European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 05, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and is flies saturday october 5. 1985 columns comments William Safire ten tips on weathering the Greenpeace tempest As so Monk who was certain in 1973 that Waitt me would blow Over. Inow offer Ranee \ president Francois Mitterrand this list of 10 ways to ride Mil the storm i disabuse yourself of the Assumption that watergate cannot happen for years we heard frenchmen say thai Richard Nixon s transgressions would Rale no More Ihan a shrug in National Security conscious France. Hut when venality can bind with stupidity hits Home in Hils hard and its Impact could dislodge u president in Paris As Well As washing Tun. 2. Remember that for the chief of stale the cover up is always worse than the crime. No prior knowledge of the original crime did not help president Nixon and it will not help you. Concern yourself with bringing High level culprits to Justice lest criminality in protecting them touches you. 3. Stop minimizing inc original crime. That Only focuses More attention on the cover up instead get furious at the Origi Nal attack on the Rainbow Warrior. Cut out this absurd crime nonsense which smacks of he nuo Nian third talc Bur Glary misconception. Let others talk cynically of the humiliation of being caught demonstrate that you under stand what is really shameful and be come incensed at the moral blindness of the bomb plotters. 4. Gel ready to accurately answer the question who ordered the Mission what did Francois Mitterrand know and when did he know it if you and your closest government advisers were not involved be prepared to struggle with the French military part of which w As in Ellen Goodman vol cd in an act that cannot be sanctioned by the state. Remember president do Gaulle s admonition to the generals you arc not the army s army you arc France s if you knew of the plot beforehand and hold be Pistoll Fumall the smoking gun absolve the Mili tary in a Farewell address 5. Resist the temptation to Label inc juror a plot by the anti nuclear rites to bring you Down or a scheme by right Wing generals to Embarrass your govern ment by deliberately blundering. Nixon nits tried blaming the democrats for setting us up at the watergate break in and nobody believed it. That counterattack Only adds to the blood lust of the All a Kors. 6. Resign yourself to a dramatic trial of your agents in new zealand in novem Ber followed by the interminable parliamentary inquiry. It suits both rightists and communists to drag this Oul disc cd Iling you. Do nol show weakness by complaining of groveling in 7. Do nol alack the Media too Early. Now is the heyday of Long repressed French journalism with everyone on inc right Oul to catch up with be Monde. You must allow the Media their Day of glory Lime enough Laler to make them the villains. Remember inc rhythm inter est fever hysteria boredom backlash. 8. Do not blame people for demanding the do thous details of High level scandal. It is omy human for inc French to want to know Csc Ryling from inc ordeal of Cape. Dominique Prieur in her new Zea land Tell. I the b Ibik of the investigator Bernard Tricot to the loss of Admiral Lacostic s Chemise. Books and movies arc yet to come with intimate details thai will curl your hair As pols and spooks learn to sell rights to wrongs. 9. Do not make All your spooks your scapegoats. Your unfortunate purge of rightists in the secret service like our own halloween massacre removed much experienced Talent but French Intelli Kencec is nol a pack of bumbling dirty tricksters. Nol Only did they recently uncover inc Kab document detailing the theft of technology from the Wisl. But it ivies the French nol the British As re ported Here who this year tipped off the United Stales that the typewriters in our Moscow embassy were wired to transmit our most secret communications to inc Kab. Don l run Down your Good agents. 10. Suffer with Pride. Only democracies have consciences. Dictatorships Are nol embarrassed at revelations of abuses of government Power. The russians rape Afghanistan Syria ra7.es Hama Libya murders dissidents abroad with no Sens of shame. But the United Stales forces Oul a president Over the cover up of a break in Israel punishes itself for indirect responsibility of a massacre of moslem by christians and France s Public first becomes aroused at bungling and then the free world Hopes More honorable angered at the murderous excess of Force used by its government in suppressing Dis sent. These May be terrible times at Elysee Palace but this can turn Oul to be a great moment to be a citizen of France. To new York times Lef s have All out propaganda War with soviets i think i m beginning to enjoy this International Campaign. When the time Maga inc interview Wilh Mikhail Gorba Chev came out. I got the distinct impression thai i was smack in the Middle of a fall election season. There was the soviet Gorbachev meet ing the Media. There was the american Reagan asking through his spokesman for equal Access to a . Reader. Alas there is no fairness doctrine for International news reporting nor a trans Atlantic league of women voters Losel up a debate. But both men were geared to a november dateline a Summit that is looking less like a meeting and More like a Competition for the title of most Trust worthy sup Reader. Ladies and gentlemen of the world which Man wears the White hat As an american partisan with tics that go Back several generations i was disappointed u Sec the Luster our Side lacked. In this geopolitical mane vering. Reagan looks worse than he did in the first debate Wilh Mondale. 1 am beginning to wonder whether he should do this Summit live or on tape. As a Cili in of inc world i am relieved Praise the lord and pass up the air raid shelter that both of these men competing for the prize have Al least gotten the Point. The most popular Issue Wilh the voters is peace. By the end of the week the Campaign had regressed to Mutual threats but 1 liked the strategy outlined in my favorite paragraph in the time interview Gorbachev invited us to heal up the propaganda War if All that we arc doing is indeed viewed As Mere propaganda Why not respond to in according to the principle of an Eye for an Eye and a Loolah for a tools we have stopped nuclear explosions. Then you americans could take revenge by doing likewise. You could Deal us yet another propaganda blow. And we would respond and soon and so it is this notion of an escalating out of Shrol propaganda race that we should encourage. In fact i would like to pass on one propaganda blow for the use of my old Nom team Why not an International space program i am not talking about two sided Star the president s defense plan is so far fetched that physicist Kosta Tsipis sits around at lunch with his Mit students creating new counter measures to i Harl the magic one of inc favourites is a mass of mylar balloons i am talking rather about the joint soviet american space venture that has been bandied about since we sent inc first ships into orbit carrying hags. We tend to think of join space trips As utopian plans to embark upon at the end of the arms race. Bui Iacre arc people among them Dan Scudney a Man who fits the profile of an idealist Princeton graduate Slu Donl Wilh lop Sider who strongly maintain that such a program could pre which Kadar is a profession cede rather than follow improved relations Between the two superpowers. As a former arms control researcher and fellow of the world policy Institute dead nay made a Case for the space venture at the re cell Boston round Abl discussion on peace. The attractions he listed were obvious. Joint Enterprise can dilute the Atmo sphere of Mutual mistrust we have a Chance to use technology for something Cre alive instead of destructive. The arms control process is basically negative two countries must agree not to do something but this is essentially Posi Tive. Moreover both leaders have enough control Over space programs to gear up such a venture quickly without confronting entrenched military establish mints. There is a special constituency and allure to space it crosses frontiers and ideologies. As Scudney says the symbolic minor Lance of the space program to the United Stales and the ., transcends Politi Cal or economic Bolh countries have used space As symbols of their future Promise. We have to do More in space than create symbols. Scudney collected and Ihnn offered a Range of plans. First there arc the space Lack plans trips to the Moon and Mars building an asteroid log Lucr. Then Uherc arc inc plans for ecological Monitor ing of Earth from above producing data on atmosphere oceans and even verifying arms control. None of this is particularly far fetched. Certainly not compared to Star there is what Scudney describes in a Low key fashion As a conceptual we have to believe thai we can do something with the soviets. La Boston global Waihung in Povl
