Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 1, 1985, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press May 1985 Page 7 n in Weinberger letter causes controversy by David Macdonald the letter published on this Page today is the one that caused Exter Nal affairs minister Joe Clark some that enraged some european senior civil ser vants and that has put prime minister Brian Mulroney on the spot and that has been withheld from the Canadian people by his Weinberger sent the same letter to All nato defence he also sent it to the defence ministers of Australia and Joe Clark was temporarily discomfited because he had neither seen the letter nor been advised of its existence by Erik Nielsen when asked by reporters if Canada had been invited to join in Star wars he denied any such invitation then had to retract his denial after and let him into the Mulroney has expressed reservations about Canadian participation in Star wars research and has appointed a senior civil servant to examine the Issue and make recommendations to the european nato governments were displeased by the peremptory 60day deadline for responses that Weinberger after it became Clear that this 60day deadline had been cleared with nobody in Washington outside the Hasty moves were made to drop amazement and anger in the state department and the White House swiftly followed news of ruffled Feath ers in who him self had begun downplaying the deadline while talking to reporters on his plane Home from the nato de Fence ministers meeting in Luxem got Salty Telephone Calls from the White House staff and from the state department As soon As he got he quickly wrote to Nielsen and All other recipients of the inviting them not to take his deadline too the letter asks Canadas govern ment to say whether it wants to become involved in reagans billion five year research program into the feasibility of a space based missile his idea is to use several existing and theoretical technologies to de stroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles icbms and sub Marine launched ballistic missiles slams just after they Are while they Are travel Ling through or after they reenter the earths because Canada is next to the United the space umbrella would protect this there has been controversy in Europe about the perception that ski would provide a kind of Astrodome Protection for North Leav ing Europe this perception May explain Weinberger reference to the look ing into technologies with Poten tial against Shorter Range ballistic which might mean the soviet ss5 and ss20 missiles that threaten Western another possible is that the Point Here will be to find some Protection against the threat to the United states posed by ballistic missiles fired in a depressed trajectory from submarines lurking off the East and West ski does not include Protection from such As it does not protect against manned Strate Gic bombers and soviet cruise mis these close in submarines pose a grave especially to b52 bomber bases and to the arrange ments for command and control of nuclear the warning time before Impact of such missiles on targets like the White the the presidents airborne command Post aircraft while it is still on the ground and certain secret bases for controlling retaliatory capability is less than ten this soviet capability to decapitate military and political leadership within minutes of the opening of hostilities Means that ski alone would not make the United states Weinberger letter also addresses an aspect of Star wars that deeply worries the Canadian government the potential effect on the anti ballistic missile abm trea the abm treaty was signed in 1972 by soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev and president Richard signed As part of the first strategic arms limitation talks Salt it is a perpetual subject to review every five years with a provision for unilateral withdrawal on six months notice Only if extraordinary events Are deemed by either superpower to have jeopardized its supreme in it was designed to Stop research by both sides into possible Protection from icbms and both sides agreed that this line of re search could Only upset nuclear stability because the very perception by one Side that the other was on the verge of creating an invincible shield against nuclear missiles could Lead to a decision to launch a preemptive strike on the Useem Orl seem ski seems to raise this spectre also seeming to pose prob lems about How to pursue it while respecting the abm pre this explains Wein bergers reference in the letter to carrying out ski research consistent with our existing International obligations including the abm in the next Weinberger addresses the Central question about the abm treaty by saying that the United states is ready to undertake cooperative research programs with Canada and other invited countries on data and technology Short of abm component the reason that he mentions abm components is that article in of the treaty states to assure the viability and effectiveness of this each party undertakes not to Transfer to other and not to deploy outside its National Terri abm systems or their components limited by this agreed statement g attached to the treaty reinforces this Point by saying the parties understand that article 9 of the treaty includes the obligation of the and the not to provide to other states technical descriptions or blueprints specially worked out for the construction of abm systems and their components limited by the however specifically this May seem to the Layman to restrict severely what Canada could properly be told of the Workings of this new abm system in the experts in the Pentagon and elsewhere Are saying that these definitions Are they say that a component and a blueprint May mean different things to different the second last paragraph in the letter refers to possible meetings and briefings in Washington for Ca Nadian government scientific and technical these meetings will take place in an office Block in downtown Washington on a Street within a Short walking Dis Tance of the White the building has1 been commandeered by the Pentagon As its Cen trial location for coordinating re search programs on the strategic defence civilian and Mil itary Pentagon employees move through its corridors clutching fold ers stamped secret As they pass in and out of offices supervising re search into kinetic Energy direct Energy particle laser reflecting Battle management computers and icbms Niff ing classified and unclassified briefings Are being Given at a brisk Pace in this building to those who either May take part in Star wars research or who May have influence on the text of letter inviting Canada to Star wars following is the text of the letter sent by defence Secretary Ca spar Weinberger to defence minis Ter Erik Nielsen in giving Canada 60 Days to express interest in taking part in president Ronald reagans strategic defence Initia a department of National de Fence spokesman refused to make a copy of it available and told the free press that there Are no plans to divulge the contents of this letter to the Canadian d d d in the period since president Reagan introduced his vision for strategic defence initiative Many of our allies have informally expressed an interest in participating in this research at the same some of our friends have sought clarification of our policy and attitude toward such i am writing to you today both to make Clear my governments views on this important subject and to begin a direct dialogue with you As you the purpose of the ski is to determine whether there arc cos effective defensive techno Logies that could enhance deter rence and increase be cause our Security is inextricably linked to that of our friends and we will work closely Over the next several years with our allies to ensure in the event of any future decision to deploy defensive systems a decision in which consultation with our allies would play an important As Well As Security against aggression would been the ski pro Gram will not confine itself solely to an exploitation of technologies with potential against icbms and but will also carefully examine technologies with Poten tial against Shorter Range ballistic in the with our International obligations including the abm proceed with cooperative research with the allies in areas of technology that could contribute to the ski research pursuant to this the is permitted and is prepared to undertake such cooperative programs on data and technology Short of abm component level As May be mutually agreed with Allied if your nation is interested in exploring possible cooperative efforts or i would As a first that you Send within 60 an indication of your in participating the ski research program and the areas of your country research excellence that you deem most promising for this in order to provide a More comprehensive basis for your assessment of pertinent capabilities and to help expedite the the is prepared to arrange meetings in Washington so that your govern ments scientific technical representatives May receive detailed briefings on the ski program Dur ing this we would expect to give your response prompt consideration with a View to initiating As appropriate bilateral discussions on specific areas and arrangements for Weinberger letter to defence ministers embarrassed Joe Clark and angered the Western european prone nip adds to its own problems Henry Morgentaler sets up abortion clinics in Winnipeg and the Toronto clinic is treated by both sides of the Contro Versy As an Issue for the Law and the the Winnipeg clinic becomes a Politi Cal the list goes on the salaries paid to Crown corporation Heads and ministerial the Flag burning episode in Early the yearlong tumult Over the French despite a concerted strategy to avoid Contro Versy outlined in a Cabinet document of sep the nip administration of Howard Pawley is in perennial hot its generally credible economic performance is overshadowed by a series of sensation emotional issues that exploit Public prejudices and stereotypes about the nip that it is morally anti Ameri spendthrift and so part of the Dps problem is it is Accident prone and incapable of political damage no one in Cabinet has the political skill to defuse the if the governments attempts to defend itself merely fan the on top of the Dps own ineptitude is another a situation which makes it inherently More political parties which stand for change Lack backing from society precisely because they symbolize they have greater difficulty carrying it University of Winnipeg political scientist Allen Mills says the nip is an it has no influential it is always More difficult to make change than to preserve the status Mills the legitimacy of a government making change is always less than that of one preserving the status the formulation of Public opinion is weighted Frances Russell heavily against those who wish to Mills it comes Down to the Power of elites in society and the Way Public opinion is elites have immediate Access to the mass there is Little social Cost associated with criticizing a party like the Mills says one Doest have to believe in the conspiracy theory to recognize that the people who control the levers of communication Are relatively few in number and tend to reflect the attitudes of other elites such As the business Mills says a Centre right party which com mits itself to Reform can frequently accomplish More than a party like the nip whose very holding of office is viewed with suspicion in Many powerful you can do if you Are conservative or Liberal than if you Are without the most reformist government this province has had was the tory administration of Duff Roblin in the it accomplished More structural change in provincial society than even the Schreyer the Mills is that a reformist mainstream government Doest have to Deal with the constant niggling it has the Lon term support of the who will turn a Blind Eye to these events or simply not see them As Politi the nip has no such credit at the issues that would Bewer looked or not even associated with other governments Are its Mills says this situation finds its apotheosis in Manitoba right the conservative opposition has been especially opportunistic and since its defeat in practice the politics of revenge and it has stayed away from substantive issues and has been pre pared to use everything sensational it could get its hands on to Batter the for its the nip is particularly unable to Deal with the tories several issues which have such As the French language and have exposed the incoherence of the Dps coalition in this province and left the party splayed All Over the the party stayed together during the Schreyer years because its coalition is United on economic but on social it contains elements of both the extreme left and the extreme Many of the party traditional supporters from the provinces working class and ethnic mosaic have no sympathy whatever with bilingualism or the tories know this Achilles in an amazingly Frank admission during a recent cd ctr interview last former Deputy tory Leader Bud Sherman admitted his party pitched Battle against French Lan Guage which climaxed with 263 hours of Bell ringing paralysing the was just As Mills the nip now lacks what it enjoyed under de Schreyer a popu Lar Leader whose Appeal reached Well beyond his party and an accomplished parliamentarian like Sid Green who not Only was Able to meet the oppositions challenges in the legislature but was capable of intellectual de no one in the current government has a Reservoir of Public support and an ability to Appeal to a wider constituency in the prov this government seems to have created a sense of itself so that people dont want to be Nice to it people dont particularly want to defend Mills there Are two exceptions that prove Mills an nip government can charge user fees for health services with Little but that is Likely because the influential favor the the nip has one powerful organized but since labor has Low Public Credi Bil that Alliance is More of a problem than a solution for the doonesbury by Garry Trudeau moments before White House image maker Mike ninth and final of reagans Schup in so Parup 0y having Honor nazi Asue have put a Balanow package of his final assignment Peaver is his attention to soliciting business his new f Click ;