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PAGE
22
PASTOR
GENERAL'S
REPORT,
DECEMBER
30,
1986
*
seems t o m e l
is
a
r i s k
w e
shou l d
never have
t o
contemplate.
W e
fouqht two wars
t o
p r even t Europe from be i n un i f i e d unde r
Ferman control."
TThose
whose
real
r s o n - d o p m change
i n
NATO's
s t r uc t u r e
is
fear
t h a t
West
Germany
is
p o t e n t i a l l y
more dangerous t han
t h e
Sov i e t Union
shou l d
make
t h e i r
case
f o r t h r i g h t l y .
Then
it
could
be
exp l a i ned t o
them
t h a t
wars
between democracies
are
implausible
e v e n t s today.)...
[GHH
note:
Conse rva t i ves f o c u s a lmos t e x c l u s i v e l y on
t h e
Sov i e t
t h r e a t ,
s e e i ng
it
t hrough t h e i r s i ng l e - r e f l e x
East-West
l ens e s . They c a n ' t see
a
t i m e
when t od a y ' s German s t a t e i n
t h e
West
may n o t remain democratic and
a l l i e d
t o
t h e
U.S.1
I t
is
s t r i k i n g t h a t t h e So v i e t s have never
agi tated
f o r
t h e
wi thdrawal
of
U.S.
t r oop s from Europe. According t o
Adam
U l a m ,
d i r e c t o r
of
t h e Russian Research Center
a t
Harvard Un i ve r s i t y :
'Al though
t h e
So v i e t s want
t o
encourage t e n s i o n s between
Western Europe and t h e United
States ,
t h e y may n o t want t o see
t h e United
States
withdraw
or
g r e a t l y reduce its l and
forces
i n
Europe.
Such a
shock
might make
W e s t
Euro ean leaders
decide
The
Germans and
other
Europeans, i n t u r n , are concerned about
t h e
very
v i s i b l e
"Pacific
T i l t "
of
t h e
Uni ted
States .
I n
t h e
December
15
LOS
ANGELES
TIMES,
e d i t o r i a l
writ'er
E r n e s t Conine wrote:
they
have
r c h % i c e
but
to_
u n F p o m i c a l l y .
-4r
--
The
Ronrad Adenauer Foundat ion,
t h e
r e s e a r c h and
publ ic-
r e l a t i o n s
arm
of
West
Germany's r u l i n g Ch r i s t i a n
Democrats
I
sponsored
a
conf e r ence i n
Los
Angeles
l a s t
week
t o
exp l o r e
whether
a
Pacific tilt
r e a l l y e x i s t s . , . .
The
meet ing
was
a t t ended by
17
W e s t
German p o l i t i c i a n s ,
diplomats,
s c h o l a r s ,
j o u r n a l i s t s and businessmen, a l ong wi t h a
simi lar
a r r a y
of
Americans.,..
There
is
no doubt
about
t h e
Paci f ic
tilt
i n
pu r e l y economic
terms.
The
Pacific
Basin c o u n t r i e s account
for
an
i n c r e a s i n g l y
large
p r opo r t i on
of
world
product ion; and have
long s i n c e passed Western Europe
as
America's
most
impor t an t
t r a d i n g par tner . . . .
If
t h e
f l a g f o l l ows
commercel
as h i s t o r y
Th i s h a s n ' t r e a l l y happened y e t . But obv i ous l y
it
cou l d , g i ven
t h e Sov i e t m i l i t a r y
bu i l dup
i n t h e P a c i f i c and
t h e
s e v e r e
budgetary s t r a i n on a
U.S.
m i l i t a r y e s t ab l i shmen t
w i t h
worldwide
commitments. The t endency amon
a
new g e n e r a t i on
of
Germans t o
be l i t t l e
t h r S o v i e t
mil
t a r y - t F e a t
t o
E u r o e
doe sn ' t h x p , s i n c e Americans
are
bound t o a s m t h e y
s
o u l
worry
more
abou t European s e c u r i t y t h a n Europeans
do....
7i-%
-
TS
The unhappy
f ac t
is
t ha t ,
as
some
of t h e German v i s i t o r s
conceded,
po l i t i ca l
d i a l ogue i n Europe-and
c e r t a i n l y i n
West
Germany-is
h e a v i l y laced
w i t h
ant i-Americanism t h e s e days .
CDU
po l i t i c i ans
are
n o t t h e b i g o f f e nd e r s ,
b u t
it
has become
f a sh i onab l e i n
West
Germany
t o
magnify t h e shor tcomings
of
U.S.
p o l i c y and
leadership
wh i l e
making excuses
for
Sov i e t