Page 2631 - 1970S

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Today Asia... (ContinuN)
Medaterranean rn haiy the Com·
munist pa_ny now vies with the
Chrutian Dcmocnts a.s the largest
party in the countty.
Britain htlS recendy severely cut
back il> defense role, largely with–
drawing rrom che Medilcrranean to
more insborc WalCI'$. On lOp of
tht., possible British withdrawal
from che Common Mark.et in the
c:om&ng rcrcrendum would tunher
di.ssolvc sorne of Lhc tcnuous bes of
Europcan souclanty
In the face ofAmenca's sctbac:b
m Asta and the Miclea'st and in vicw
o( thc CNmbling multi-nation fa–
cadeofNATO, Europcansare won–
denng af they can stall rely on their
most arnportant ally. For ir the
Unatcd States can no loogcr assure
WestemEuropc'ucc:urity,who can?
- O•vldP(ictJ
PORTUGAL
SHAKESNATO
CREDIBILITY
BRUSSELS: Concem c:ootinucs
to mowu U) Westem Europe as
Ponupl movcs swifUy 10 tbe len
on tbe poUucalspc<:tNm.
The treod wu conArmed agai.n
recently u Prem1er Vasco Gon–
calvcs rormc.d a new govei'IUnen~
dr~2l.r!s_S~~alisr ·?•~ny.,. lea~~r
-ua.rio SOarcs from1ils forcagn min·
ast~rposL
Ominou.sly, thc ncw cabinct fits
tbe clossic pauern or Communist
takcover. At flrst the Communists
are in thc minority or a leO-wing
ooaJition, then lhcy acquirc tcy
c-abmcl posts. and later move to
outlaw the oppoaition partics- AU
thesc elemcnts are now present in
Portup!. Tbe ouster or Soarcs is
sipti.6cant because it as in the last
sta¡c:s or a Communist takeover
that the party tums on its former
a.lltes ofthe demoaatic len.
NATO 10urccs herc i.D Brussch
told me "we are followiDg wbat is
happcn1Dg within Ponupl with
worry, aruuety and .some apprchen·
sion. Wc are worried that while
Ponugal is now rcmaining faithful
to its NATO commitmcnts, we
know othcr forca wilhin lhe coun–
try ore again$t NATO member-
ship-'' •
NATO has no proccdure to dis–
continue a member counuy's in·
volvement in tbe altiance although
a country may withdraw ,i! it cle–
sitcs to- ,Watb Communist pattici–
panu i.D any member governmen~
NATO takes tneaS\IIU 10 pve acle–
quate protection 10 oolllidcntial
matertal witluJI tbe .Ulance.. This is
cspcci&Uy 1rue with regard to nu–
clearweapon atratel)'.
Tbe wbole <!fea or the turmoil
withan Portupl only serves to fur–
thcr weaken NATO's ability 10
stand up and rcprcsent the back–
bone ofWestern defense.
With the southeastem flonk of
NATO alteady vin'ually tom asun–
der over Cyprwo with Greece and
Turtrey at each olher's throats. Por–
tug•l's res~e.!Sness may be tbe final
straw in NATO's ability to operatc
dfeaivcly.
- R•y Ko•anke
WE.EK. ENDINO APRIL 19, 197S
Asian Nations
"Reassessing" Tie~ With U.S.
Philippines
Diversifying ·
lts Foreign Policy
MANILA ; "Ooes Cambodia
oow prove the U.S. domino theoty
or the SO's7" asted ootcd Falipano
oolumo.i.s:t. Teodoro Valencia, \n a
reoent c:olumn.
He ..,.....ered lus own quation;
"lf. Carnbodia falls becausc the
U.S. Congrcss rcfuscs 10 give aid in
quantities necessary to save it. the
United States wiJJ havc ¡iven Asia
the most vivid cxample or whtu
American support roettns. Asian
countries wiU havc to reassess their
relations with thc U.S.A. .... Thc
domino tbeory applics to the ero–
sion of American prestigc in Asia
and tbe world.-·
Partly as a resuh or ncw rcalities
1n Asia. Pbilippine Sccrctary
Carloo P. Romulo said rccently that
bis natíOO is (asbionio¡ a more ID–
de:pendcnt and d1vcrsalled forcagn
poliey- Tbls sbould aot be takeo as
ímplyina scveraoc:c or ucs wath the
Uaited Statcs but ratber a reeval–
uatioa of tbe long "special rela–
tionship" with WubmgtoD- Tbere
is no taJk .., as ye~ .,. of ukiJig tbc
U.S. to vacare i&s rornud.ablc mili–
tal)' facilities in tbe c:ountty.
President Marcos has affirmed
time and again tha.t thc govem·
rnent intends to pursuc the policy
of nqrmalizing reJations with aU
countrics irrespective of race,
creed, rcligion or idcology- The
Pbilippincs has alrcady established
d.iplomatic rclauon.s witb the: so–
cialist c:ountrics or Czechoslovakia,
Eas1 Germany, Poland, Hungary,
Moagolia and Romanía. The P~­
dent or Romarua will be visitin&
Manila ncxt mooth.
Praident Marcos further statcs
that the Pbilippancs intends to nor–
malize rc.latioD$ with the Pc:ople's
Repubüe of China withia the year
and is initiating moves to norma–
Jizc rclatioos witb, the Soviet
Union_ In tbe pa.!t it would bave
HANOI'S
GRANO DESIGN?
BANGKOK. Man:b 30, 1975,
Reuter. The &Jngkt>lc Pott today
publi$hcd what it aaid wu a NOrth
Victna.mc:se docu.mcot in.dicati.Qg
that the CommuJIJSts i.Dtend 10 set
up a fede.ralion comprisin5 Viet–
nam. Carnbodia and Laoc. and a
protectonue in part or Northeast
Thailand. The autbcntldty or the
clocu.ment c:ould not immediately
be c:onfirmcd, and the papcr dt.–
claimcd rcspoasibility for ats aecu–
racy_ The document said a final
olfeosive to uniJY Vietnam would
come ncxt year a.od tbe Lon Nol
government i.D Cambodia would be
defcatcd by the end or thi! year.
Substantial milítaty etrortS by
Commu.n.i.st insurgents were ex–
pected in oortheast Tbailand in the
ncxt two years, the clocument also
revealecL O
been impossible to open tics wlth
SOC·ialist count.ries bccause Of the
uniqut rcluion ship with che
Uaitcd States.
In the (ace o( reccnt devcl ..
opments, bowevcr, it is obvious
that the U-S. will play a rcduccd
role i.D il> former colony in tbe Far
East. Tbe Pbilippines is looktng
more to ASia and tbe Tbircl World.
- ColmAd•i
•nd Jun Ru&tJ•
Thai Premier
Calls for Speedy
U.S. Troop Pullout
After two months of hec:tic polit·
ica1 maneuvering foHowing Thai·
land·s first free election in 28 yurs.
the 269-seat Tbai National Assem–
bly approved i.D mid-March an 8-
party coalition govemment heacled
by Prime Minister Kuknt Pramoj.
In a bid 10 wiD the support or
lefl-~ parUCS U1 tbe YO!< O( C:On·
fidence., Mr- Kukrit statcd be
would see k tbe com pie te
witbdrawal or u.s. troops from
Thailand withio ooc ycv and thc
di$00ntinuatioo of U.S. a.nns a.nd
ammunition shipméncs 10 Cam–
bodia (rom American bases in
Tbailand.
..l'd likc ro sec it dooc tomorrow,
tbc day after tomorrow, threc
montbs. six months., a ytar - as
soon as pos.'dble." be declared. The
vote or c:onñdencc passcd by a bare
margin or7 votes.
"Withdrawing the American
rorces doesn't mean lbat wc doo•t
lilte Amcrica,• Mr- Kllkrit adcled.
"''ut good relauoo.s musl con·
tinue." Oo the other hand tbe ae"'
Prime Ministcr indieatcs that Tbaa·
land wiU <eck diplomauc rclatiOD$
with tbe People-s Repubhc of
China &!Id the opening or talks
with Nonb Vietnam...In orde.r to
create: a t>al.ance in our rela1ions
with the superpowcrs, tbia govem·
ment wiU procecd in rcc:ognizíng
and norma1izing rela1ions with
China," be said.
U.S- P-e StabsUntlal
Tbe Uoited Saa.ce:s malntains
four large ait bases in Tbailand,
witb 350 Ait Force planes. in–
eluding 17 B-52 stnlte¡ic bomben.
27,000 American serviocmeo are
statioocd at tbe bases. Thc U.S.
preseoce has bc<lome a rocus of
conuoveny stitred by Tbai stU·
dents and Uberal and lefl-wans par–
ties ~wbo see it as a roadblodc: co
improvcd rclations witb China,
North Vietnam, and tbe Soviet
bloc:. '
At tbe heigbt of U.S. in–
volvemcnt in lndochioa ( .1968-69),
48,000 U.S. troops were stationed
in Tbailand, c:onducting bombín¡¡
raids in Vietnam, Laos. aod Cam-
bodla. ·
American government sources
bave statcd that if Tbailand wants
U.S, troops withdrawn_ tbcy wiU be
witbdrawn. o
by Gene H. Hogberg
Shattered Pride Before the Fall.
Not since tbe darlcest days of World War JI has tbe United
States been jarred by so many foreign policy failures in so sbort a
úme_
With tbe impending coUapsc ofCambodia and Vie1nam. with
the suelden assassination ofKing Faisal coming on tbe beels of Dr–
Ki.ssinger's política! defeat in the Mideast, and witb fcsu:ring prob–
lems inside NATO, tbe conclusion is that tb111gs are indeed going
very poorly for WaslúngtotL _
The big danger tbat many observcrs see now is that the United
States, l.iclóng its Soutbeast Asían wounds in particular, will retreat
into a neo-isolationist positton and neglect forcign policy com–
milments far more important than those in lndochina ever wete.
As Jnrnes Reston of the New Yórk Times writes: "The do ubt in tbe
allied world about American action now is not about Washington's
cournge but about its judgmcnt- Tho major allies. _. are merely
asking [President Ford) to choose whnt is primary and what is
secondary, not to conruse Saigon or Lon Nol or Soutbeast As¡a
with the rcally aitical arcas of Europe. the Middle East aod
Japan_"
But can u_s_ lcadership make sucb distincúons any Longer'l
After all, ovcr a dccade ago, cont.nuy to the lesson of Korca,
contraty to the French cxpericncc in lndoebina and tbe whole
nature of Victnamcse naúonalism, Amcrica's pol.itical and military
chieflans blindly committed the nation's heritagc as well as its
treasury to fight a "no win" land war in Asia.
When thc first bauleo-ready marines, proudly boldil)g aloft Old
Olory, stonned asbore near Da Nang in 1965, they and their
commanding officers tbougbt it would only takc a few montbs to
teaeh thosc "barefoot VC" a lesson or two. Eight years later, with
the release of the last U.S. POWs, America's once invincible mili–
tary power had been all but shattered (Lev_ 26: 19).
How true- the prophecies of lsaiah 9: 16: ~For tbe leaders of
this people cause them to err." Our politicians and generals "err in
vision, tbcy stumblc in judg¡nent" (lsa_ 28 :7).
The sad part is tbat America's S170 billion invesunent in a lost
cause could very l.ikely be only tbe down payment on the road to
forcign policy ruin. lt remains to be scen bow cbmfonable tbc
Japanese, tbc West Europeans. and other key allies feel under
Waslúngton's faltering leadership of tbe free world. WiU they feel
compeUcd to stril<c out on tbeir own, to pursuc political. economic
and military programs apan from and evcn m opposition to those
desired in Washington?
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