Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 25, 1981, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free november 1981 7 Ronald reagans nuclear missile offer to Leonid Brezhnev puts russians on Public relations by William Beecher Boston Globe Washington after 10 months of strident ant soviet president Reagan has launched a peace Offen but its targets appear to be primarily in Western Europe and the United and Only secondarily in the soviet quite obviously even by the mounting voices of discontent and suspicion Over emerging nuclear strategy both in the streets of Europe and More recently on american the administration decided it must seek to reverse images with the soviet Union As the True Champion of whether the president will succeed in transforming the administrations col Warrior image will be determined not Only by the reaction to his first major foreign policy but also by the words and actions of senior american officials Over the next sever Al months As they seek to pursue Washington objectives Over a wide spectrum of the Centrepiece of the presidents approach was to accept the advice of his nato allies and ironically of the soviet unions ally Romania of Fering to Shelve the projected deploy ment of nearly 600 new missiles if the soviets agree to dismantle their roughly 600 ss4 and ss5 missiles already the proposal is not As balanced As the comparable missile numbers would since the ss20 carries three thus the Overall Trade would be soviet warheads for 572 nato the president insisted the Trade off is fair because the 1979 decision to deploy 572 Pershing 2 and cruise mis starting in represents natos worried reaction to the threat represented by russian unrelenting buildup of intermediate Range mis such As the which is being deployed at the rate of one every five while All the russian intermediate missiles cover targets throughout Western Reagan there is currently no comparable missile in nato which can reach soviet Terri Kremlin screams fix the initial reactions from Moscow suggested the Kremlin regards the bargain As anything but fair and Equi the official news Agency Tass labelled the offer propagandist in and no Vosti news Agency chimed in that it would tilt the balance in favor of the West and amount1 to unilateral disarmament by the so Viet but Washington analysts do not re Gard these comments As final or com parable to Moscow total rejection in of the president Jimmy Carters proposal for deep cuts in strategic it is viewed As a predictable reaction reflecting the recent offer of soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev to negotiate a substantial reduction in rus Sian intermediate Range missiles if the West would omit entirely the deployment of the Pershing 2 and cruise thus what is at play at this stage is the opening Public relations barrages of the two sides As they manoeuvre for Western Public opinion in Advance of the Start of negotiations in Geneva on one of larger ironies of reagans offer is that it is meant to Calm West european just As the initial decision to deploy the missiles was designed for the same Al though in a quite different two years West German officials said they were worried that americas strategic missiles might be deterred from being fired in Europe defence because of the might of rus Sias strategic missile place ment of intermediate Range missiles in Europe which could reach the soviet Union might ensure in the event of a russian the threat of locally based retaliation against the soviet heartland would tend to make More credible that missiles inline United states would be drawn into the that was the key premise behind the decision by nato to deploy the inter mediate Range Public relations disaster but of Public opinion in Europe has focused on the Nightmare that the Reagan administration might contemplate using the new missiles to fight a War limited to some fuzzy and ambiguous Public statements by Rea Gan and other administration officials about limiting the scope of any the Tough ant russian rhetoric of the new administration and its decision to prod uce Neutron All contributed to the growing in by and the rus sians have been More restrained in their and have been waging a Campaign of apparent reasonableness in an Effort to heighten european con Cerns about the Reagan adm Nistra their restraint in face of a historic ideological Challenge in Poland has also tended to Foster this the administration made Clear its focus on european opinion when it helped pay for live television transmission to seven european nations of the presidents to tapes of the address were provided to More than 40 other by quoting at length from his first warm message to and noting that in another sent within the past few Days he offered to Start strategic arms reductions talks Start As soon As possible next Reagan sought to project an image of a Man determined to wage peace through dialogue and in the strategic the time of which will probably be set by Secretary of state Alexander Haig and soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko when they meet in Geneva next Jan Reagan said he seeks truly substantial reductions in weapons that Are equal and to prove this is a serious administration officials Point out that Reagan has proposed to build Only 100 of the big new my half the number proposed by the Carter and two other Reagan proposals were also unmistakably aimed at Western he urged the russians to go along with the French proposal for a Confer ence on disarmament designed to re Duce the dangers of Surprise attack by extending from the Atlantic to the urals the area in which notification of Large troop exercises would have to be Given in Advance and foreign observers and he said that if the russians were really serious about they would unilaterally withdraw conventional forces from Eastern Europe to a level equal to those in the Given that eight years of Mutual and balanced Force reductions talks in Vienna have not resulted in worthwhile this suggestion for unilateral action will doubtless be viewed by Moscow As Little More than a propaganda policy directed at Western Public in a recent interview in the West arms Boston in the tone and timing of his arms control speech president Reagan had one immediate purpose Calm european fears about american by doing so he would put the political onus Back on the russians and remove an obstacle to his planned nuclear weapons thus the National Security Council discussions before the speech reportedly focused on How to mollify the not on How to approach the soviet Union in arms negotiations with any realistic Chance of to recognize the presidents purpose is not to be cynical about or to say that people worried about the arms race were wrong to Welcome the As Many words have con whatever moved it matters that he embraced the principle of arms control and that in doing so he struck a responsive chord in Public his words were emphasizing the Atlantic Alliance and drop Ping the belligerence that had so often marked his foreign policy comments As candidate and i put aside the pointlessly hectoring passages of his letter to president the Praise he won in this country As Well As in Europe May Well encourage Reagan to continue on this path of moderation in to show concern about the feelings of the allies is sensible in German Magazine Der Brezhnev contended that a rough East West balance now with 986 nato nuclear carriers and 975 for the soviet in contrast Reagan said there was a six Toone soviet among the Brezhnev was counting american aircraft in on carriers in the Mediterranean and even some in the United states ear marked for possible use in together with French and British mis Siles and nuclear capable american analysts insist he was not counting comparable soviet nor the fact that the ss20 missile carries not one but three warheads american officials expect that the first item of debate when the Interne Diat Range nuclear talks get under Way in Geneva will be what to include and the United states is pre pared to consider nuclear capable american and russian but wants to defer this very Tricky Issue until a later it is unwilling to negotiate about French and British insisting these must be bilateral one of the difficulties in dealing with the aircraft Issue is that Many of the american planes Are assigned to a nonnuclear Mission in defending against a conventional another is that if an agreement were reached to pull aircraft Back planes would have to withdraw across the while russian planes would remain relatively near the european a concern of some american analysts is that the russians will attempt to shift the onus for Lack of Progress in negotiations to the americans for their refusal to include nuclear capable air Craft in the initial phase of the another is that the russians might prolong the talks attempt ing to defer any deployment of Persh ing 2 or cruise missiles in Europe while negotiations but at this by accepting the so called Zero option for Interne Diat Range missiles favored in West Ern Reagan has seized the diplomatic High today i have outlined the kinds of equitable proposals which the world expects of Reagan Success can Only come if the soviet Union will share our commitment if it will be matched by positive in other the Ball is in your Powals Lack seriousness their support will be necessary if the administration does at some Point decide to go into arms negotiations but the approach suggested by the president for the forthcoming negotiations on theatre nuclear weapons in Europe what he called his first and most important Point was not Seri the administration knew the proposition was unacceptable to Moscow before it was Reagan said the soviet with its new ss20 missiles targeted on Western had an overwhelm ing advantage in intermediate Range nuclear forces a superiority on the order of 6 to he proposed that the russians dismantle All their ss20s and older missiles of similar in he offered to forego the planned nato deployment of land based cruise and Pershing 2 missiles in the presidents arithmetic simply left out of the balance a number of Western nuclear forces in the Europe an Reagan did not mention the american submarines assigned to with their ballistic he new rights charter is did not mention the British nuclear de or the larger French Force de he did not mention the announced by him 2 As part of his strategic arms to deploy Sev eral Hundred cruise missiles on sub All those nuclear forces Are designed to reach targets in the soviet Moscow could hardly be expected to ignore them while the United states demands the dismantling of missiles that cannot reach the United the soviet leadership is also aware that the proposal to deploy cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe May never get off the ground there is Strong opposition to the deployment in several countries whose agreement is most crucially West the fact is that the United states and its european partners have very differ ent feelings about the Pershing and cruise Washington really wants them in most of the Al lied governments voted for them two years ago in that the threat to deploy them would Stop the soviet is 20 buildup and then the new nato Force would be the difference goes even deeper than the proposed new missile in More and More doubt is heard about a fundamental of nato strategy that a soviet invasion of Western Europe would be met by a limited first use of nuclear Wear the latest sceptical note is a report published by the International Institute of strategic studies in Lon which Calls the idea of limited nuclear War a such differences Are too great to be covered Over for Long by any however the theatre nuclear Force talks Start 30 in if the United states does not move to Ward a position open to serious Nego Europe unease will surely make itself Felt again in Public opinion and in political the Reagan while it has now shown itself aware of european will not easily be moved toward agreement with officials who Deal with arms control questions in the administration Are men who for years have been critical of Western policy As too soft and Ameri can governments As too easily influenced by nervous is no Early Hope for serious arms negotiation there is still the possibility that the president having seen the need for arms will go on seeking the and his negotiator for the Geneva Paul for All his years As a leading is and intellectually engaged on the prob lems and just could commit himself to finding a realistic negotiating Frame new York times the return of aboriginal and women rights to the constitutional charter May have As Judy minister responsible for the status of women a Victory for Democrat but the fact that an unprecedented National lobbying Campaign was required to retrieve two aspects of Basic rights from bartering politicians shows the evils of Federal provincial Compro Mise As a Means to achieve a new Constitution and further underlines the dangerous weaknesses of the new Char no single politician involved in the process has survived with his credibility and after witnessing the Cavalier Way their rights were no single Canadian can have any Confidence in a charter with a legislative override or an amending formula per mitting provincial nip Leader de Broadbent ringing declaration last week that National Unity without National integrity is not would have carried considerably More conviction if he had thought of it before women and native people had to the nip with Drew support from the constitutional package following the supreme court ruling that it was Legal but offended Broadbent action helped Force the final Federal provincial con Ference which turned the charter of Frances Russell rights into a trite and toothless Docu even More reprehensible has been the conduct of conservative Leader Joe Clark has been the provincial errand boy for the past 18 he excoriated Federal unilateral action his adroit stalling tactics All last Winter and Spring were de signed to and succeeded in the provinces the time they needed to Stop As Clark must have the Chance to wreak havoc on the constitutional parliamentary oppositions have a duty to but they also have a responsibility to base their opposition on some consistency and Broadbent and Clark wanted Compro Mise Between and the prov they knew Compromise would have to come Over the entrenched charter of because that was always the biggest area of disagree they still appear More interested in defending provincial rights than the rights of but if Clark and Broadbent have tarnished their so too has prime minister Pierre canadians trusted the prime minister to keep Faith with never dreaming that he would put his rights charter on the auction their Faith was misplaced and the prime minister has again shown his distressing ability to Cave in under Trudeau May have been forced Back to the bargaining table by the supreme court and by the looming danger that his package would not get through he had another option besides submitting to provincial he could have stood by his briefly supported by Quebec Premier Rene to hold National referendums on the charter and the amending formula and sent the premiers referendums have Many but the dangers they pose Are infinitely preferable to the damage provincial Pride and Politi Cal horse trading has done to the coun try Constitution and during the five Day Ottawa Mara Thon earlier this Alberta pre Mier Peter Lougheed made a revealing statement to the Media which perhaps says it All about the desirability of referendums Over Compromise in constitutional shortly after Trudeau announced the stillborn Ottaw Quebec referendum an angry and shaken Lougheed said he fount referendums offensive and threatened to fight As strongly As i can in my province and Lougheed is a nation of unwittingly the Alberta Premier put his Finger on the Central malaise afflicting the whole constitutional Wran the premiers do not see Canada As a nation of people Are sub Ordi pawns to be used in winning Power Points with Lougheed prideful statement Sud Denly made a constitutional referendum not Only but the Constitution of Canada is an instrument for the people of it is not an ego trip for the reintroduction of women and native while is not the override provision and opting out feature empower doonesbury ing politicians to tamper with Funda mental ant discrimination provisions and Legal rights in to deny additional rights to their in a strange twist of the fears of those opposed to entrenched rights now have new legitimacy and it is better to leave rights unspecified and unwritten than to state them with a rider saying they can be taken the conduct of provinces to Date is a frightening indication that Legislatures will use their override Power not to expand rights or clarify but to limit and abridge As one commentator put the override clause is a five year renewable licence to Dis in a bitter speech to Quebec National Levesque described Trudeau As the most unscrupulous of carpet in an atmosphere that is especially reminiscent of a liquidation women rights were traded for the support of some of the most reactionary governments in the Western one of Canadas preeminent constitutional retired senator Eugene Likely spoke for Many canadians when he in a letter to the Globe and mail the amended charter of rights and freedoms just wont the provinces have shot it full of holes gaping holes the Accord has poisoned the if i were still in the i should have no Choice but to speak and vote against the entire ant than completing first 6rak on Tell tonight wed Uke to go work for Girbisi i just thought of something me Skib my bomb Okay to Call huh i t ;