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PAGE 14
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 7, 1985
Oblivious to "The Real War"
Two decades of declining patriotism and the "me-generation" philosophy have
thus produced spies who spy only for money, and others who can't realize
that the actions of a few jeopardize the lives of millions. Perhaps even
more significantly, this particular spy case confirms, in its own manner,
the premise of former President Richard Nixon's 1980 book, THE REAL
WAR--that there is a life-and-death struggle underway in the world, a real
war to which increasing numbers of Americans--and others in prosperous
Western societies--are almost oblivious.
Mr. Nixon, whose political
strength was always, and today still is, in the area of foreign affairs,
wrote in his book (pages xiv, xv, 4, 5 and 22 of the 1981 Warner Books
paperback edition):
"The Real War" is being fought on many fronts. It takes place on
the economic front, in the realms of ideas and ideals, in covert
action and psychological warfare and propaganda--in all tne vari
ous arenas of competing faiths and competing systems. We could
be overwhelmingly superior militarily and still lose if we fail
on the economic, ideological, or diplomatic front•••• We could
also lose by ignoring the Soviet challenge around the periph
ery--those piecemeal advances into countries in Afnca, Asia,
Latin America, and the Middl� East on which the. West dependsriot
only for oil, but for so many of ·the other vital resources
without which a modern industrial economy cannot operate.
We
could lose by letting the Soviets get the upper hand psycholo
gically, so that the West sinks into a gradual paralysis....
Having dealt directly and at great length with the leaders of the
Soviet Union, I know that they exploit weakness but respect
strength. If they see a new strength in the American sTnew, a new
firmness in the American step, a new steel in the American eye,
then two things will happen. They will
be
more cautious in their
adventuring, and they will also be more realistic in their nego
tiating. If they think they can roll us, they will try to roll
us.
They know that the object of war is not to obliterate the oppon
ent, but to make him surrender. As the Prussian military strate
gist Clausewitz observed long ago, the aggressor never wants war;
he would prefer to enter your country unopposed.
If we study Soviet actions, they show a clear pattern: not neces
sarily a "master plan" or a predictable timetable for world con
quest, but rather a constant strengthening of military forces and
a consistent exploitation of every opportunity to expand their
own power and to weaken that of the West. Just as water flows
downhill, the Soviets press to extend their power wherever it can
reach, by whatever means they calculate can be effective. They
are totally amoral opportunists•••.
We are at war. We are engaged in a titanic struggle in which the
1at�oT""nations are being decided•..• The basic rule of Soviet
behavior was laid down years ago by Lenin: Probe with bayonets.
If you encounter steel, withdraw. If you encounter mush, contin
ue. The question is which will the Soviets encounter: steel or
mush?
•