European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 28, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes monday. October 28. 1985 Mary Mcgrory Asp a s conc fuck infuriated democratic colleagues the ski priv. W a extraordinary. Some called it shinny cities Rulaf. To was an encounter on sept. 5 in the Hill working office of House speaker Thomas p. O Neill jr., who could have said. I told you so to the outraged participants but did not. The topic at hand was the conduct of rep Asp 0-wis. Chairman of the House armed sen ices c a Nimiller. In the Louse Senate conference on the he. Defense author Alum Bill. Although the House vied in july by a wide margin to hold Pentagon spending to s2 2 billion and Loim pose strict new rules on procurement the House conferees had collapsed on everything added Sio billion to the total sabotaged the Reform. Democrats and not Jusi liberals were furious furious with Aspin Lor caving in in the Senate furious with them secs Lor supported him or he had promised to kill the my missile and then led the fight for h Mure. The Erc Crimson with Embarrass ment for letting the Issue of Pentagon extravagance slip through Iligir finders ant Mun by the jibes of constituents who wilted i hem Jaoui Umpir toss in the crunch. Reps. Charles \ Schumer of new York and George Miller of c Al forma went to the sneaker demanding corrective action o Neill suggested that they invite some confederates to a showdown with the errant chair Man. Hest is some obvious choices like heps. Barney i rank and Nicholas Mavroules of Massachusetts the organi ers took care to include two indignant Texas conservatives reps. Charles Sec Holm and Marvin . The speaker who had opposed fur chairman and has probably never forgotten for a Day that Aspin once vowed to go after his Job greeted his callers in sardonic style. I understand you have a problem with your Candi Date he said. When Aspin arrived o Neill said these arc your people. What do you have to say to them it was what they had to say to him that made inc ensuing hour so memorable. Aspin was accused of lying Selling out and trying to be All things to All men. Rep. Marty Russo of Illinois known As Hurricane Marty by his colleagues slum led at Aspin some Lime. Los you have to Lake a the speaker whose judgment was being so dramatically ratified intervened Only when the room began to boil with the intensity of mount is. Helens. Aspin represents the Preal split in the democratic parly about the Pentagon budget. He preaches that democrats must vote big Bucks for weapons no Mailer How questionable to erase the image of a parly soft on Al a recent democratic powwow he bragged about voting for the my and nere Gas. Disillusioned democrats saw him using the conference As a Way of writing his philosophy into Law. Schumer said no one in my District is going to believe that when we put $292 billion into the Penta gon we Are for a weak rep. Barbara Boxer of California whose procure ment reforms despite an overwhelmingly favourable House vote have been gulled noted thai her senatorial co author. Republican conservative Charles Grassley of Iowa was soaring to unprecedented High Levels of popularity in his Home stale on the wings of the 57,000 coff pol and other instances of Pentagon extravagance. Several remarked bitterly that defense Secre tary Caspar Weinberger of All people had outdone the Congress in defense Economy. To democratic conster nation he had cancelled his first weapon the notoriously inept sol. York diva gun. The House had killed some 20 weapons the conference brought them All Back to life. Stonholm said his people were incensed Over Sio billion being lucked Back into the defense department s Well filled pockets while $7.9 billion was Cul from the lean agriculture Bill. Miller said. We arc just playing catch up on this Issue just beginning to get to where the country finally Aspin during a pause in the flow of vitriol confessed thai he had screwed up on the in Spile of tic Wrath institutional amenities were observed. The idea of simply rejecting the conference report was seen As an unendurable humiliation for the committee chairman. Besides the Senate was warning it would Call no further conferences and let the whole defense Aulhorn action lapse. An intricate multistage parliamentary Compromise was worked out one that would save face for Aspin and Rescue his colleagues from their Chagrin. Later inc democratic caucus took several Steps to regain custody of the defense waste Issue. The sneaker promised a Rule that would make it possible for the House when inc conference report came up. To hold a vote Selling inc limit of $292 billion and another Restor ing the procurement reforms. Aspin whose name was not mentioned during the deliberations in the House chamber had. For once nothing to say. C Universia pre san Dicalo James Reston american policymakers taking it a game at a time like . Managers the manage is of world diplomacy Here in Washington concentrate on one game at a time i he Deal with immediate things As tire departments and police departments Lio not with the causes of the prevention of Are and crime but. As Best they can. With its extinction and punishment. Thus if terror is one Day s foreign poll c problem. Washington approves Israel s bombing raid on the Headquarters in Tunisia or sends . Military planes Over the Mediterranean to intercept an i Gyp Ian plane carrying the palestinian thugs who hijacked an italian ship and killed an american Citi in. This i be of response is Standard oper aim procedure for a police or fire department and is popular at Home but not in i r it. Which is ital to the adm Nistra Lam s larger objective of peace in the Middle i ast or will the italian govern ment that took chances to support . Nuclear defense Aii inst Moscow s threat to the Security of . The state department is now or ing to Deal with the . It sent in Puly Secretary of stale John c. Whitchead to Cairo Rome and Tunis to the tensions that Hae resulted from these military actions. At the same Lime president Reagan sent his personal Friend. Sen. Pm , a nov. To Manila to try to put out a soldering fire in thai country. In both cases the result has been to Minimi a inc influence and authority of . Ambassadors in Manila c Jiru and Rome. We know n Here in Washington for a Long time that the palestinians had a valid grievance in the Middle last Hal the Marcos regime in the Philippines apartheid in South Africa and hunger in Central America and particularly in Mexico were the causes of rebellion and a threat to order and even to the vital inter ests of inc United Stales. Hut we went i on until these human disasters broke an new in k wh66lcmwr,rblnftk6d of violence further. My out into violence. La is increasingly Clear Hal there is a limit to what the uni cd sales can do to Deul with human tragedy All Over the world. The United states needs a philosophy and a sense of priority Aboul what ii can reasonably do in ils own inter cols and in the present crisis of world political economic and military affairs. And on this Point there is confusion in the Rea Gan administration ind in the Congress. It might be useful to listen to inc advice of George Kennan probably our most thoughtful and experienced foreign policy philosopher at least on soviet affairs. Now in his 80s, Kennan wrote As a duly and a be. As he said in one last breath Aboul his Long experience in ,-soviet affairs we should approach the problems of foreign policy with a relative humility. Bearing in mind Hal our resources Are finnic and Hal we Are faced Wilh certain urgent and difficult bul limited tasks flip successful accomplishment of which is essential to world Security and to our own that we must concentrate on the performance of these tasks if we Are to have any Chance of completing them that we cannot for this reason afford to dissipate our attention our energies and our re sources on those dreams of world better ment thai Pursuit of global involve Mcnol and authority and moralistic posturing which arc so congenial to the Ameri can political temperament and to the rhetoric of our Public this May be As Kennan would con cede a voice from the past. But he insisted that we should be thinking about the causes of human conflict and not about he militaristic ways of dealing with the consequences. C new Roth i Cwi service
