European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes thursday. March 27. 1986 William Buckley some Bright spots emerged from French elections of it or or a i s r a. Sure it would have been Fine if Francois Mitterrand s socialists had done less Well than the 32 percent they did in the election but there Are the Bright spots and they Are very Bright indeed 1 surviving differences Between the so Cial Isle and the conservatives in France give the right Wing about the same margin Over the left that Ronald Reagan got Over Fritz Mondale in the 1984 election. In order to stretch their total to 42 percent the socialists would have to accept the Ignominy of a coalition with the communists. Mitterrand s socialists have of course done this before up until the Resig nation of four communist Cabinet officers a couple of years ago. And we should Bear in mind that in France As in Italy con federation with the communists is not viewed As the blasphemy it ought to be this because of the european tradition that accepts communists As Mere left wingers rather than As what they in effect have become namely agents of the Kremlin. Up against such a coalition the conservatives could bring in Jean Marie be pen. A distasteful thought but not one the avoid Ance of which is Likely to cause the col lapse of a conservative government. What be pen is primarily is a xenophobe. And if truth must be told there is just a Little Trace of xenophobia in every Frenchman. It goes with self esteem. If it is True that the highest order of civilization in the world is French then everything non French is just a Little inferior since be pen s most Rabid positions Are never going to be accepted by the gaullist and since be pen is hardly going to cast his 32 votes roughly the equivalent of the communist minority in order to bring on a return to the socialist government be pen s nation Al front is a Safe counterpart to the left s communists. 2 two events that have nothing to do with the maladministration of Mitterrand did a lot to boost his standing from the widely anticipated 25 percent to the 32 percent he wound up with. The first was the forced devaluation of the Dollar the doing of a financial Cabal headed up by Treasury Secretary James Baker. The re Vived franc which had just about disappeared under or. Mitterrand s dogmatic William Safire socialism of the first two years did much to attenuate the Public understanding of the economic chaos he caused in France. Add to this the collapse in the Price of Oil Down 50 percent during the critical last three months. Suddenly every French Man saw his francs a increase hugely in value vis a vis the Dollar and b increase hugely in value vis a vis the Oil France needs to import. Mitterrand can hardly take responsibility for these developments Over which he had no control. 3 but the biggest news of All is the adulteration of socialist Dogma thanks to the experience of Mitterrand Between 19s1 and 1983. Much of what one heard from the socialists during the past year or so is not sharply distinguished from what one hears from conservatives. There is of course a difference but just As the communists have been reduced in Power from 25 percent to 10 percent so it is Safe to generalize that dogmatic socialism has been reduced. They speak now of right Wing socialists who Are not easily distinguished from moderate conservatives. In a word All of France has moved to the right. 4 now what Mitterrand will do we do not know. On the whole people who Are presidents prefer being president to being anything else. Degaulle being a proud exception. Mitterrand has accepted a Summit conference in Tokyo in May. Well As far As the French Constitution is concerned he could go to Tokyo and play croquet with the emperor but it is the prime minister who will do the trading because the French Constitution says that the prime minister conducts the policies of the a  what Mitterrand can do is seek to aggravate latent and not so latent antagonisms Between the conservative big three Jacques Chirac Raymond Barre and Valery Giscard d Estwing. He can try to stir up internecine conflict then quickly Call a snap election. He has the Power to dissolve parliament so does the Queen of England theoretically and Hope for a sudden reversal of French sentiment. But the French have suffered a great Deal under Mitterrand and the likelihood that fraternal warfare is going to cause the Vot ers to reposition their blindfolds and vote for their impoverishment under another bout of old time socialism is very slight. So St. Patrick s Day turned out to be very much a Vive la France Day. C Universal press Syndicate of the least ambassador Wilson should be tired div r1 Tuit /-1 i rtt a j during the Carter administration our ambassador to the United nations Andrew Young made an unauthorized visit to representatives of the Palestine liberation organization undermining our agreement with Israel and encouraging terrorists in the belief that no renunciation of terror was needed to establish relations with the United states. When word got out of this diplomatic Lone Ranger ism Young had to do the honorable thing he resigned. The Prin Ciple that ambassadors follow instructions was reaffirmed our envoys do not set up shop for themselves in making policy that foreigners have a right to believe comes from the president of the United states. Comes now William Wilson . Ambassador to the Vatican Given that coveted political Plum because he was president Reagan s longtime Friend and Money Man Ager. According to reporter Leslie Gelb s Story in the new York times which Wilson does not have the courage to confirm or deny it appears that our Man in the vat ican arrogated to himself the right to make american policy toward Libya s . That policy made abundantly Clear to our diplomats and business people is to ostracize the world s Foremost supporter of terrorism until he stops acting As the soviet surrogate in subverting other nations and stops providing murderers with weapons and Sanctuary. Evidently Reagan s Vatican appointee has what he thinks is a better policy. Three months ago Only Days after 20 innocent travellers were slaughtered in Rome and Vienna Austria airports by killers aided or controlled by Libya Wilson took it on himself to travel to Tripoli Libya in some crack rained Effort to appease the dictator. In so doing he undermined our anti terrorist policy by relieving All the pressure we were trying to bring to Bear on Kheda by. At the time the libyan dictator told reporters that an american Diplomat had been sent to reduce tensions our state department unaware of the Wilson trip and eager to enlist the Aid of our allies in Iso lating and quarantining the terrorist Cen Ter flatly denied it. Now thanks to the duplicity and arro Gance of the crony Reagan has clothed with diplomatic credentials it turns out that khad Afy was telling the truth and we were not. If the und enied report is accurate Wilson has made an apparent liar out of the . Government. He has made a mockery of our Stern pronouncements made us a laughingstock in the eyes of allies who do not wish to offend the terror of the Mediterranean and has turned our Saber rattling in the Gulf of Sidra into a waste of time and Money. We do not yet know the whole Story but it appears that the state department checked into khad Afy s boast and discovered that one of our ambassadors was in deed missing one Day in Early january. Only then did our government learn of its ambassador s subversion of its policy. What happens to an ambassador who Breaks the rules profoundly embarrasses the president subverts serious policy on a matter that deals with organized murder and brings shame and Dishonour on his country you might think at the least he would be fired forthwith his free Lance under mining vigorously and publicly repudiated. But not if he is a crony of the president. What did George Shultz do when he found out that Wilson had made a fool out of All of us evidently he waggled a gently reproving Finger at the president s inner Circle and told him that was really not the thing to do. The Senate foreign relations commit tee will have to find out what was said but one report has it that our unrepentant ambassador claimed authority for such mis chief from a Long deposed National Security adviser. If so that s not stupidity that s Mutiny. The failure to punish such a serious transgression with Public dismissal is cronyism at its most corrupt. If an american Oil Rig worker faces a jail sen tence for doing business openly in Libya an american Diplomat who deals with the libyans behind the Back of his govern ment should not be shielded because he is a pal of the president and carries a Black passport. When Andy Young was caught breaking the rules and his continuance in office be came a Challenge to his president s policy and the Secretary of state s authority he had the Good Grace to quit. To maintain any kind of Chain of command Reagan must Tell his old Friend to do the same. C new York times news service