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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 27, 1986
PAGE 13
expected. The Syrians set great store by Germany. That was
clear as soc5'n as Herr --s'Frauss embarkeaon a succession of
political talks in Damascus on the first day of his two-day
visit. Protocol was at a higher level than on his visit two
years previously. The atmosphere could only be termed cordial.
At table one joke after another was told at the Soviet Union's
expense, with the Syrians laughingneartlly. --
Herr Strauss feels President Assad has not finally committed
himself politically. Just as a war cannot be waged successfully
on Israel without Egypt,so'"
peace
l.S
impossible without Syria,
lie says.
That is why heout!inea to the Syrian Ieaaer his
desire to se·e Syria play a leading role in launching a peace
process. Military spending imposed a heavy burden on everyone,
preventing healthy economic development, he argued••••The
Bavarian Premier's frankness and plain speaking are highly
rated in Damascus. Given his close contacts with the Israeli
Prime Minister, Shimon Peres, and the US administration, Herr
Strauss would seem predestined for the role of an intermediary
in the Middle East•••• Herr Strausscoiiferred'"witli Mr. Peres in
!onns'hortly before flying to the Middle East.
Redo NATO, Kissinger Recommends The impact of the U.S. raid against Libya
and general European disapproval of it (though French public opinion was
in favor) continues to be analyzed in terms of its long-range effects.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger contributed his analysis to
the May 11 LOS ANGELES TIMES:
The American retaliation against Libya and its aftermath have
brought home, dramatically, the extent of discord in the
Atlantic Alliance over issues outside of Europe•••• The
governments that dissociated themselves from American policy
were in most cases the friendliest conceivable.
Had the
opposition in most nations been in office, the reaction would
have been far more overtly hostile. All this has produced a
new source of tension in the alliance.
Few Europeans have
grasped the bitterness their attitude has caused among much of
the American public••••
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a response to the
fear of Soviet aggression against Europe•••40 years ago••••
Conflicts outside Europe were produced by the process of
decolonization; the Soviet role in them was relatively minor.
The United States, reluctant to be involved in colonial wars,
insisted that the obligations of the Atlantic Treaty did not
extend outside of Europe.
Indeed, it reserved the right to
oppose its allies in dealings with the Third World, and during
the Suez crisis of 1956, it went so far as to threaten Britain
and France with economic sanctions.
Since then, conditions have changed dramatically. Europe has
recovered its economic dynamism and is moving, although
fitfully, toward political unity.... But one early problem
remains almost unchanged, although the two sides of the