European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 column the stars and stripes tuesday March 17,1.967 Carl Rowan Baker appointees must reflect changes in . 1 have known while House chief or built Howard Baler since world War ii Days when we were platoon its in Navy midshipman school almost 43 years Rio. 1 can say now As have writ ten before about my follow tonnes scan that Baker is one Classy fellow. And smart with Diann near unerring political instincts. I think i know him Well enough to after some unsolicited advice As to he ways in which inc while House staff must be restructured if his country is not to Wade into one debacle after another Akin to the scandal involving arms Toiran and Cash to the contras. Aside from Reagan s personal Short comings this president never had a Chance of jelling the advice he needed so badly. Hie National Security Council and the larger White House staff were created to produce a pro White anti Arab conservative almost blindly anti communist View at the world that in terms of both foreign and Domestic policies was an invitation to embarrassment. Israel has always had ils strongly zionist boosters within inc White House. Would Howard Baker dare to say we listen Loo much Loo exclusively to is Rael would Fie be so bold As to Pul an Arab american on the Staft whose Mere expressions of doubt or dissent might prevent an arms lbs hostages outrage will Baker say frankly to the president yours is the first administration in More than three decades that has not even pretended to have a credible voice of Black America on the White House staff ? in terms of foreign policy his admin Isira Tian need some Blacks who Are not ideological charlatans to talk forcefully about whether the United slates really is thwarting communism in Africa when America joins racist South Africa in giving Money and arms to rebels who Are trying to overthrow the government of Angola. Could Baker say that the new chief of staff ought to say to inc president if we had someone Here who is Black Independent not afraid to be fired we might gel some helpful advice about How to Deal Success fully with issues such As affirmative action welfare Reform health programs James Reston the Federal role in education. But you cannot go on rejecting meaningful Black advice while pursuing policies that appear to much of America to be racist and sometime Mcnally  As for Nicaragua and inc contras both so much a part of the Reagan administration s gravest crisis the new chief of staff need not ask the president 10 abandon his Basic policy. He can serve this president Well by encouraging him to Slop making pal and predictable speeches that indicate he is obsessed with overthrowing the sandinista government in Nicaragua perceptions of this obsession led the cowboys and ram bos of the Csc to believe dial they had a mandate to run amok this country has a huge and growing hispanic population. Among these immigrants from Mexico Guate Mala Al Salvador and other latin coun tries arc some very smart people who have ideas about How to Bridge the Polit ical economic and cultural gaps hat arc so menacingly real from the Rio Grande Down to the southernmost reaches of Argentina and Chile. Would t it be Wise to Nave an american of hispanic descent in a respectable place in the White House machinery tokenism some form of discrimination no. It would Only be common sense staffing and acknowledgement of the ways in which both America and the world have changed. In terms of policy substance it is essential. In terms of symbolism it would be a ten strike for America. Both president Reagan and Baker arc doomed if in the wreckage of this Iran arms disaster we get nothing More than the old ideological Bull and bluster from inc president with Baker stalling the White House with sycophants who meekly say  the first dozen key appointments approved by Baker will Tell us whether my old Navy buddy is really facing up to what is genuinely wrong with the White House staff. North Alert a synd Caw Lac Reagan will be better prepared for next Summit Washington is sick of the scandals now. It gave up when it col. Oliver North did t even have the decency to Lake off his uniform but took the govern ment into Conn on allegations of violating the Constitution and the president s daughter turned everybody off with a few ill chosen words so the focus of attention is shifting from past doings in the cellar of the White House to the new staff upstairs and inc possibility of another Summit Between president Rea Gan and soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Suddenly there is talk of a.  nuclear com Promise later this year or Early in 1988, with Secretary of state George Nuttz going to Moscow soon to Dis cuss inc procedures with soviet foreign minister Edu Ard Shevardnadze it May be hard to believe that anything could have harmed inc administration More than the  scandals but the fact is that its previous performance at the Reykjavik Summit damaged the Reagan administration even More in the eyes of the world both were the result of the president s casual or careless style of control but with this difference in the Iran Contra affair inc president was in part the victim of uncontrolled subordinates but at Reykjavik he was the author of an ill prepared and ill conceived Sci of reckless proposals and responses Hal med a Funda mental change in the balance of Power in the world James schles1nger, former Secretary of de sense and Cia director observes in the current Issue of foreign affairs that Reykjavik combined the worst aspects of All previous summits As ill conceived As John of Kennedy s Vienna Summit of 1961, with the shortcomings of Dwight Eisenhower s Paris Summit of 1960. For a generation sch Csinger wrote the Security of the Western world rested on nuclear deterrence. But at Reykjavik the president offered to change All this without prior consultation with Congress the allies or even his own military chiefs of staff. Sch Csinger added the full effects of Reykjavik with probably never be known As the Summit has been wholly superseded in Public discussion by inc issues of arms for Iran and the illegal funding of the Contra. Admittedly these latter events appear More dra Matic. They do constitute a serious embarrassment for the United Stales. Nevertheless their inherent weight is much less than the negotiations at Reykjavik. They cannot significantly alter the military balance. By contrast Reykjavik had the potential for upsetting inc military balance. And for destroying the cohesion of the Western Alliance. Reykjavik was a near disaster and we should learn from it All that we  presumably that learning process has begun with a chastened but disabled president a new staff in die White House and a More Alert democratic majority in he House and Sena to. The president is no longer going it alone or talking about a world without nuclear weapons thai would leave Europe hostage to Moscow s vastly Superior Arsenal of conventional armies and weapons. He has promised to consult with Congress and the allies and will give priority Ai the next Summit if there is one to major reductions in intermediate nuclear forces and a 50 percent reduction in Long Range strategic weapons plus parity in conventional forces a ban on chemical warfare and a reduction in Short Range nuclear systems within the european theater. There Wilt be no Rush to the Summit however this time. Congress will want to know whether the president has resolved the differences Between his Secretary of state and Secretary of defense on these issues and whether it will know in Advance what his policies Are and even whether he proposes to bring experts in Congress such As sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia into the negotiations. This will be the Central Issue of the president s last two years indeed it is the presiding question of world politics and will probably determine the judgment of history on his presidency. It is far Loo Early to guess where All this will come out but if there is a Summit Washington will be belter prepared than before