European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday february 12,1987 columns William Buckley ski opponents rely on syllogism on the rack the touring vol s arc bin from inc Sovil Union and icy scattered to inc sunday morning net work . Henry Kissinger gave his impressions and expanded on them in a Telephone Call. Yes. He said what is going on in the soviet Union Isoif Lurenl from inc gyrations of Khrushchev and Brezhnev. The new managers in particular Gorbachev arc hard pressed by objective Domestic conditions to engage in a measure of liberalization. And this needless to say we should All Welcome even As we have welcomed the strides toward Freedom and the marketplace in China however erratic. But in is also Plain that the Sovil Union somehow expects that the Reward in the United states for its Doc slip reforms should take the shape of changes in our defense posture. This is of course stated in that Way ridiculous. But in is nevertheless something that is going on and the Battlefield is the strategic defense initiative the soviets of course do not put in Ihus bluntly but there is no questioning the Long Strelch they Are giving to the syllogism thai begins the soviet Union has released 42political prisoners., therefore the United states ought not to test its space shield technology it is Worth it to take the pains to examine the impositions of the fallacy because if we can Force ourselves to Espy the critically missing link we free ourselves of its coils the Sovil Union frees 42 political prisoners. This gesture is characteristic of a gradual change in Sovil emphasis. The Liberal inclinations Here and there evidenced Are a part of what is Likely to be the major reorient Tion by Gorbachev of Sovil policy. The United Stales has a unique Opportunity to Fromolc that reorientation. Ivy making sensible com promises on ski we can Deposit the equivalent of a Large magnetic Field affecting the soviet Compass in the Dirc Clion of peaceful coexistence. Our failure to do this would soon atrophy the soviet inclination to Reform giving sustenance to the forces of re Aelion. And we would be Back at in another arms race another step toward apocalypse there. Now Henry Kissinger is not opposed to encouraging inc soviet Union to reduce its military inventory. Docs he object to a 50 percent reduction in our nuclear arsenals no he says provided that is Noi a part of comprehensive package one part of which requires us abandon testing the space shield technology. Or. Kissinger makes an All important Point namely that the Mere suspension of our ski program makes it hostage to soviet designs. It is difficult to think of any hiatus we have Ever agreed to that did not turn out to be permanent. The casual talk by president Ria Ellen Goodman Gan at Reykjavik to the effect of not deploying ski for 10 Yean has gradually been translated by the Capitula zionist Camp into a Promise not to test for 10 years. The failure of or Reagan to repeal adm or. Kissinger i Neutral on the treaty s Appeal firm that it ought not to prevent us from going Forward on the space shield finds us now in a Legal argument Over its exact meaning and we have sen. Sam Nunn of All people threatening the while House with a constitutional confrontation if we interpret it in such a Way As he Legal counsel of the state department and the history of the negotiations suggest. Or. Reagan could three Yean ago almost unnoticed have declared that the abm treaty is no longer a utilitarian instrument of arms control. Now any Man Euver involving he abm treaty is a Bone of congressional an press Contention. And the implicit reasoning of those who oppose ski is really a Reliance on thai syllogism on the rack namely that we must not let the military Indus trial Complex act As an Iron shield preventing the Little seeds of reason from fertilizing the soviet mind. The season is critical. If a Warden finds very convincing evidence that an inmate s appetite for aggression has sharply reduced he May recommend sending him to a prison with reduced Security. Or he May even recommend his parole. Henry Kissinger is prepared to consider hypothetical directions in which inc soviet Union May move. But he can t see that anything we have observed happening in the Sov Clunion has reduced in any Way us offensive potential. And the Best and the brightest idea of the nuclear age is defense against nuclear weapons. It is not surprising that the soviet Union should argue against the development of Pur shield. In is sad and appalling thai Bright and Liberal americans should argue against inc development of our shield. Threat of aids fails to change Public behaviour this is How it comes into consciousness a statistic is printed in the daily paper. The number of Halcro sexually transmitted aids cases has increased by 200 percent in the past year. A secret blood test is taken of women applying for marriage licenses in Atac a county Calif Oul of 2,000 women 0.5 percent of them have been exposed to inc virus. An Abc special features aids Vic Tims. Several of Ihm Are from the the general a cover Story is published in the at lactic about heterosexuals and aids. The subtitle is the second stage of the epidemic one after the other alarm Bells go off in an Ever larger portion of the Public mind. Millions of Slraight americans turn the mental Rolodex of their sexual partners two or two Hundred and wonder if one of them carried a virus Inlo cd. When you go to bed with one Man says a single woman who is far from promiscuous you go to bed with his Emire sexual history and the history of All his sexual says another " have worried about getting aids but i suppose incredible As it sounds t could also worry about giving the aids epidemic has entered the worry Stream the 4-o clock in Lac coming concerns. If we do not worry for ourselves it s for our friends family children. Many now routinely pore Over scare stories and search for Ami Doles a anxiety in the Progress reports from the medical world nevertheless in is remarkable How Little actual behaviour has changed. In the Atlantic Magazine Katie Leishman writes aids May provide the ultimate lest of strategies for behaviour Modifica but she reports on partners of aids patients who go on having sex and without condoms on Gay men who Cut Back but do Noi Cut out unprotected on people who shield themselves with intuition i would Intuit if some one had something As degenerative As the aids this sluggishness that Leishman de scribes so Matler of family this difficulty in changing private behaviour is linked inexorably to the difficulty of changing Public behaviour. We have As yet no mass program for education or safety. Recently surgeon general c. Etc Roll hoop said How troubled he was by conservative attacks on his endorsement of aids education in the schools. Many in the religious right suspect that aids is a front for sneaking sex into classrooms. On the other Side old guard sexual libertarians like Gay Talese Brush off inc risk 10 heterosexuals. They suspect that the aids scare is a right Wing tool for jolting people Back into victorian morality. The debate about condoms that imperfect but important device for Protection seems equally rutted in old arguments. A major san Francisco to Sta Tion agreed last week to allow condom ads. But inc networks still refuse to air ads for products that might control Dis ease because they also control birth. Many continue to focus on sexual morality instead of the deadly amorality of a virus. We have not yet made a Cru Cial shift in our priorities putting health first. In High schools dispensing condoms remains controversial. In Las vegas when they talked of testing prostitute inc chief of the vice squad protested we re just making it easier for in cities where aids is passed from one intravenous drug user to another and to the rest of the population officials Are still querulous about easy Access to Needles. There arc some who offer a one word answer to this epidemic no. Say no to unwed sex. Say no to prostitution. Say no to drugs. But is this to be our sole nation Al health program say no or die and How do we protect people from those who said yes to Date 30,000 americans have been stricken by aids 1.200 of them heterosexuals. We have no idea How Many carry the virus. As not if but As aids spreads through the population no will become a much More common answer to so. Testing May become Rou Tine and so will the demand for every kind Protection from education to condoms to clean syringes. But How Many More will die before our behaviour Public As Well As private. Is modified As the stories and statistics pile up 1 wonder about our difficulty in treating aids As a medical menace. In this biological Battle we Are peculiarly enough up against a virus that in Vvs much fas Ter adapts More Agi Lely and seems tragically More open to change than the human beings in threatens. Washington pail to Tui Girup
