European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Poge 12 the stars and stripes James Reston monday june 27, 1977 resilience of polish people is truly admirable for anybody who doubts the Tough Ness of the human race the polish people once More provide an enduring answer. No disaster of the past or anxiety about the present or future seems to erode their National Faith and character. Caught in a political and economic squeeze Between the russians in the knit and the Bankers in the West they not Only keep going but Are no the youngest and fastest growing nation in  most remarkable fact about them is that they now have a larger population than they had before the terrible Battles massacres and pogroms that virtually decimated their jewish population and reduced them from Over 34 million in 1939 to under 24 million in the census of 1946.there is something heroic but potentially tragic in this polish struggle for Independence. Their blood tells them that they must grow to live their common sense tells them that they must somehow come to terms with the geography and ideology of the soviet Union their courage tells them that they can somehow reconcile themselves with the communist and capitalist worlds without being dominated byc Ither. But the most astonishing of these is the first that in 30 years a new generation of poles has replaced and outnumbered the dead. Over a fifth of Poland s population was killed in the second world War. And while it gained German territory in the West Thad a net loss of about one fourth of its land As a result of losses to the soviets in the cast. Nevertheless. Edward Gierick the 63-year-old first Secretary of the polish United communist party said in a Pri vate interview in Warsaw that the latest official figures indicate that land s population is now Over 35  people keep rescuing the past and struggling to maintain their Independent links to the roman Catholic Church. Over half of their Trade is with the non communist countries and Gierek has plans to in crease Poland s official Commerce wit International Harvester and other Large Western multinational companies. Bombs away George f. Will Carter should Back by production  months ago when Jimm Carter s most urgent task was to energize the liberals who energize democratic campaigns he said what they wanted to hear that the i bomber should not be  two Days before the election he said in Oklahoma i where tinker air base would serve the bit. I am not opposed tothe  and he wired a California official of the United Auto workers Union which includes aerospace workers that no final decision will be made until a review of flight tests and All other  candidate. Carter treated defense issues As cavalierly As candidates usually do. As command Erin chief. He has acquired responsibilities and information and he May. And certainly should decide for by production. Today bombers Are delivery vehicle for about half the . Nuclear Force. . Missiles arc Small in size and number relative to the soviet Union s. But the b52 Fleet is about a Quarter Century old and has been out of production for years. Some flight Crews arc younger than their planes one Pilot Lias flown the plane his father flew. B52s. Originally designed in 1948. Were intended for High Altitude operations. But since the development of High Altitude soviet antiaircraft missiles demonstrated in i960, when the l 2 was shot downbs2s have been flown frequently at Low Levels where Wear and tear Are  and improving soviet air defences mean that the usefulness of the b52 is de Clining. So if Carter killed the by he would be amputating one leg of the triad themis of land based missiles submarine based missiles and bombers that has been the basis of the . Deterrent. He would be imprudent to restrict himself and his successors to a deterrent based exclusively on ballistic  soviet Union is building a modern bomber backfire. And the soviet Union is rapidly increasing the number and accuracy of its missile warheads thereby approaching the ability to launch a potentially disarming strike against .land-based forces including b52s on the ground thus the by is urgently needed As a stabilizing weapon. The by could be dispersed to thousands of airfields. Its acceleration gives it a remarkable Safe escape time the Tim required after an attack is launched to Fly a Safe distance before a nuclear blast destroys its air base. So a by Fleet would vastly complicate the problem for soviet argetes told to design a disarming first strike against the . Deterrent. A strategic weapon must not Only Beable to survive attack it also must be Able to penetrate enemy defences. The by i twice As fast and Only two thirds the size of the b52 it carries twice the b52 payload and can carry it As Low As 200 feet below soviet  makes bombers indispensable is that they Are. As one expert says slow to take  missiles with their pre programmed guidance systems can not be tentatively launched or recalled. Bombers can be put in the air to show resolve an thereby influence soviet behaviour in a crisis. They extend a president s control Over crises by giving him flexibility of response. The by is expensive. Tie american federation of state county and municipal employees has run ads saying in effect that funds for the by should be spent in Stead on state county and municipal employees. Unfortunately. Soviet strategic spending has increased four per cent Annu ally since 1964. Us. Strategic spending measured in constant dollars declined an average of eight per cent annually between1961 and fiscal 1975 the by would Force the soviet Union to divert substantial re sources from offensive to defensive Pur poses. As an alternative to the by. Some opponents suggest modernizing b52s so they could stand off from soviet air defens Sand launch cruise missiles. But this would Cost a substantial fraction of what a mod Erate by program would Cost and would produce slow vulnerable air planes. Undoubtedly. Carter is tempted to kill the by in order to rekindle the affection of his critics to the left. As they so often do. They have reduced a Complex Issue to symbolic test of virtue. But if strategic rather than political considerations pre Vail. By production will begin. He obviously has his economic and psychological problems at Home and  s debt in Western countries now runs to about $12 billion with an annual in Terest rate of about $2.5 billion he has not regained All the popularity he enjoyed before the uprising against his Steep Foo prices last year. The birthrate though it is Down from a High of 19.5 per thousand in1953 to Between 8 and 9 per thousand now has caused a severe housing shortage which even with the most urgent measures cannot be wholly resolved until the end of the next five year plan in 1985. With these Domestic problems As his first priority. Gierek is obviously not eager to say very much about the current Contro Versy Between the . And the soviet Union Over detente and human rights. The last thing he needs at this Point is tension Between Washington and  Speaks warmly of his visit to the . Last year and particularly of president Ford s Courtesy and cooperation at that time but he docs not criticize the objectives of the Carter human rights program. Poland is concerned with the individual and particularly with strengthening the family he says. His own Mother he notes is a practising roman Catholic and he insists that his regime does not interfere with the Church or with the militant ser Mons or letters of Cardinal  the problem he says is to get agreement Between the . And the user on the widest possible definition of  for example he suggests the first imperative human right is the right Tolive and this Means the avoidance of a third world War which would probably Endall human rights and even All human life. Also in an indication of what the communist line will be at the Belgrade review of the Helsinki human rights principles he adds that a decent Job for everybody plus free duration and medical care must be added to the Catalon of such rights As free Dom of emigration travel information an religion. Gierek would not compare the political Independence of Poland with other states in the Warsaw pact nor did he worry to much about the present state of detente be tween Washington and Moscow he  of a few Radical incidents he observed relations Between the major nuclear Powers were going along about As before. He noted that in the latest poll he had read about Public opinion in the .,"a bout 90 per cent of those polled were favourable to detente and if a similar poll were taken in Poland he added the percentage would be even higher. Gierick prides himself on being in touch with the polish workers who were the main opposition in the economic demonstrations against him last year. He also feels that he has some understanding of people in the West since he emigrate with his family to France when he was 10 years old. Joined the communist party of France in 1931 and was deported to Poland after a minor strike in 1934. Thereafter he spent the world War ii years in the belgian communist resistance movement and is confident that the East and West of Europe can eventually find ways to coexist with the . And the soviet Union. All poles have to be optimists he concludes and to a visitor who first saw Warsaw in 1946 when it had virtually been devastated Block by Block in the German and russian Battles it is easy to under stand Why. What is harder to understand is How this vibrant Community of Warsaw has not Only been restored to the Pride of the famous old City but How a new generation has brought Poland through All these War an postwar troubles and come into the end of the seventies with the largest population inthe nation s thousand year history. U new vote times the Opin ont i prot de in the it Tumu and cartoon Ami y.i9i i Picur t Mescal in Dut Normand Art in new 12 0 conv dered to rep a m8 the i we of to  me  so alms