Basic HTML Version
===------=====--------======------------------~in~
Last
Rays
of
Empire
(Contlnwd from pag• 1)
The moSI stunmns cutbaek of aU
was the dccision to
lennin.,tc
tbc
Stmonstown agreement
W1th
the
Republic of South Africa for nav-.ol
dcfense of the sea lanes around lhe
Cape of Good tlope. The move
w~
in defercncc to the
lcn·wing or
the BntÍ3h
Labo~r
Party. wbich
generally diSIIIces anything having
todo wtth South Africa
Tbe Labour Party's N•uonal
Ex·
ecutave Commtuee had previously
censure<~
the cab•nct for Bntain's
rcccn.t pa.ructpahon
..,ub South
Af·
rica
tn
JOtnt
naVII1 exercls.es. Mili·
tary
aoa.lysu. howcvcr. potnl out
the stratcg•• value of the Cape of
Oood Hope. now even more
2m·
portant '"
YICW
or
thc Bntish dc–
pc:ndenct on
tl\e
oil tan.k.cr
routc
that oourses through t.he arca.
Britam's role
will
now
be
strictly
limited to thnt
or
a minor Euro–
pean power. T hc major concentra–
tion or all her mihtary resourccs
i.s
to
be ecntcred on dcfending the
Brillsh bies and the European the·
a
ter.
The widc-rang.ng deferue cut·
back blll
1.$
todicatave
or
8ritasn·s
-move from impera.l
geatnm into
lhc
mmor
le:ague:
of European
na-.
hons
As
a Un1ted Preu inre:-r–
o.auonal
c:orresponde:nt
summcd it
up.
"'Brit&Jn has
stñpprd
sts o11ce
""Vl'Y
m1htary pruence 10 a few
scatte:tcd
pnuon.s.
fe:-nin& thc suD
ftnally
sc1
on a former imperial
pas~"
O
TheWoll
Asksln
lONDON. Jan
22, 197S
(Reu·
ter) - Prcstdent Id! Amtn has told
Qucco Ehzabeth he ,. comíng to
Bntatn
.n
Aus,usl
to
pve:
advice
to
ats hbttatlon move:ments.. acoord–
'"S
to Rad1o Uganda moni10red
hcrc.
In a meuage 10 Queen Eliz.abeth.
the un!""dictable U.g•n<!an Presi·
dent
satd
he wa.s advumg
her
of hiS
v1$1t
now
••$0
that
you may
have
ample lime to help you arrooge all
that
is
required
for
my
comfonable
~tay
in your country.
"Your majesty,
11
is a rdently
hoped and expected that you will.
through various agencies, arrange
for
me so
that
1
eon
see:- and visit
Scodand. Wales and Northem lre·
land," the message utd.
"1 should hke 10 use that chance
to Wk to the<e people
who
are
struglln¡
for
Stlr-dcre:-nninat•on
and tndependence ftOm
your
polil·
1cal
and econom1c
sys1em~
.. 1he:-
ra–
dto qvoted htm as telling the
Queen.
General
Am•n
also
1ntc:nd$
to
rneet forme:r Ugandan Mians now
hvin¡ in Brilain to
tell
them they
were not missed
10
U¡anda.
The messaJe: copies of which
werc also saad to have gone to
Prime Minister Harold Wilson a.nd
opposition leader Edward Heath.
said lhat s¡nce thc expulsion of the
As•ans the ccbnomic war which
Usanda had been HV>ting had
been honorably won O
WEEK ENDINO FEB
22.
197S
BUREAU REPORTS
The Alliance
That Could Snap
WASHINGTON. O .C . The
poss•bility that ftV>11n3 miV>t
break out
agam m
the Mtddlc
Eas~
bringing
aD ns
wakc
a
new
oil em–
bargo. is a topie of considerable
conc:ern bcrc m Washmgton and 1n
all
Western
European npatals.
Evt"o more thao
1hc
othen. Bonn
has
.specaal rcasons for
an:~uety
about the c:urrent situo.hon. Rccent
rcporu
indicate lhll thc potential
e:onscqucnces ofa new Arab-lsraeli
war
i.s
b«oming one
of thc
biggtst
foreign policy headaches COn·
fronting Chancc ll or liclmut
Schmidt's govemment.
Largc quanlities of Amencan
anns and
mihtary cquipmcnt are
stoc:kpllcd in Wcst Ciermany
In
rhc
evcn1 of
a
ncw MidC:UI
war. any
U.S. attempt to resupply Israel
would G_tna.Jnty anvolvc dnwin¡
upon these siOCks and transponin&
them from
&lf
bases and poru
wilhin West (icrmany
Such
a
movc would
nan d•rcctly
wunler to
Wcst Gcrmany's
policy
of
dstrict
neutrahty.. 1n the Maddle
East.
That wu
madc quite clear
during
thc
1973
Octobcr war when
U:S. shipmcnts ftOm West Ger·
many
10
Israel embrotled Wuhin&·
ton and Bonn in one of 1hc mos1
strained
confronlations
oi'
their
long po$twar alliance.
'
C hancellor Helmut Schmidt,
leader
or
Westem Europe's most
poweñul nallon, recently
said We-st
Germaoy will 001 ..be: drawn into
condicts (in the M1ddle Eastf
agaln$1-0Ur
will."
He
«fcrred
to
Dr K•ssin¡er·s
oow-famous rema.rt. quoted m a
Bu.stnnJ Wnk
map11nc:
tntervtew.
tb3t anlit.try force could not be
ruled
out to prc:venl ..aCtual
sc.ran–
gulauon
o(
the industriahzed
world."
Bonn's Mideast
Balancing Act
Gets Harder
bythe Day
BONN: A lively conttOversy was
srim:d up rc«otly when Gerhard
Schrocdcr. Forc1¡n Relaltons
Committce Chamnan
or
thc
Wesr
Germao Bundestag retumed ftOm
a surprise "Seard! for Peac:e•• trip
to thc Middlc
Eas~
lo Oamascus,
Syria, Schroeder conduaed talks
with
Yassir Arafat. le:a.de.r
of
thc
Palestinian
l 1berauon Or¡aniz.a–
tioo (PlO) ond other Arab guer·
rillaleade...
Upon hi5 retum Schroeder drew
expected
sharp
eriticism
from Oer–
many's stnaU Jewish
comrnunily.
But the leadcrs of hi.s own pdlitícaJ
party. the Christian Oemocmtic
Union, were oot very happy with
bis self·appotnted ¡unkel etther
Parcicularly
aggravating
was the
fact he had not discusscd before·
hand
with them his
intcntions
or
talking with Ararat, wbose organi·
uúon has no• been officially reoo&·
niud
by
the Bono govcmmcnL
The ruling Sociar Oemocrauc
Party washed its hands of any
involvemeot io tbc Schroc:dcr
sojoum.
Tbe federal govemmenL.
according
to
a spokC$ml11. was •n–
formed of the meettn& only
48
hours before ittoOk place.
The upsbo1 of the Schroeder af·
fair
i$
this: h is bc<:omwg
more
apparc:DI
to
some officials
m Bonn
just how
dlfficult
il Is for Lhc Fed·
eral Republic ro maintain
its
stract
ncutlality in
the
Mideast
shoufd
anotber war erupt.
ca'rrying
with
it
thc prospect of
a
more devastatin¡
oil embargo.
Ge:-tmany•s
c:lose pauncrsh•p
with th.c
U.S.•
as weU as her
sensc
or
..
duly to
the
fate of thc
Je:w.s."
accordin&
10
ooe Bundcsta& olfl·
cial. bínds Germaoy •deolopcally
to helping safegvard lsrael's risht
10
hve
as
well
as
her tcmtOnal
10-
tesnty.
Oo the other hand. Germany
must protoct ht"l' 1ndustnd so dan–
gerously dependeot upon acx:c:ss to
Arab
oiL This
mates Oermany's
..balancing act berwee:n Jews and
Arabs,"
according tO'
a
Bonn for·
eigo office official. the "most dilll·
cult assignment of hcr foreign
policy. "
Sehroeder's
t~te·ii·t!te
with Ara·.
fa t is very possibly an unoftteiol
foreruone r of what
ca.n
be
expcctcd
in the future - a more
d&rca
rore
for Bonn
in
the effort to
main111n
peace
in th< Mideast. ThovV> •deo–
logicallyGermaoy will declare her·
se:lf in
favor of
Jsrae-J"s ri¡tu•o
cxi.sl
withtn safe boundanes. sbc CIMOt
risk cuning bcr owo
ecoDomu:
throaL
As
a commentator
for
Drt
Wtlr
put
ir..
··u
we:-
do
not
ach•cve: a
peacefuJ
solution.
we
can
bccomc:
wrapped in the poss1ble catas·
trophe. We ate
notspec:ta1ors
an thc
baloony."
lran Courts
Australia
SYONEY: Av.straha buSI¡ned a
trade agreemcot
with
a miJOr
Mrd–
e:ast oil·producer - Jran - wtuch
oouJd add
inillions of dollars
&o
Australia"s
annual
trade income
As
one
of
the world's maJOr od
exponing nations.. 1ran eanu a
huge yearly surplus of do\lan. ThiS
had led the Shah of
lr~o
to seek
investments for bis excess petrodol·
lars in thc
developed
nations
or
the
world: During a recent visil to Au_s..
tralia he showcd i.nterest in eotcr–
i ng i nto severa! joint·venturc
projects.
The injtía1 ag.recment provides
for the establishment of • $A40
miIlion oompany which will supply
lran whh Australian agricultural
producl$ on a long·<erm
basis.
Ae·
oord~ng
10 present plans. wtthin
6ve yeart Australia should be sell·
ing lran
SA230
miUion wonh of
ogr~cultural
products anoually.
Thcre
is
talk that lran will also
sig.n futu re agreemencs to providc
fo r purchase of AustraJia's consid·
ernblc mineral weahh sucb as
bauxite, iron ote,
coal and
ura-–
ntum. Tbese raw material$ would
be earmarked for the Shah·s am·
b1tlous
industñal expansjon pro–
gnm.
Jran·s interest
in
seturing
long·tetm suppues of uranium
IS
uuurance
•&•iNt
thc
cby
whcn
itS
Otlfields run dry
and
it
is
forced to
depend on ahernative
sourcu
for
iu:
own ener!)' needs - including
nuclear powcr.
The g_rowth
in
lrade between
1ran a nd Ausualia cou Id have
o thcr ramtfteations.
lran bas
long
expressed oonocrn over rhc pres–
cncc
of Soviet naval units in thc
lndian· Ocean. lran's need
10
pro–
tect its increasing trade with
the
Pae:ifi:c
and Asían regions
will
pro·
vide it wuh a rationale ror holding
naval maneuvers or evcn statíoning
naval units in the lndian Oceao.
Thc
Shah
also
envísions
a
vas1
cconomic
C'Ommuoity
embracin¡
the liuoral .states or thc lodian
Ocean - •nduding, Ausuaha.. The
trade
a~emeot
briogs
his
dreamJ
onc step
doser
w
rutñllme:n1.
- OonAbr~-
Europe's Nine•• •
or seven •••
or Twelve?
BRUSSELS: Political changos in
Europe durlng
1!174
havc altered
the pace of thc move roward unity
on the Conrincnt Right-wing re–
g.mes d1Uppearcd ín Portugal aod ·
Greec:e. openíng long-dosed doors
10 posstble:-
membcrsbip
in
tbc oow
nlnc-member.
Ewopcan Commu·
nity. Meanwhile some pre.senl
membets - m0$1
notably Bntam
and Oenmarlt - have been diS·
enchanted with the EC and debate
depanure from iL Britain
wiU
hold
a nauonwidt rerercndum on the·
i,s..
s uc of eont inued membership
somctimc this summer.
wm
the
Nine bcoome 7 or 10
or
12?
Of
po ten1ía l
new
mcmbers .
Gruc>~
has 1he ins.ide track .
1t
has
a
healthy hC.'Id start
as
far as mem–
bcrship gocs: an associatlon agrce:–
ment dnting from
1962.
with full
membership
thc announced goal -
at the end
or
a 22-yeat u-an.sition
pc:riod.
Thi:s ayeement was frozcn
ancr ..
the
Colonels" toolc over
U\
1967
This
pau
Occcmbcr . w1tb
Oreecc once again a repubtic. the
aveemt:nl
was
reactivatcd Tbe
Greek negotiatior at the tirst jo•nt
EC·Oreeoe meeting in seven
ytaf$.,
anoounoed lheo that Cree«
would
apply for membership as soon as
possible. lie admilled. though. that
no timetable h.ad yet becn cón–
structed . Community circle:s would
be surprised if the proccss hap–
pcncd in any less than 1hree to four
years.
Whcñ the military ·in
Pofi~Jgol
ove:rthrew the Caetano dictatorsh1p
in April. ending nearly
fifly
years
of one-p>ny rule. Alterio Spinelli.
one of thc EC's
commiss1oners.
satd; "Wc wait with impatiencc for
1he moment whcn thc democrat–
•caHy elec1ed Ponuguese govern–
mcnt will opply for membership ín
the
Communlty."
Bu1 In the
months lhat have
fol·
lowed, enthusiasm has coolcd on
both sldes. Now M•rio Soare$. for–
eign minister of Portugal. spe•ks or
the need to "come closer
10
the EC
by sta&es. wnh caution.... Member·
shtp has been relegated toa "long–
tcrm llm... m hi.s assc:ssmcnl. •
Spaln.'
W111
and
see.
uy Com·
munácy
JOurces. Spain bas made ic
no
secre1 at
,..ould like
to
JOin:
Francc
h.as
for some
time
beeo
championan¡ Spain"s iorercsts
w1lh1,n
the
Community.
But
both
Brussels and Madrid
rcalize
noth·
ing
can
be
done until che tre.nd of
posc-Franoo Spain l$ cles.r.
Turkey
ond
C)IP"''
bolh have
as·
sociation
ag.reements
with lhe
EC.
similar to 1ha1
of
Greec~.
8u1 Com·
munity ofllcial$ feel that Cyprus·
tiny economy and Turkey's low per
capita gro.s.s domestic product
mean that
ae:ccssion
is stiiJ a Jong
way
off.
Prcscnt
politic.al
instability
in
lhe
area doesn'l
he:-lp
eilhcr.
- Hl!tvy$1urcke
Rhodesia
Buffeted
LO
N
DON: Wuh the liberotion
ot
Portugue.sc Moz.ambique and
thc forlhcoming independence of
Angola.
Rhodcsian Prime Ministcr
tan Smhh realitel$
that bis position
is nows ubslantia lly weaker thal\ 10
ycars a¡o
whcn Rhodt"sia
unilater·
ally
dectared
its
independence
rather 1h1n submit lo
3
8ñtish plan
ror
e:venrual
majority rule witbin
thc country
Bccau.se
whites are
ournumbered
some
lO
to
1
by the blact popv·
lation 1n Rhodesia. the white-ruled
statc
as betn& pressured
more
than
ever
by
the Blaek Africao states
10
move toward the principie of" ..
Ont:
man onc voce...
And rcaliting the implications of
the late51 "hurricane of
change'·
that has swept through thc south·
em
half of the , oontinent. cven
South Africa's Prime Mínister John
Vorster has lately been attempting
to persuade Mr. Smith to budge. at
least pnrt way, from his long·held
position.
The
Soulh African govtrnment
has been purtuing its own poticy of
"dttente•• with key black Afri<an
stales.
Wtthout doubt the Rhndesians
wtll use every opponunity 10 hedge
and prevancatc co prevenL the carly
tnsuruuon of majonty rule ia their
country. lf progresstoward this end
11
too slow. one can
e"pect
cenain
bladr: Afncan nattons to abandon
hopt_J for a negotiated scttlement
and
to s1ep up guernlla activitics to
foro:
an
outcome.
Prcsident
Julius
Nyerere ofTan·
zania put itas bluntly as possible in
o.
recc:nt speech:
"lndcpendence fo r Rhodesia
musl be
on
Íhc basis
or
majority
rule, whclhtr
it
comes now. next
month or
ncxr ye:ar
Ol'
aftu long
yran
Q/
jightmg."
-
Pttter Butler
-·