European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday april 24. 1986 Anthony Lewis allies had legitimate questions about . Raid the attack on Libya has left the United states and its european allies profoundly divided a Gulf not Only of policy but of perception. Americans tend to react in anger to the doubting europeans. We would do better to try to understand the reasons for doubt. Britain is the most dramatic example. Prime minister Margaret Thatcher let . Bombers Fly from bases in Britain. Yet while 77 percent of americans cheered president Reagan s decision to bomb Libya 59 percent of britons condemned the raid. Conservative newspapers like the daily Telegraph were highly critical. So were former prime ministers labor and tory. Virtually no one in Britain or on the continent has any sympathy for Moa mar khad Afy. Nor arc europeans oblivious to terrorism. They have suffered a lot More of it on their soil than America has. Shots from the libyan people s Bureau in Lon Don killed a policewoman and not Many britons have forgotten that. . Officials have criticized the allies for not agreeing to Tough economic sanctions against Libya implying that that step could have avoided the need for military action. Yet president Reagan while imposing sanctions opened a giant loophole in february when he exempted the five . Oil companies operating there. They report edly paid $2 billion a year in taxes to Kha Day a Quarter of his  Are indeed some not so Noble fac tors operating in european policy. Eco nomic ties to Libya have made govern ments reluctant to close the people s bureaus that they Well know Are centers of arms traffic and terrorism. In Britain As in France there is a mood of nationalism of no Gail ism that can take anti american forms. But there Are deeper reasons for euro Pean disagreement with the libyan raid i am convinced. They go to american policy and to the men who make and administer it. The european members of the Atlantic Alliance always looked to the United states for leadership and especially to the presi Dent. But underneath official deference there have been doubts about Ronald Rea Gan and his policy. His ingratiating person Al policies Are Felt less on the other Side of the Atlantic. There Are More worries about his unilateral interventionism in Leb anon Nicaragua Angola and about the Martin Gottleib rambo talk. On Libya there is no disagreement about the end of resisting terrorism the question for the europeans is one of effectiveness. Will a bombing attack deter terrorism if not what follows does the United slates government have a strategy or is it just hitting out in rage americans should be concerned about those same questions. I have found the libyan Issue intensely troubling and i think Many others have despite those first poll figures. The Only Way toward a sound judgment is to work through the factors with an Eye on the ultimate question of effectiveness. The first proposition for me is that khad Afy s open support of terrorism is a blatant evil. There is no reason to let murderers go unpunished if you know their author. Nor can it be a decisive Factor that retaliation will kill some innocent civilians or murderous states would never fear retribution. But punishment cannot be enough of a reason for a great Power like the United states to take military action. That would reduce America to the level of those we charge with inhumanity. And for a super Power to use its military forces for revenge raises justified fears about escalation if the blow is returned. Deterrence is the necessary justification. Are there convincing reasons to believe that the air attack will deter khad Afy and others from further terrorism the immediate signs the random at tacks the killing of hostages Are negative. They need not exclude a deterrent effect in the longer run. But one would first have to have Confidence that Ameri can officials have a plan beyond punish ment. To the contrary the Reagan administration has looked inept or worse since the raid. Secretary of state Shultz s endorse ment of a coup against khad Afy was Loose talk of the most self defeating kind. The decision to give film of the bombing runs to the television networks was a shameless Appeal to jingoism. There is no sign that anyone has thought about How to Deal with the political effects in the Arab world. Our european allies Are irritating at times in their caution. This time they have reasons for doubt. C new York times republicans demos both wrong about Nicaragua both sides in Washington Are wrong about Nicaragua. The administration is wrong when it argues that Nicaragua holds the key to Cen trial America. The democrats Are wrong when they say negotiations hold the key. The real key is in hand continued american support for the other Central american countries. Whether it knows it or not the United states has a successful policy in Central America. For purposes of congressional combat the Reagan administration is pretending that the russians Are on the move in Cen trial America. In fact though the 1980s have seen the dashing of soviet Hopes. Yes Nicaragua is essentially in the so Viet Camp now. But a few years ago All of Central America seemed promising for the soviets. Now Al Salvador is lost to them. Guatemala is lost. Honduras is lost. What is happening in Central America is not a Drift toward communism. What is happening is change. Nicaragua is going communist. Al Sal Vador Guatemala and Honduras Are going democratic. The further the latter three go the More inaccessible they become to the communists. Democracies do not go communist. It is almost that simple. The Reagan administration is mystified that the governments near Nicaragua do not support . Aid to the contras. There is an irony Here if the . Were still supporting military dictatorships in Cen trial America it would have All the reciprocal support it could ask for. The generals would correctly see the communists in Nicaragua As a serious threat to their survival in Power. The democrats now in Power however know that the nicaraguan communists can t be any More than an irritant. With out Public support the communists can t get anywhere and in a genuine democracy there is Likely to be Little Public support for civil War and revolution. Nicaragua aside american policy in Central America has been genuinely bipartisan. The Reagan administration has played the important role of sounding the alarm and asking for Money and military support for governments. Congress led by the democrats therein has insisted that America s anti communism must not Blind it to the moral outrages  anti communists. The administration has complained bit Terly about the congressional focus inhuman rights. In fact though that insistence has caused Central american governments to pursue policies that help those govern ments sustain Public support. And the administration has made use of Congress. I happened through Al Salvador with a group of american journalists in late 1984, several months after vice presi Dent Bush had been there. The generals were still quaking. Bush had delivered the message apparently convincingly that if the salvadoran army continued to be seen As a Force of repression and violence against innocent civilians then Congress might Cut Al Salvador off from financial Aid. That message turned out to be enor Mously useful to president Jose Napoleon Duarte in his Effort to get the army under control. Since then he has made great Progress. It s too bad about Nicaragua that it has chosen the wrong path. Maybe some Day it will want to choose again. Maybe american support for the contras will has ten that Day just As Likely it will delay it by making the anti sandinista cause appear to nicaraguans to be an american cause. At any rate the sad state of civil Liber ties in Nicaragua is not what motivates american support for the contras. A right Wing government behaving As repress ively As the sandinista who after All Are not setting any records for repression would not be facing an armed rebellion financed by Washington. What motivates the administration is a general pessimism about Central America. That pessimism reflects a Lack of Confidence in the Appeal of democracy and is uncalled for. C Cox new service