European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1969, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 11, 1969 the stars and stripes Page 9 Flora Lewis Cuba May help end hijacking the . And Cuba on sitting Down at an unpublicized meet ing in an Effort to end Airliner hijacking to Havana by making it a certain round trip to jail. The meeting in Montreal if of the subcommittee of the Legal committee of the International civil aviation organization. That s no confrontation but it is a place where american and cuban representatives can talk about a problem that has be come a headache for both. There in t any International Law on hijacking though it has been going on for some time and in every Region of the world. But where it used to be a pimple on the face of International re lations now it has become a rash. The Box score of planes hijacked to Cuba or of foiled at tempts since the beginning of 1961 shows How the disease has spread. In the seven years from 1961-1967, the total was 12. In 1968, the total was 28. In Janu Ary 1969, alone the total was 12, including colombian ecuadorian and peruvian planes As Well As american Craft. Back in 1961, Castro offered to negotiate an agreement to re turn not Only planes passengers and cargo but also the hijackers in order that there May be imposed upon them the correspond ing  that was in a cuban note sent to the . On aug. 11, 1961, through the Swiss embassy which represents american interests in Havana. The . Never answered the note. The cubans Aren t pressing now and might not answer if the . Made a Carbon copy of their proposal and sent it Back. After All As a spokesman of the cuban delegation at the . Put it the traffic was All in the other direction in those  still there is evidence that Castro does t like the epidemic either and might be willing to do something about it in an appropriate forum. Whenever the . Alerts Havana that a plane is coming the cubans make All the arrangements for a Safe land ing and they have been cooperative in returning everything and everybody except the hijackers. That is the rub of course be cause the one effective Way to Stop hijacking would be routine return of the runaways to face trial. Over the years five have been sent Back one Way or an other. Willis Jessie a . Army deserter who forced a charter Pilot to take him and his Small daughter to Havana last aug. 4, was returned by the cubans at his request on Jan. 11. He said he was kept in jail in Cuba and never understood Why and that he decided to come Back be cause he did t want his Daugh Ter to grow up there. He faces trial in the . Whether or not they Are imprisoned in Cuba the hijackers All seem to be interrogated at length and detained for some time. Clearly Castro does t Trust them. Why should he it s easy to get to Havana legally on regular flights from Mexico Spain and Czechoslovakia. Nor has the Havana regime used the Hijacker As propaganda trumpets. They Aren t treated As heroes. As far As the . Knows Havana has never arranged for a plane to be hijacked. So there is a Chance that at least something can be done to Stop it. There is an International convention outlawing hijacking signed in Tokyo in 1963. Both the . And Cuba signed but neither hat ratified it and it has t come into effect. Former president Johnson got around to sending the treaty to the Senate for ratification last september. It is still sitting in the foreign relations committee. Furthermore the Tokyo pact has a big loophole in making no provision for the return or punishment of hijackers. The . Will propose an amendment to plug the Gap. Cuba s reaction will show whether there is really a Chance at agreement though Havana can t be expected to con Sider it a More urgent matter than Washington which has t yet acted six years after the treaty was signed. American foot dragging in t entirely mindless. There is a problem of defining who is a Hijacker and who is a refugee and if Washington s definition is based on which direction they re running then Havana will do the same in reverse. The . Would have to give up gloating Wel comes to All who Force a plane or boat to land Here. Safe air transport for ail coun tries is too important for Tempo Rary political advantage to de cide policies and As the Havana flight log shows the tide can turn. With Luck both Washington and Havana will help to the needed International i a w this year. Then if both enforce it piratical Joy Riding will Stop. To get to Havana you la have to buy a ticket or count on a Quick round trip with a Landing in jail. C 1969, new Day inc. Below Olympus by Interlandi 3 Days dispels doubt the critical returns Are still coming in on the publication of "13 Days sen. Robert f. Kennedy s absorbing inside account of the cuban missile crisis and some of the reactions especially by other government participants have raised provocative questions. Former tary of Secre state Clayton Fritchey Why Don t you give him a Chance Ernest Cuneo Dean Acheson and the former commandant of the Marine corps Gen. David Shoup have openly questioned some of the facts and conclusions in the Book. Other insiders have done so privately. Without going into the merits of the discussion it can be said that history for once will not Lack a comprehensive extremely detailed insight into what happened at the Apex of the government while the world teetered on the Brink of nuclear War. So much has been told that some wonder whether in fact too much has not been told. In Short has not this extended in Side discussion of the 1962 crisis Given significant information to the Kremlin As Well As to the american Public the answer is yes it has and on balance we should be glad of it. Much of the information had in any Case already informally surfaced As was inevitable in a free country with a free press. The advantage of now having an authoritative account is that the russian leaders no longer need to argue among themselves Over whether they were right or wrong in betting that the . Meant business.  they know beyond any doubt that America would have gone to War if Khrushchev and miscalculated and wrongly diagnosed the Kennedy blockade As merely a Bluff. For the Sake of future guid Ance in judging american re solve it is to be hoped that the men in the Kremlin will not Only read "13 Days but read it care fully for it illuminates the proc esses of the , government in crisis. We see there were differences Over whether to bomb Nixon labor leaders Cool it no great strikes Are on the horizon. In the first place none of the Basic contracts embracing Teel automobile or trucking expire this year. The relationship Between the labor department and the unions if excellent. President Nixon and  Leader George Meany have known each other for a Long time of Ftp have spoken since the inauguration but nothing of highest level was discussed for the simple reason that nothing of a highly critical nature in Pend. Arthur Goldberg tilt Humphrey Mugue manager in new York observe during the aim Palgon that the election of or. Nixon did not portend the end of the world. It was a statement that labor in expressing its preference for vice president Humphrey was not voicing a Funda mental hostility to or. Nixon. Inadvertently organized la Bor was a Factor in the election of the president. The tremendous last week Effort of organised la Bor is credited with swinging Many votes from George Wallace. However Many switched to or. Nixon instead of or. Humphrey. Labor made few conver Sions among or. Nixon s follow a. Indeed there it respectable opinion among politicians that bad not labor Cut to heavily in to the Wallace forces with the unexpected switch to or Nixon or. Humphrey might Well have car ried the Border states and pos Sibly the election. The principal labor problem is not on the surface. The fact of the matter is the preceding administrations As Well As the business Community were deeply concerned about the advancing age of the leadership of Ameri can labor. There has been rising concern privately expressed in govern ment circles that most Large unions do not train and provide for the continuity of skilled leadership at do All the Large Cor Perario. Most of the country s senior labor Leader Are Well past 60. Though they approximate my ancients none Are talking about retirement. This tends toward stability in the immediately foreseeable future. One National labor Leader observed the principal note struck by president Nixon is Cool it1 " he added thoughtfully we think that s what the country want and it is certainly what we want. It would be foolish to believe that there won t be prob lems or that we Are in full rap port already. We Are groping for each other but not to come to grips. To Are trying to Grope Forward  Tat to raft Ametti Ngwu Wiki a Munct the Epin tem a Ned Fth column Ltd to Troon of a p�8 rear Ento of the it a m0 a in no Wayto he pm saw new i noting to vow of the i and Ttripi it a or of the United 8ut government. Invade or blockade Cuba but there was no serious argument Over responding to the Chal Lenge come what May. This information ought to strengthen the hand of the moderates in the Kremlin who sided with Khrushchev in pulling the missiles out of Cuba Al though at the time they could not be sure they were not being bluffed out. Now they know they made the right decision. It should also reduce russian fears or alleged fears that the military is certain to take Over in a . Crisis. The civilian Lead ers we see were in control All the Way and firmly beat Down Pentagon pressure for Swift and violent action. Finally the exhaustive deliberations that Are reported in the Kennedy Book ought to convince the Kremlin that the . Has a healthy re Spect for Russia and is anxious to avoid unnecessary confrontations. There Are some valuable Les sons for America too in these revelations the Foremost being not to act in haste. If we had had to make a decision in 24 hours Robert Kennedy wrote i believe the course that we ultimately would have taken would have been quite different and filled with greater  Acheson disagreed. He was impatient with the week Long conferences he attended with the president s inner Circle of advis ers. He favored prompt bombing of the missile Sites confident the russians would not react. According to Acheson president Kennedy feared the bombing would trigger a spasmodic re flex nuclear attack against the . 01 against say american nuclear weapons in  in any Case Kennedy chose As a first step the slower less drastic blockade and in so doing gave the Kremlin As Well As the . Some badly needed time in which to Man Euver. It worked. Luck said Acheson wisely adding that in foreign affairs. Tuck is