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U.S. fDRIIGN POliCY COllAPSING
DWORlD
Washington Hit with
"One.:rwo Punch" in Mideast
lndochina Policy
inShambles
SYONBY: Cease-ftro in Viet·
nam! Dr. Kissingcr and Le Ouc
Tbo awarded Nobel Pw:e Prize!
Last
U.S. Troops Pull Out!
How capricious and
<n~el
aro
biuory and late. Today. only
months
aner
the above
headlines,
Ametican•s
roreign
5tra1cgy - at
least ln Southeast Asia -
lits
in
· sbambles.
Tbe ooUapse of lbe U.S.-sup–
ported Lon Nol regime •• Cam–
bodia tecms
i.m.m.i..o:enL
Commu.nist
force$ are rolling
aU
over South
Vietnam. More than a
doun
of its
forty·four provinces are now undcr
Communist control. Others are
falling almost daily, in
a
perve11<
;nln?Jat
domino
fashion. ·
LABELJNG HENRY KISSINGER lt
•·Russltl't
Stcret
WeBpon.
' '
riottJr&
in Jarutllltm dtfn()n$tr8tfl llgllintt
U.S.
policy In tho Mlddlo Eut.
Many analysts
herc:
see Amer–
a·s prescnt predicament i.n ln-–
dochina u
the outcome
or
two
intefrelated factors:
First \vas the failure by 1he
United States 10 correctly assesslbe
extent
10 whicb hisaorical
torces
were i_c_ftu_encift& eveots
in
tbe
re.–
gion. Por many centunes before
thc Wc.Jt's intru.sion into Asia.
China exei'Q><d
Váryiñg
<lc¡neni'
hegemony througbout Southeast
Asia. China•s
intemat
decay
com–
bined wilb the expansion of lhe
Wes1 ehaoged
aU
thaL Sorne Aus–
aalian
oboerve11 feel that wbat
is
aow
Llkmg place is simply a
rever–
sioo -
at
Jea.st
in
put -
to
the
Admiuing tbat bis penooal
sbunle doplomac:y had read!od a
dead end
aner
encounterin& ...irrec-.
on.calable differences.. between
Arab and l$raeli leade11. Secrowy
of Statc Kissinger recenOy cau·
tioned that the world has entered
"a moment of pottnllally grave
danger'" rtquiriog full·scale mter·
national diplomac:y.
Kiuinger avoided useuing
blame for the oollapse of
lb
e talla,
tboügh administration ollicials
view braePs tougb stance as Lhe
principal roadblock in tbe negotia·
tions.
TbousJ> Kissinger views u
"a–
tremely unlikelY" the possobitity
that lbe step-by-sttp bilateral tac6<:
couJd ever
be
employed ag.ain in
lhe Mideast, be has emphasiz.ed
tbat thc United States
í.s
"deter·
mined
10
ooutinue tl.!e uarch for
peace
and ¡ustice in the Moddle
Ea!t."
He has announcod lbat-lbe
Unitod Slltes
wiJJ
uek lbe resump–
tion or 1be muJtinational Oeneva
Conrerence
in an dfon co
prevent
rcnewed
wañare.
Falsal's!Ralb Adcls
Uncemúntr
Tbe unúmely dealb of Kon¡ Fai–
sal
of Saucli Arabia
on
March
2S
has onJy oervcd
10
complicate Mid·
east ma11e11.
h
has deprived the
Arab wodd of
a
powerful moder–
aliJ>& inftuence at a time of heigln–
cned Midcast tension ovcr
the
breakdown of the Kissinger
pe3CC
etrort.
As
keeper of lslam's two holy
cities.
M""'"'
and Medina. Faisal
was
tbe
spiritu~
lcadcr
o(
600
mH–
Iion Mos1ems. He was known for –
bis
tolll abhorreoce of Commu–
niun, (car
o(
Soviet
CJCfNMÍoni~m,
ud
uu~n.ac
dmte to aettle the
Arab-lsraeh dispute despote
bis
staunch anti-lsraelism.
Tbc.rc. ls som.e cooccm
l;hat
lhe
more rndicaJ elements in
the
Arab
world may now
move tow.ard
re·
2
newcd
bostilities witb
l.s:racL Tbcrc
is
speculation lbat Presiden! Anwar
Sadat of
Egpt
may
also
be forced
to
a.dopt
1
ha.rder .stanoe as a result
of the Kissinger failure and the
as–
sassioation of tbe Saucli chief-of–
state.
Faisal. whose oountry - a kc:y
m<mber of lhe Jl-oation OPEC–
possc:ssa
lhe world"siar¡est
I:DOWD
oil reserves. bad
also
beco a
pow–
erful force for sllbiJit.in& oal prices.
despite bis past lead in boosting
Skepticallsrael
.Cools to
U.S.
Pledges of Support
, JERUSALEM: Tears of oorrow
·were mllled wilb sigbs of rolief
wben Socrotary of State Heñry
Kissinger onnouooed lbe flilure of.
his
lat<.~l
allemptlo bring proyess
towatd
peace
in tbe Mideast. There
was sorrow because E&rpt bad not
aecepted Israel"$ ' 'outltretched
hand:"
Relief beeause Rabto"s cab–
inet had not compromind on
lsraers ucurity ror wbat was oom–
monly
considcred as relacivcly
empty E&Yptian proposal$ in
ex–
chango for !he Abou Rodeis oíl
field.s and Sinai"s stralel'c Mitla
andGoddo~
Upon
bis
departure from Ben–
Gúnoo
aírpor1,
a dejmed Kiss–
ingcr proclaimed, "'This is a sad
day
(or America which has in·
vested mueh hope aod faith. We
know it
is
a sad day also for Israel.
wht<:b necds end wanll
pea"
W
baclly."
Amettca and
Pres-ident
Ford
were
in
¡cnuine need
o(
a
dipk>–
matie boosL Wilh tbe ..just aod
honorable peacc..
in
lndoch ina
rapidly turnina into a full·sc:ale de-
priees fourfold. Some
oources
in
OPEC believe
lhat
Faisal"s death
<;ould plunge lhe oil
canel
into its
wo'rst
crisis evcr. though there
is
considerable disagreement o n this
point.
•
•'Kin& Faisal always opposed the
idea or a coftfront.ation between
producen
and
c:oa.sumcn.., com–
men.tcd onc
OPEC
tource.
""h
re·
m.ains
10
be seen bow lbe
new
situatiol'l
will
aJfect tbe or¡aruu–
tion/' e
bade. it was hopod lbat KISSin¡er's
step-by-11ep sbunlc diplomac:y
could provide that nceded boost
10
the faltering U.S. image abroad.
Thc S tench
of
Petrodoll111
Few American¡
realin
how
grcatly their country's posilioo
ú
a
wodd power bad detenorated since
lhe ouster of
.Richard
Nlll.on from
rhe presidency. Ameñca's indeci–
sive and inaetive foreign
post
ure
,;s
taken
as a
•rmpto01 of wealoress.
lndeed. as h1s
2001h
birthday rolls ..
around. Uncle Sam seems 10 be
beadin&
toWard
bis
Jast psp in–
stead Of l\ls "secood wind"" iD !he
eyes of lhe wodd.
Wben Washington announced
the reassessment of its policy to–
ward bracl - aod tben coupled
that with blaming ber ror lbe fail–
we
or tbe secood-stage oe¡otia–
tions - braelis felt betrayed.
AllbousJ> the oflicial roacxion
is
onc or ..surprisc." the
man
on lhc
street ia less
taeúuJ.
To him the
stench of oil and petrodoUn11 in
Washington could
be
smelled in
Tel Aviv.
Awo"ned lsrieb
<lnve
IS
now
under way
10
educa
te
Congn:u and
the American publk: with the foc:ts
o(
thc mauer. as viewcd from JenJ–
salem. 11
is
hopod here lhat Jewisb .
leadcrt and lhe ..Jewisll lobby"" can
penuadc Congress lo see the situ·
·historical pallem.
Second
hu
been America·s fail-
ation a bit moro roalistically
in
her
favor.
Europe to Play a Rolo?
Thc cooling of American rcla–
tions
wiü•
ls.rael,
aJong with her
poor preccdeot
of
abandoning
Cambodia
and
South
Vietnam,
makes l.srael c.vc.n
more
wary
or
depe:ocSU,s
on American&uarantees
for her security. Furthcrmore,
America's past
pTOo-lsraet
sta.nce
makcs her unacceptable
10
the
Arabs. 8oth- ef- lb<§!' facton
wiJJ
open lhe door for funher l!uropeao
ínvolvcmcnt at the Gencrva ron·
véntion.
Wbile he
was
in Wuhington.
rormcr West Oerman Chancellor
Willy Brand! proposed. that West–
ern Europe play tbe role of
co–
guarantor of any final Mideast set·
úemcnL Tbe European Commu–
nity w<>uld •upport that role
by
dÚ"ec:t
i:ovoJvemeru
io lbe coonomic
development of Israel a nd hcr
Arab neoghbors. Although he
djdn•t
menlioo
it,
a role
in
patroJ–
Iin& lhe buffer zooes Ukely to be
created alon3 lhe borde11 shou.ld
not
be
ruled
ouL
Moreover.
il"s
common knowlodge tbat !be Vali–
cao seck$
10
administer lbc holy
plaees in Jerusalem.
Vital 10 world peace. tbe Mideast
will
QOntinuc
to spaw11 surprises.
-
Chtl1P11t101'1
un: 10 appreciate tJte extenr to
wbieh lbe Communist iruurgency
was also
ID
expression
o(
¡enuinc
oationahsm.
By
t&klOC
over
Fra.nce's role
in
tbe
lndocbull
tbe–
ater,
the Unned States became di·
rectly identified with lhe colonial
Wes t righl from lhe beginning.
Whcn
Presidtnl Nixon
an–
o.ounced
bis
~ietnamiza.tion
..
or
!be Vietnam war a few yea11 back.
many vettran lndochina oboervc11
saw
it
merely
as a clevc.r
devk:e
to
Jet America
otr
tbe hook. Thc:y
gave
it
littlc chaocc of succeeding,
and thcy are being proved correcl.
The approaching collapse of the
Loo Nol regime and the military
setbllcks President Tbieu·s forces
ha
ve
sufl'cred
ue seen bere t:a Aus-–
tralwa
as
biuer blows
10
U.S.
pres–
lige.
Amcria.-s
lndochina
policy
JS
seen
to
be
in ruins. America'a credibility
as a reliable aUy has been severely
damaged.
- Doro
AbrÑittm
bdlyk51á...
Tomorrow
Europe?
LONOON' Tbe recenttraumalic
reverses
o(
American foreign
policy
in Southeast Asia and lhe Middle
Eut
rme a vision of horrOr among
Europe"s miliwy
and
foretgn plan–
nen. Tbe elear implicatioo of the
eurrent
neo-isolatiorusm
in
thc
U.S. Congress
is
that Europe misJ>t
be alfected next, even thou&h lead–
ers
on
both s-ldes
of
tbe Atlantic
lrnow - or •bould know- thal the
fall
or
Cambodia can in no way be
ClOmpared
with
the
nec.d
for contin·
ued Amenan support ror vaslly
more
vtta.l
interests
in
Europe.
In
the Middle Easttbe fallure of
Dr.
Kissinger's latest mi.ssion of
shullle diplomacy and the removal
of !be stabilizing inftuencc of Kin&
Faisal of Saudi Arabia have only
add~d
to Ewopean
u.nce:nainty
about !he American (eadmhip-<>C..
the
Wes~
This
has
beightcned
po–
litical
aeruions
in
tbe arca already
simmerin¡
with
tbe possabilily of
a
furthor outbreak of war
Ibis
year.
To Europc another such Mideast
conftag.ration
would
be
calamitous.
Her
economie
survival clepeads
on
continue.d inJusions
o(
Midd1e
E.a.stcmoil.
Tho lenward
swing
of Portugal
underli.ncs
anothet oagsjng
anx.icty
of Burope. Her soutbem ftank
is
now
.dBng~rously
expo.sed
lO
Soviet
mroads.
Nol
only ulhcre lht
poss1·
bility or Portugal
becomln&
Com–
mu.oist -
1 n
untenablc lituatton -
but the panial withdrawa l of
Greece and Turkey has seriou.<ly
wellkened NATO power
in
tbe
(Contlnu•d
on nfXI
pag<. col. 1}
WEEK ENDINO APRIL
19. 197S