Basic HTML Version
WEST GER/IfAN Chancel/or Helmut Schmldt al
e
recent press conference In Hamburg.
Reluctant
World
Power
(Coml11ued
from pagt
3)
fairs . For years, tbe United
States has expected West Ger–
many to contribute effectively
toward NATO's defense capao–
ity. Yet the
Washington
Post
ar·
ticlo indicates the U.S. now
expecis much more than this
from Bonn.
Cementin& a
Uoited,
Europe
Tbis maunting diplamatic
pressure bas been paraUeled for
somc time by a lessenlng resis·
tance oo Bonn's
part
to
a
more
indepeo<!eot political role in
Europe. WiUy Brandt's "Ost·
politik" reaUy gol the ball roll·
ing in that tlrst eft'orts were
made to establisb friendlier re·
lations with communist' East
Germany. This eased sorne of
the interna!
press~
10 reunite
Germany aod meant that West
Gcrmans could now look on
their country as a complete
po–
litical enúty, ratber than jusi as
a temporary "half-state" wait–
ing for the adulthood of reunifi·
cation.
In recent years this trend to–
ward self-assertiveness in
Bonn's foreign policy has accel–
erated.
No
longer does the Fed·
eral Republic's fereign poliey
bear the label, "Made in Wash–
ington." Bonn's recen! decision
10 sell nuclear power plants lo
Brazil - a blow 10 Washington's
oonpraliferation hopes - is
anJy one example of the repub–
Hc's newself-assertiveness..
Particularly in Europe, lead–
ers of the Federal Republic are
beginniog 10 ftex their ecoo_omic
muscles. Sources in Bonn reveal
ooe goal that inlluential Bonn
fore~·poliey
makers now bave
In mmd - that of West Ger–
many providing the cement to
bind together a united Europe.
Of
as one
policy
framer phrased
it, "lo become tbe 'Federator' of
Europe witbaut letting tbe
others koow a.bout it. We must
4
force the Europeans toward sol·
idarity witb tact and elegance."
Bonn's slow a.scendaney to
power has
abo
beco fueled by
the rapid economic and political
decline of her neigbbots. Great
Britain aod ltaly, riddled with
inllation and social contlict, are
in no condiúon 10 bolster Euro–
pean unity. Even France, beset
witb multiple economie, poliú–
cal and social woes. is no clear
guiding ligbt for tbe commu–
nity. Tbe Federal Republic,
bowever, led by an increasingly •
respected Chancetlor Schmidt
and featuring an outstanding
economic bauing record,
seew
slated for the top slot.
A North German newspaper,
Hannoverst:M Allgtmtlnt Ztl·
tung.
recently ran an editorial
entitled "Big Power Bono?"
which revealed a new awareness
on the
pa.r1
of tbe West Ger–
mans of tbei.r country's growing
internat.ional prowess. The edi-
• tarial presenled Helmut
Sebmidt with a lion's share of
the credit: "In aU ils 26-year-old
history, the Federal Republic
has never made sueltan impact
on intemalional polilics
as
now–
adays , under Chancellor
· Schmidt . • . . lq his relations
with foreign statesmen, Chao–
ceUor Scbmidt surpasses oearly
everyone of
bis
predecessors, as
fa.r as self-confidence, imagina·
tion and personal forcefulness
are c6ncemed." The article her–
alded tbe uoprecedented
pilgrimage,to Bono during mid–
summer 1975 by Messrs. Wil–
soo, Ford, Giscard d'E.staing.
Sadat, aod Rabio,
as
diplomaúc
acknowledgmeot of the in–
creased prestige • enjoyed by
both the West German govem·
ment and its chaoceUor.
· New
Pride
In
the Bundeswebt
For many years most Ger–
mans have looked al lhe Bun–
deswehr (the Federal defense
forces) with a jaundieed eye.
The post-World War
11
archi-
tecU of tbe Bundeswehr de–
signed h e lmets, uniforms.
organizat.ion aod discipline
along U.S. lines, 10 avoid any
remindcrs of the Wehrmacbt of
Hiller's vintage. No officers wilh
Prussian names were included
among the new statf. Secluded
fores1 hideouts, far from publie
view, served the fledgling forces
as bases.
Now, however, the tanks and
truclls of tbc Bundeswehr travel
along autobahns and public
roads far more openly. Whole
classes of graduating high
scbool seniors are lrooping to
the recruiting omees. A Bun–
deswehr officer candidate re–
cently rema.rked 10 the writer
thal tbe esprit de
corps
among
the professional German sol–
diers was sky-high.
Germany's NATO aOies are
aüo, keenly aware of the Bun–
deswehr's profesSlonal poteney.
U.S. Defeose Secretary James
Sclllesinger enlbusiasticaUy la–
beUed the Federal 'Republic's
figbting forces the "hub of the
aUiaoce."
In
an
era when roany
Westem states
~
euniog back
on defense. spending, the West
German army stand$ out as· a
growiog bulwa.rk ofstrength.·
Helr to the U.S. Throne!
Mr. Fard and Mr. K.issinger
bave \rigorously
pled~ed
that
American troops wiiJ hve up to
tbeir Europeao lreaty -com–
mitments. However, ma.ny West
Europea
os
have been unnerved
• by the U.S. defeat in Vietnam.
In
tbe aftermath of the commu·
nist takeover, couotless televi–
sioo and radio discussions bore
down oo one burning queslion:
"Can we rely oo America?" Tbe
answer was uncerta
in.
There is no doubt
thar
the
U.S. govemmeot fully intends
at present 10 live up to iu aUies'
expectaúons. Yet what
if
futuro
developments force the "world
policeman·' to reduce troop
commitments ovcrseas? Wbo
President
Ford's
First Year
by-Norman CousinS
remarl:able degree in meeting
the main need confronting him.
lt
is
possible, indeed, tbat bis
place in the presiden1ial
bistory
of the natioñ
wiU
be as a roan
wbo restored respeéi for the or-
6ce at a critical time.
One bas only to look at the
situation as it stood
a
yea! ago
Many of tbe nalion's news lo
reaJize
the extent ofthe prob–
commenlalors and editorial lem. People
'(~ere
dazed at tbe
writers this past week have been rapid deterioratioo of Richard
evaluating Gerald Ford's fust Nixon's Presideney, c:ubninat·
full year in tbe Presidency. ing in his resignaúQn. Most
Wbat seerns to me most stri.kiog shocking or all perbaps was the
about tbese appraisal$ is the e vidence tbat an American
empbasis they place on GcraJd Presiden! wu willing to go
Ford's honesty aod deceoey.
along with a blackmail situaúoo
Ordinarily, these basic virtues involving obstruction of justice.
would be taken for granted. But
The tape recording has Presi·
the experience ofWatergate has dent Nixon saying be would be
caused the American people lO· willing to pay SI millioo 10
take nothing for granted.
Jf
a
meet the blackmail demands gf
national survey were lo be the Watergate criminal$. Tbe
takeo today of what the Amen- rea>rd also shows he said there
can people look for in
a
Presi· would be no difficulty in getting
dent, personal honesty and such a Jarge sum for that pur–
decency would probably be .
pose
aqd that he insttucted hlS
close 10 lhe top of the
lis~
along subordinates 10 transmit the
with wisdom, courage. decisive- money without getting caugbt.
ness and a sense of responsi-
That sa.me tape. incidentally,
bility 10
all
·the people and not has tbe Presiden! makiog
a
just to any political or economic • statem;nt th.at has been sorne–
sector.
.
.
wbat gJ<iSsed over
-in
the public
_Jt
wa~
pr_easely the failure of repotts. The Presiden! made
a
Richard Ntxon on the leve! of distinction between Howard
personal integrity tbat created a Hunt aod the otlter crimioaJs
crisis of public conlldence in who would be paid off. Nixon
governmeot
a
year ago. No said he was particularly worried
more importan! c hallenge, aboul Howard Hunt because of
tbcrefore, confrooted
~erald
everytbing Howard Hunt koew.
Foro thao to restare tbLS con- The irnplication
was
that Hunt
fidence..Tbis he
b~~
done.
o~
lénew a greal deal lhat hadn't
sp11e w1de oppos1110n lo hts surfaced. Wbat, besides Water-
J>?Iicies, almost everyone recog·
gate. the dir1y
tricts
in tbe eleo-
n!US
that be has sueceeded to
a
tion campaign and the burglary
would
fiiJ
the gap in NATO
wbich a U.S. withdtawal would
leave?
Tbc answer
seerns
increas–
ingly obvious. As early
u
De–
cember 1969, the French
Gaullist Jnformation Service
publisbed the following coro·
ment: "'The danger exisl$, that
the 'American Europe' which
exísted si nce the war and
agaiost w}lic:b we [the GaullisLS)
directed our elforts, will be
re–
placed by a 'Germao Eu·
rape' ... tbe future or Europe
now depeods on what the Bonn
government does with its eco–
nomic migbt and political free–
doro."
The Federal Republic is
Washington's most reliablc
NATO partner. Countless eoo–
nomie and cultural ties bipd the
two nations. Most have evolved
from U.S. etror1s lo rear
a
na–
úon
m
Central Europe aner 1ts
own image, fit to take over
sbould America leave off. And
oow not just Fatber U.S.A. but
many other
natia~ ar~
h11Stling
a relucta.nt Wcst Gcrmany into
a Supermao suit which it al–
rea dy has tbe pbys1que 10
tul.
o
of Daniel EUsberg's psycbia–
trist's office, were the things that
Howard Hunt koew about that
made Richard Nixon apprehen·
sive? How far
bad:
did the rela–
tionship between Howard Hunt
and Richard Nixoo go7 Exactly
what did Howard Hunt do or
koow that made it
so
urgent 10
buy bis silence?
These are only a few of the
questions _that produced wide–
spread disiUusioo about Rich–
ard Nixon and that spilled over
to the Presideney itself.
'The
re–
sult was tbat the attitude of th't
Amencao people toward the
hi¡¡hest office in !he Jand sank to
itslowest point in tbe history of
tbe natioo. The r<SX>very írom
this low point is an event of ma–
jor significance,
Eveo Watergate, para–
doxically, may be seen in iétro–
spect as a positive factor in the
political development of the
American people. Fo r it taugbt
tbem a great deal about the dif·
ference between
a
govemment
of laws and
a
government of
roen.
•
In tbis scnse, the main pur·
pose of the American Constitu·
tion-makers has beco fullilled.
WEEK ENDINO OCTOBER 18, 197S