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INBRIEF
PRESIDENT CARTER
ANO HUMAN RIGHTS
by
Stanley
R.
Rader
The author accompanies
Plain
Truth
Editor-m-Chief Herbert
W. Armstrong on his frequent
visits with heads of state and
other leading mternational
d1gnitaries.
PARIS, March 8, 19Í'7:
During
the recent U.S. electoral cam–
paign, Jimmy Cartet proclaimed
his intention, if elected, to return
to those traditional American
moral values so much forgotten
or abused during the years of the
Nixon administration. He prom–
ised a " new look " in American
foreign policy- a foreign policy
that would be consistent with
those same moral values-just as
he promised a better deal at
home for all Americans.
Last week, and indeed for the
past severa! weeks, President
Carter 's ·'new look' · in foreign
policy could not have manifestad
1tself more clearly. Receiving the
noted Russian dissident Vladimir
Bukovsky at the White House,
President Carter warned the
world that the United States com–
mitment on the question of
human rights 1s permanent. He
stressed that he has no intention
to be timid in his declarations,
and that he wanted Americans,
as well as the people of all other
countries (not just the Soviet
Union). to understand that the
United States stands firmly on the
fundamental principies of liberty
and the right of all men every–
where to express themselves
freely .
In early
1961 ,
at the time of his
inauguration, President John F.
Kennedy declared: " Let the word
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1977
go forth from this time and place,
to friend and foe alike, that the
torch has been passed to a new
generation of Americans, born in
this century, tempered by war,
disciplinad by a hard and bitter
peace. proud of our ancient heri–
tage, and unwilling to witness or
permit the slow undoing of those
human rights to which this nation
has always been committed, and
to which we are committed today
at home and around the world."
President Kennedy then spelled
out a new, universal commitment
in still clearer terms: "Let every
nation know, whether it wishes us
In the tradltlon of Thomas
Jefferson, Abraham Llncoln,
Woodrow Wllson and Franklln
Roosevelt, Presldent
CatferandtheAmerlcan
people
contlnue to dream of world
peace, freedom for the
Individual and human dlgnlty.
well or ill, that we shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any
hardship, support any friends, op–
pose any
toe
to assure the sur–
viva! and the success of liberty."
Thus one can see that Presi–
dent Carter is indeed returning to
those moral principies and tradi–
tional values in which Americans
have always taken such pride.
Earlier last month President Car–
ter sent an otf icial letter of sup–
port to the renowned Soviet
scientist and Nobel Prize winner
Andrei Sakharov. The letter has
since been published by Mr. Sak–
harov and has been read or
heard around the world. And yet
only last year Aleksandr Solzhe–
nitsyn, another Soviet dissenter
and Nobel Prize-winning author,
was not received at the White
House by then President Gerald
Ford, who just recently in an in–
terview admitted that the failure to
see Solzhenitsyn was probably a
mistake.
Thus the
realpolitik ot
Henry
Kissinger has been tempered, if
not totally rejected. with what we
Amencans can proudly call mo–
rality.
lt is true, of course, that such a
foreign policy must be exercised
with sorne caution and much pru–
dence. After all, it does seem to
sorne to clash with two other so–
called " rules" of international af–
fairs: the right of peoples to de–
termine their own affairs along
with noninterference by outsiders
in the interna! affairs of another
state.
But let us not forget that the
Soviet Union professes, and in–
deed insists, that it keeps its prom–
ises, and the Soviet Union has
signed the Charter of the United
Nations (a legal international
treaty), which takes a resolute
stand on human rights. The Soviet
Union atso signed the Helsinki
Agreement on human rights which
established international stan–
dards ot treedom. travel and the
exchange of information.
Yes, President Carter does
have a strong conviction on the
issue of human rights and the
dignity of man. He knows, more–
over, that the bulk of the Ameri–
can people will support him on
this issue. In the tradition ot
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lin–
coln, Woodrow Wilson and Frank–
lin Detano Roosevelt. he and the
Amer ican people continue to
dream ot world peace, freedom
for the individual and human dig–
nity. He and the American people
intend to revive America's role as
spokesman for these ideals
throughout the world.
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