I hope that Ronald Reagan makes Grenada another Puerto Rico, and
appoints a governor here, and flies U.S. flags," said Derrick
Miller, a waiter at the Grenada Beach Hotel.
Grenada receives no formal aid from the United States, but the
U.S. Embassy in Barbados last week made available $25,000 for
basic necessities for some 800 Grenadians displaced by the inva
sion.
"They [the Americans] did what they should have done a long time
ago, giving us all the aid necessary," said an educated
Grenadian, who requested anonymity. "We'd like to see them fix
our island. I'm not saying pouring in dollars but guiding us. We
need to be helped."
Columnist Morton Kondracke, who is also editor of THE NEW REPUBLIC maga
zine, asked (LOS ANGELES TIMES, November 2) why liberals were not more
supportive of President Reagan's action:
Why so many long faces?
The United States invaded Grenada to
save lives, oust a gang of murderous thugs, prevent establishment
of a major Cuban military base and show that America can use
force successfully. We did succeed, with a minimum loss of life.
I say--! say as a liberal--hoorayl
Liberal congressmen and commentators seem to think that they
can't be loyal to their values unless they condemn President
Reagan for this action, but it is because of their values that
they ought to praise it.
Liberals believe in democracy, and
Reagan would deserve condemnation if he had acted to crush a
democratically elected government or sought to impose a right
wing dictatorship....
Grenada's government, if it can be called that, came to power
last month in a coup that cost at least 18 lives, including that
of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, who had himself come to
power in a coup, failed to hold elections as promised and steered
Grenada into the Cuban-Soviet orbit. Under intense pressure from
democratic leaders on neighboring islands, Bishop seems to have
had second thoughts about his closeness to Cuba, and came to
Washington to see if he could patch up relations. Some critics
contend that if Reagan [who refused to see him] had only embraced
him the invasion of Grenada would not have been necessary. The
evidence seems to be to the contrary.
Because Bishop showed
signs of tilting ever so slightly away from Cuba, he was ousted
by leftist colleagues and murdered....
The United States has promised to withdraw swiftly, and the
people of Grenada will be able to elect their next government.
So anyone who believes that democracy is better than dictatorship
has to agree that the people of Grenada are better off this week
than they were the week before last.
We liberals oppose the use of force on principle, and prefer the
rule of law. But honest people have to admit that, unfortun-