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·ANDNOW...
BIG TROUBLE CLOSE TO HOME
FORAMERICA
Marxist-dominated Sandinista revolutionaries have seized power in Nicaragua; Cuban injluence is
growing in the islands of the eastern Caribbean; Panama takes over the Canal Zone on October
1-
peacefully or not. No wonder
U. S.
policy makers are deeply concerned over what is occurring
throughout the vast Caribbean basin, an area of enormous importance to America's security.
~~e
ursed shall you be when
you come in, and cursed
shall you be when you go
out" (Deuteronomy 28:19). What
better description could there be of
the mounting dilemmas confronting
the United States?
America is a nation adrift, con–
fused, virtually leaderless, stumbling
and careening from one crisis to the
next. On the borne front, the list of
ills are legion, compounded by an all–
pervasive energy crisis that threatens
to grind the American economy to a
halt.
In the international arena, tbe
United States, traumatized as a re–
sult of Vietnam and fearful of pro–
jecting its power, appears afraid to
act. Washington is a source of great
4
by
Gene H. Hogberg
wonderment to both fríend and foe
a like.
Distrusted Everywhere
In the Middle East, for example,
Washington is caught &quarely in the
middle of the rapidly worsening Pal–
estinian crisis . (Read the article
"The Struggle for Palestine," begin–
ning on page 7 of this issue.) Ameri–
can attempts to achieve peace have
backfired.
In Western Europe, key American
allies are gravely concerned over
their future security needs in tbe
wake of the SALT II nuclear arms
pact between the Soviet Union and
the United States. (The SALT II
treaty has yet to be ratified by the
U.S. Senate.) The terms of SALT II
in no way limit the growing Soviet
arsenal targeted against West Euro–
pean cities, but place restrictions on
the transfer of U.S. technology and
hardware to its European allies.
Officials in West Germany, France
and otber key allies are also deeply
disturbed over America's undiminished
energy appetite. They have little confi–
dence that Mr. Carter's energy pro–
gram-a bureaucratic monstrosity if
ever there was one-will lift America
out of its energy quagmire.
This deepening concern regarding
the future direction of the United
States is far more critica! than most
Americans dare realize. Edmund
Stillman, the founder and director of
Hudson Research Europe, Ltd. ,
wrotein
theNew York TimesofMay
The
PLAIN TRUTH October/ November 1979