European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 11, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 12 the stars and stripes Drew Middleton wednesday june 11. 1980 allies now question . Leadership of nato London the . Military leadership of the North Atlantic treaty organisation unquestioned until now. Is being Analysed critically by the defense ministries and commands of Manv of the Western european allies. Doubts about the direction of american military and political policy misgivings Over arms production potential and the Prospect that future crises in the Middle East and elsewhere will find the United Stales unprepared have contributed to this malaise. Professional soldiers civilian officials in defense and foreign ministries and influential experts in West Ger Many. Belgium. Prance and Britain express their concern. Because the United Stales is the most powerful member of the Alliance few wish to speak for the record but the uneasiness is there. An example was provided in a recent article by lord Chalfont a former minister of state at the foreign office who writes on defense matters for the times of London. In the United Stales he wrote a period of National neurosis character cd by a bizarre apprehension thai in is in some Way immoral and even dangerous to provide one self with an effective capacity for military action has led to a temporary paralysis of the result As he sees it is that even if Resolute action is now taken to restore the strategic balance there will be a period of great danger in inc late 1980s." the general criticism among officials especially those connected with intelligence and among military officers is that the United states has failed to grasp the consequences to International stability of the steady expansion of soviet nuclear and conventional military Power. Though the critics agree that no one can be expected to identify soviet intentions they say the United states has not recognized that the military buildup enhances the so Viet Union s ability to support political initiatives with displays of Power around the world. Beyond this general criticism lie specific complaints. The United Stales it is said provided no Clear Lead to its allies in dealing with the soviet intervention in Afghani Stan. To Many in Western Europe the seizure of the hos tages in Tehran was a military rather than a political crisis that should have been met immediately by determined action. A West German officer commented if you had pro claimed a state of War or tried to throw the iranians out of the United nations we would have understood applauded and cooperated. Instead you waited nearly six months before appealing to your friends for economic among military professionals criticism of the unsuccessful attempt to free the hostages in april is muted. No one has full information on the details of the operation although most arc experienced enough to assess the prospects for Success or failure in realistic language. From my Distant seat in the gallery a briton said it looks to me As though you did it too late and with too Little. Of course there May have been political considerations. But my experience has been that you never lose a Battle by being too there is a feeling of dismay Over the malfunctioning of three of the eight helicopters used in the operation. The feeling is that since every officer knows that helicopters arc delicate and vulnerable More should have been provided. With regard to the Protection of Western Europe considerable concern is evident among soldiers and airmen Over the trickle of modern weapons reaching the . Air Force and army formations there. Frequent joint exercises provide an Opportunity for the allies to learn the inadequacies of the american forces. Nor Are they encouraged by the shortage of transport planes required to move reinforcements in a crisis. Uncertainty about . Military policy is exacerbated by memories of the cancellation of plans for the Neutron bomb. Two socialist governments in Britain and in West Germany had taken the political risk of accepting the weapon Only to Sec in cancelled. Earlier the by bomber which Western european experts regarded As essential to the nuclear deterrent of the Atlantic Alliance was also cancelled. Furthermore there is a tendency especially evident in West Germany to criticize the Low standards of education among the american volunteers coming to Western Europe and to question the training procedures of the . Army and air Force. None of this criticism is directed at the officer corps. The Western europeans concede that its standards Are High and that in includes More officers with recent combat experience than any other. There is some belief thai the United states is beginning to emerge from the military doldrums of the last 10 Yean. Western european diplomats have been reporting a popu Lar movement in the United states toward a More powerful military posture. The professionals know however that there is a serious time lag Between the announcement of budget figures and their translation into planes ships tanks and guns. The first five years of this decade Are expected to be uneasy ones for the West for Many reasons. In Western Europe the uneasiness will be compounded by doubts about the ability of the United Stales to Lead in a military confrontation with the soviet Union. New York Tolmei George Europe views american presidential elections London while the British were preparing to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation May 26-Junc 4, 1940. Newspapers Here carried a photograph that eerily evoked an earlier War the War to end War. It showed sol Diers wearing Gas masks emerging like spectres from a fog of Gas. It could have been Flanders 1917. It was Wiltshire 1980. The event was reported As the first major realistic chemical warfare exercise organized by a nato in had belter not be the last. With saturation bombing of civilians the second world War pioneered new Dimen Sions in the of War. But there is this 10 be said for the second world War it did hold chemical warfare in Abe Yance. Even the nazis were deterred from using in. Bui today s soviet regime the Only regime directly descended without an institutional rupture from a regime Allied with nazi Germany in 1939 has shown in Afghanistan actions and Warsaw pact preparations Hal in is ready perhaps eager. To use its huge capacity for chemical and biological warfare. The Basic bad news about Europe is that the Eastern sky is darkening fast. The Good news such Asil is is that Many europeans Are becoming sensibly scared. The bad news from America As Many europeans inter pret it is that Ronald Reagan is unknown and Jimmy Carter in t. For Reagan the Good news from Europe is threefold first president Reagan if such he be. Comes will have an easy act to follow. Sec Ond he almost certainly will exceed Europe s expectations for him. Third he will find himself working with allies who in i hair Lucid moments know that they Divide their time Between deploring and emulating America s shortcomings. British confusion about the effective Date of Britain s sanctions against Iran moved the times of London to Thunder against the Thatcher government s car to Crisp a Low blow but a reminder Hal although the president s name is a euro Pean code word for confusion he has not quite cornered the Market on ineptitude there is in Europe today a rising tide of a policy is 15 \ Down the Loose talk about this fact american inconstancy is less an expression of Carter s incompetence than of an incurable weak Ness of the american political system so Europe May have to go in alone. But Hal phrase must Marl either neutralise which would mean soviet Hegemony or Europe s paying the Price for its own de sense. To most europeans both ideas Are repulsive. Given leadership from America the situation in Europe today could be encouraging. The three most important european leaders Britain s Thatcher. Germany s Schmidt and Italy s splendid Corsiga have a hard edged vision of the world that is much closer to Reagan s vision than Carter s. At least two of them arc reliably said to be privately pleased Hal Salt ii which they endorsed nato suffers from Loo much Public politeness is dead. Carter displayed his style As commander in chief when he ordered the aircraft Carrier Nimitz to make special haste Home so he could use it As a prop in a memorial Day Media event welcoming sailors Back from a voyage Hal involved 144 Days without Aport Call. For three years Carter has savaged he Navy even More than the other services. He has drastically slashed the number of ships and by using a veto to Block if Only temporarily. Congress desire to build another nuclear Carrier he did in bit to make sailors spend unreasonably Long stretches away from Home and so to make More sailors leave the Navy. In the Days immediately preceding that Media event. Carter showing the passion he reserves for the things he really cares about fought Congress attempt to enact a modest increase in defense spending. However when to cameras came aboard the Nimitz Carter suddenly discovered thai he supports a military pay in crease Hal he had strenuously opposed the week before but that was going to pass anyway. Such shabby charades Are being watched by a european political class which when it looks cast sees Iso soviet ss-20 missiles targeted against was twin Europe and an other ss-20 being deployed each week. If you seek the sources of the cynicism that nurtures neutralise in Europe you will find one Al 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. An aide to Giscard d Esling recently said Hal one of our problems in the West is Hal the military strength is in the United mates and the statesmen arc in no the West s problems Mem from the fact that there is not nearly enough of either commodity in either place. The poll the opinion exp retired in the column and or Loon on thit Page regret in Choia of the auth of and Ere in no Way to be considered at Reorg Tonlino int. A Wol the Start Ina us ism of the United so Over Ament
