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Wllrlllwalall
by
Gene H Hogborg
"ls America Going Mad?"
To
tr~ends
and enemoes alike. thc Unotcd Slalcs •• takong on
1he omage of a >hacklcd g¡ant. In thos case. the Lolhpuuans tyong
down Gulhver are not tore•gners. but Amencans
themsel~es
-
espccoally kcy figures on
Con!fts>
along woth members of 1he pre>S
who, on theor post-Watergate quest tor
a
totally open soco••>· no
longcr feclohere
o<
any such thong
as
a legoumatc s1a1c secre1.
The assue carne coa
hcad
wJth thc ot.ss.assmauon m Grcece of
Rochard Welch.
a
CIA ugenl attachcd 10 1he U.S. embassy in
Athcn,. Angry U.S. inoelhgence choefs blamcd the lcohal blowong of
Welch·~
oover on a vanety of sources conunued CongreS)ional
probon¡¡ ofCIA operations. a receno tlurry of spy· fcrrcoing books by
cx·CIA agcnts. anda quarterly exposé maguzonc Cilllcd
Cl)umerSP.Y·
whoch had odcntolied 1he whcreabouts of Wclch and ovcr 200 ooher
agents
10
recent 1ssues.
No one- not oven former CIA
dorcctor~
dcnoes the agcncy
has. on
occa5~on.
overstepped oi.S chart<rcd re•poMobolitoe>. That
>hould not be surpnsing given the fact thal on tho< omperteco and
odcolosocally competitove world, o•er 40 nauon<. largc and smaii.
are engaged
m
clandesune opcrauoos.
Out the JUIC} front·page headhnc
OC"'
or
\pt<:lfiC
CIA
CO\'Ul
.oiCII\o'sliCS.. (;;UCh as anvotvement in thc Allende
()\crlhrow
an
Ch1le.
have led many Americans to bchcve the CIA " nothong but a
Ff3nkcnstc.n
monster. running nmuck wlthoul
any
control.
Noth·
ong " further from the trulh. No natoonal ontclhgence organmuion
o;
\UbJCCI to more supervision thnn thc CIA Morcover, proveo
anstnnces
of 1mproper
activiucs
are fcw. But thc
chn~ing
nftcr evcry
~pocy
rumor 10 fill ncwspaper hendlincs
und
thc load >tory or the
noghtly news telecasi.S takcs prcccdence ovcr lhc fact>.
Thc upshot is a scvcrc hampermg of American
mtclligcncc
oOlcoJ I' on pcrtorming their maon - but largcly unheraiJed -
functoon: thc nonpublicized gaohcrong.
as~omol:otoon.
anJ cvaluation
ol onformatoon ncce>sary for 1he ><'CUnty ot ohe nauon Reur–
ong CIA Dorector William E. Colb) complaoned la>t
}tat
that
··1hc
alm~c h)·~cencal
exc:Hemeot
thac
)urround~ ~ny
ncv.s
story
mcnloonong the CIA. or rcfcrnng c•cn to a pertcctly lcglllmate
aU.-11)
ot the CIA. has raisc:d the que>llon v.hcth<r ""cret on·
tclhgcnce operations can be conducted by thc Unotcd State.."
llc added on testimony bcfore
a
Housc
~ubcommlltee
that
morJic on the agcncy
was
low, agents ovcf\ca> "ere worroed about
expo;urc. and
"a
number of ontellogcnec scrvicc• abroad wolh
wluch the CIA works have cxprcssed conccrn ovcr ols soluation and
OVCt
thc fa te OfSCOSitive informalion thcy provodC 10
U$. "
A
big qucsuon now is whcthcr the U.S. will be nblc to con·
unuc to obtaon criticnl intclligcncc from communost defectors or
undcrground Soviet informani.S - if thcy can no longer ttu>a the
CIA or
liS
Congrcssional watchdogs to keep a >ccrel. How impor·
tanl th" factor "can be illustialed by the ca<c. 13 ycars ago. ot
Col. Oleg l'enkov>ky. whosat at thc vcry nervc cen1er ofthe Sovicl
molunry e<tablishment. Without thc dct•olcd ontclhgencc he pro–
voded. Presodeno John F. Kennedy v.ould ha•e been in
a
very poor
pos11oon to
de~l
wuh the
1962
Cuban mo..sole C'n<os
London's
Datl¡•
Telq,raph.
on an edotoroal tltletl
"b
America
Goong MadT'
'ltws
tbe dctcnornllng U.S sccne thl'
way:
~The
Unoted States should know that hcr Europeon cousons and allies
are
~ppalled
and dosgusted by lhe prcsent open dosarray of her
pubhc hfe. The sclf-cnticosm and self-demuctove tcndcncoe'
are
runnong onad. wllh no countervaolong torce
111
soght. Shc has no
toreogn pohcy any more. bccause Congre>s woll not allow it. Her
ontelhgcncc urm. the CIA. is bcong guucd and rcndered onopcra–
tivc. thc nnm•-s of ots statf being published
so
thnt lhey can be
murdercd. Her President and Secreta!)' of Statc are beong
hounded. not tor what they do but sunply beca use they
are
people
thcre.
lO
be pulled down for lhc fun of 11."
The
Telegraph
editor concluded by pleadong;
"Picase
Ameroca.
for God's
sa~e
pull yoursclf togethcr."
4
BUMPER CROPS
BUCK
WEATHER
TRENDS
\Vell ~ ll mcd
wct
wenchcr
swcllcd
Amenca·~
grrun
harv~l
Lo record·brenkong yoehJs on
1975.
Whcn the fin•l U.S Dcpart·
mcnt or Agroculture reports
were on. whcat productoQn >tood
at
2.3
bolhon bushels
a
l<n
increase ovcr 1974 The corn
yield amounted 10
S.8
bolhon
bushels.
a
25%
oncrease over the
drought·sc~rcd
1974 crop.
How long lhe
~ood
news
from the farm belt
M>
crotocal
to hungry mou1hs around the
world
will last. howevcr.
IS
a
mattcr of no small concern.
Soonc scoenlosts are prcdicung
that dcvas1aung drought lnsling
froon lhrec lo eigho years woll hll
the Grcal Plain> with on thc
dccade.
"The chmate trcnds that
sorne
SCienti.SL~
.uc prc-.hcting
could bnng us toa poono ot t:lt–
astropb•c convcr¡;cnce
bet~Acen
the oncreasong populallon and
inadcquate food supphcs much
sooncr than many pcople
CX·
pect.- uys llenl') Lansford ot
lhc Na11onal Cenu:r for Atmo·
>'j>hcnc Rcscarch.
What are
thc~e dam~uc
in·
docators?
First os
n
20·ycar drought
cycle an lhc Amertcan m1dwest
which la;t hol on lhc 1950s. 1'h1>
cyclc has followcd
u
<:onso\lcnt
pattern ever ;once thc mod·
1800. whcn wcll..tocumented
records
~A
ere first kept.
fhe
duso
bowl of thc thonoe. was part ot
lhos cyclc.
Dr. Walter O Robcrt< ,
tormerly ot thc Nauonal Centcr
for Atmospheroc R=arch. poso·
ulatcs
a
correlatoQn betwcen
suospot actovoty and thc 20-)ear
drought cydc. Sunspots oceur
cvcry 1
O
or 11 ycars. Thc
drought cyclc sccms to correlate
with altcmaung sun.1po1 ucuvity.
Anothcr arcnd whoch may
f'un hcr comphcatc crop·Co'Ífl·
pling drought bcforc thc cnd of
this dccadc os thc gradual cool·
ingofthc canh.
From 1390 to 1940. lhc carth
experocnced
a
perood of warmcr
weathcr. The roult
v.as
a grow–
ong season that was oncrcased
by
l"O
to three "ceh
Sonce 1940. hov.cver.
a
In--·
ering m tcmpcrolurc
h.1~
cut
back the growong <eao;on by
about two
weeh
As tempera·
tures conllnue to drop wnh thos
cooling trcnd. graon producloon
on Amcroca's notthcrn plaons
cou ld be scvcrcly curtailed.
Despite thc shoner growong
season. Lhc pcrood from thc
mod-1960s untol 1974 snw
a
burst of productivlly lhat ovcr·
Howed U.S. gran.ancs. This
abundance ,..•, attnbuted solely
Lo "a rcmarkablc run or
11omral
wcathcr" by a U.S. govcrnment
rcpott pubhshed nncr thc 1973
harvcsl.
Th1S
same repon. howcvcr.
wenl on 10 spell the fatc <>f 1hc
1974 harvesl: "The rcliabilily of
grain yields on thc modwcst
on
rccent years
a.s
due to an ex·
Lraordinary scqucncc of tavor–
abk seasons.
Thos
cannot be
cxpected to conunuc.
··
And. indced it hasn't
1974 brought a hot scorchong
>Ummer to the mod,.est. The
drought-wcakened coro crop
yoelded
18% less
than thc pre·
\IOUS
year.
In
1975.
a relcntlc;; heat
wave cancellcd hopes for what
appcared to be
a
~upcr
abundan l crop in lowa and
ncighboring states. Only "lnst–
minute" unexpectcd nun$
ul·
layed farmers' WOI'$1 fea
ro.
Texas and Colifornia •'On·
tinue to suffer >Omc droughl.
and Lhe lack of moO>turc has
already cut predoctions for thc
winter wheat harveq 9%
be~
low last year's record. ln>cct
onfestauons
m
pans of Okla
homa and Kansas threaten to
reduce the crop
shll
funbcr
Even though thlS ycar's h3r·
\'CSI may still be large cnough to
prcvent major food shortage>.
the prospects for any Mgnoficant
buoldup or food re.ervc.' appear
dommer by the day. W11h thc
prospect of cooler wcalhcr.
shorter g.rowang seasons. und un
ovcrduc 20-year drought cyclc.
fuaure seve rc crop shonfall;
may prove to be aiJ too hkely
a
possobolity.
O
Vatican
(Continued from
page
J)
the votes in the regiOnal
ele<:·
uons last June. the Vaucan
1>
now taking thc >pcctcr of
a
Communist-domonated ltaly
very scriously.
Many observer:< believe lhat
on spote of the church's doplo–
matic etforLS 10 teach an ne<.X>m·
modntion
with
thc
oommunis1
regimes of Eas1ern Eu ropc. thc
Vat ican is uot abou1 to aecepl
communis1
goveroments
ruling
in the Wcst and woll thcrcforc
use its levernge to prcvent lhem
from coming
co
powcr.
This fear has
spar~ed
the re·
ccnt papal push tor the unoft·
cauon of Wcstem Europc (Scc
P/ain
Trutlo,
November 22,
1915.)
In
a
speech betorc more
than 80 bishops. cardonals. and
prelates. Pope Paul called for
a
reawakening ot "Europe's
Christian soul. where
liS
unoly os
rooted."
The pon1iff's
<311
for FurO·
pcan union coincides wolh sogns
of
a
growing thcologocal con·
servalism. In the lnst >cveral
montbs thc pope has renOlrmed
the full scope or hos authonty
over the Catholic Church.
rciterated thc officoal church
Gf.AN RfCTINS
(Coll/muedJrom page 3)
S tra uss Oacks Off
1'he CDUtCSU alliancc. hkc
1he SPD/FDP coalition, has no1
been wilhout ots pe=nal and
odcological feuds.
The JUnoor partner ofthe
coa·
hllon. the CSU hcaded by fiery
ultraconscrvative Franz Josef
Strauss. has its membershop al·
most cnurely in the state of
Bavana. The CSU runs oi.S can·
dodatcs exclusovely on that statc.
though Dr. Strauss has sympa·
ohozers throughout thc nauon.
The CDU runs in thc other
none West German statcs and
m
Wcsl 6erhn. Thus thcre os no
actual competuion betwcen
che
two coalilion pattners, and lhey
are Jooked
u
pon
as
one par1y in
national inHuence.
Some conservatives. however.
had bcgun to fear last year that
S1rauss moght "go nauonal."
that "· cApand
hu
nght·wong
Bavanan statc party inoo a tuU–
ftedged
national
party, woth
hom.clf as the candidato for
chancellor.
An oponoon poli
m
June had
ondocated that or the CSU car·
ned on an ondepeodent nallonal
campaogn. the two conservatove
partoc; might receove 3% 10
6%
more
votes
chan
under
che
cur·
rent "electorate·sharing" setup.
The poli added to alrcady
strnined relauons betwecn che
two "sister partoes" whoch had
dcvclopcd in
19n
whcn thc
CDU lost the federal clecllon.
dogma agamst artofictal borth
control. and condemned "doe·
mnal dosputes" in proposmg re·
ncv.ed cvangctization cffons
Thcre
are
e'en sorne .small an–
diC3110m of an
mcreasmg mil•·
tancy 1oward noo-Catholoc
rchgoons.
In a 13.000-word apostobc
exhortauon given in Dcccmber.
the pope tcrmcd non·Christian
religions "in<:omplcte" and said
ohe church should inoensify its
cfTorts to convert those who cm·
braccd such faiths. The pope
dod not specify any non·Chros–
lian failh, but his Statement ap·
peared to be all·encompassmg.
ondudong Judais.m and l.slam
He conveycd bis church·s •re·
spect and estecm.. for non·
Chnsuan religions but S31d they
had not succeeded in estab–
h~hing
"an authenuc •nd hvong
relauonshop" wilh
God.
In mod·October the pootofT
made a rare but cntic:al
rcfcrcnce to
1he Reformation. slating lhat
11
had held back Europcan unoty.
This suddcn Hurry ot activny
on thc part of thc Vatican, bolh
on doplomacy and lhcology.
sccms to ondicatc lhat thc Ro–
mnn Calholic Church is gearong
up to play an expanded role on
"orld atfairs.
o
FEBRUARY
1976