European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 18, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes thursday september 18, 198b you be Goi to Campaign indoor so our "p0 it our Way amp is Promise to anpe8son in a later Debats the Sams As we promised to pe3at5 Kennel last Yaffar Tom Wicker stealth a lesson in creating a political Issue it looked like and probably was sheer politics when Ronald Reagan recently attacked the Carter administration for Dis closing information about the so called stealth bomber. Reagan at that Lime had himself on the ropes with a series of goofs and misstate ments and it s a fairly Standard if not particularly attractive Rule of politics to attack the other Guy when you re in trouble your self. But when Reagan accused president car Ter and defense Secretary Harold Brown of damaging National Security by officially acknowledging the stealth which is invisible to radar alarm systems the Republican nominee provided a textbook example of How to create a political Issue. Not Only did he shift Public attention from his own mistakes but the charge itself looks As if it May continue to haunt Carter and diminish Confidence in Brown. That does t mean that the Reagan charge which is vigorously denied by the administration is True. Even if the soviets have been Given information they did t have before neither Carter nor Brown necessarily knew that that would happen nor can even those who Are convinced that Secu Rity damage was done prove that the stealth information was made Public merely for cynical political purposes. But Trie Reagan Campaign obviously has got hold of something plausible enough for reasonable people to believe just As reasonable people believed John Kennedy s charge in 1960 that a missile Gap had opened Between the United Stales and the soviet Union. And Carter May find it As hard to disprove the Reagan charge As the republicans of i960 did Kennedy s which he was forced to repudiate immediately after his election. The analogy is Only slightly strained be cause americans seem always ready to be Lieve that the russians arc coming particularly that their government or the other political party or somebody through perfidy or stupidity must have played right into soviet hands. Carter the humbler who failed to gel that famous soviet combat brigade out of Cuba last year seems particularly vulnerable to this enduring senti ment hence to the Reagan charge. Gen. Brent scowcroft president Ford s National Security adviser and now a Surro Gate speaker for Reagan put that charge in its most effective form. He conceded that the official release of stealth data As Well As the unofficial leaks thai preceded it May not have Given the soviets any technical information they did not have. But hear Gued the official statement told them far George Mair More importantly where to concentrate their own resources to match what the administration proudly but probably unwisely had labelled As a breakthrough that Al ters the military balance  the stealth Case moreover is the second in a matter of weeks since the general election Campaign began in which the administration could be plausibly accused of turning vital military information to car Ter s selfish political purposes. The first came when word of presidential directive 59, supposedly altering the United states strategic nuclear doctrine was leaked to the new York times and the Washington Post equal j us be should apply to All citizens the idea of equal Justice under the Law is fundamental to the american Ideal. The theory is that each person is regarded equally by the rules of society unlike the special treatment Given certain classes of people in other less democratic countries of the world. Well it seems appropriate to look at the reality of thai fable once More if Only to understand better Why so Many of us arc cynical about the Law. In Philadelphia recently a policeman killed a Black teen Ager. The policeman has been indicted for murder and released on his own recognizance. Suppose a Black teen Ager were indicted for murdering a Philadelphia cop. What arc the Odds he would be released on his own recognizance 1 would guess somewhere Between nil and Zero. A few Days ago the new York police arrested a suspect in the brutal slaying of Helen Hagnes Mintiks the metropolitan opera violinist. The arrest of the suspect was the result of on enormous investigation by the new York police department during which they questioned 1,000 people in new York and Washington . About the murder soon after the murder of Mantilu. In old Man was beaten to death in new York s Central Park while some 20 bystanders watched. Would anybody like to take Buls Aslo How Many people have been questioned and How Many police arc working on the solution of this particularly cruel and brutal murder i nun i us yes i know some of you will say i am naive to believe that the rights of a Black teen Amer or an old Man Are As important As those of other people. I admit to it. Thai s because believe it to be True even if those in Power do nol. Clause i 1c lot an Stltt Elf my obviously from official administration sources. These leaks moved sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan d-n.y., to Wax Wroth on the Senate floor As to Why we must read a leaked Story about this important military decision have the persons involved so Little sense of the processes of democracy that they would not bring this matter to us in the Congress ask that it be considered on its merits expect it to be debated in fact both stories carried suggestion that the supposed change in doctrine which after further examination does not seem so far reaching As then suggested might have been leaked at that time to counter Republican charges that the Carter administration had neglected the nation s defences and allowed inc so girls to forge ahead in nuclear weaponry. These charges arc based however loosely on the facts that Carter cancelled the by bomber the Neutron bomb and a nuclear aircraft Carrier and As republicans read the numbers reduced defense spending. And that is what gives real plausibility to the idea that the president might have leaked word of a tougher nuclear strategy and published information about a Glamor Ous military breakthrough for political purposes. How better to prove the republicans wrong at whatever Cost to National Security further credence to such charges derives from Carier s obvious willingness to use his office for political purposes not an uncommon characteristic of presidents. Was t it he who announced Early on the morning of the Wisconsin primary that there was Good news about inc hostages in Iran and did t he deftly turn the plight of the hostages to his political advantage Dur ing most of the primary season indeed he did which is not the least reason Why the airspace Over the White House is speckled these Days with chickens coming Home to Roost. O new Yolk to not