European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 1, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes tuesday december 1,1987 columns William Safire Reagan compromised too Many principles when the Reagan revolution was in its for Malvic stage in the late 70s, and us outsiders were stairs cycad about culling the monster called big Tioy cram Cal Down 10 size Cap Weinberger used to regale rag Arnauts with inc legend of the Bureau of Indian affairs. Seems thai an outsider stumbled into inc Musty Bureau one Day. As far As the Eye could Sec rows of bureaucrats sat staring at Lillic piles of paper. Every hour or so noiselessly each Gray faced bureaucrat would pass his Slack of paper on id Llie next desk and stare dully at the new Slack on his own. All was Serene routine but then the visitor spotted a commotion in the Back of inc vast room. Why is that Man crying he wondered. Sure enough one of the bureaucrats was hunched Over his desk sobbing As of his reason for being. The visitor accompanied the Bureau s administrator Down inc Long Row of desks to the devastated official. Asked Why he was distressed the bureaucrat replied my Indian died Cap s Story Drew a Lough because it had a Point All thai waste would be swept aside when the Reagan auls Rode Inlo own. Tax saving efficiency would replace the environment of entitlement Hal had encrusted Washington. Agencies even whole departments would be abolished in inc general streamlining. I remembered that Story old by the recently departed Reagan loyalist when Reading Hal the presi Dent had come to a personal decision1 to elevate the veterans administration with its Quarter million bureaucrats 10 the level of a department with us administrator added to the Cabinet. That was kind of a Crusher for More than a few of us. We had winced years ago when Reagan debauched inc medal of Freedom by pinning it on a Hollywood buddy who has been a lifetime associate of mafia hoods. We were dismayed at the president s Surprise embrace of the detested polygraph. We forced Down his refusal to cancel the obscenity at Tilburg arranged by his possibly drunk Advance Man. We gagged but did not bail out completely when he secretly paid Ransom 1o the Ayatollah. Through All this loyalists reminded themselves of the triumphs of the real Reagan he accepted a Nec Essary recession to Stop the double digit inflation ruining America and Ihnn reversed the seemingly inexorable Rise of lax Rales he prevented the common Ivalinn of the Scab eds by slopping the Infa Mous Law of the sea treaty he rebuilt our defences Anthony Lewis and with the Brilliant strategic defense initiative brought the russians to the negotiating table on our terms he went Down the line for the right judges even unto Ginsborg. But in the end it s the Little in i nos that get you. Although we knew he had not reduced the size of government and could not deliver on his promised Addi Tion of inc Energy department we liked to think that he understood the principle at stake never glorify big government. Never let it win the Battle of symbols because then it will win the War of the budget. When the decision memo Well to the president on the big spenders plan to Elc Valc the a to Cabinet status the White House staff made the customary conservative recommendation it s a Trojan horse in mail irate the government with new entitlements for the baby Boomers so shoot in Down. But Ronald Reagan influenced by patronage hungry sen. Strom thur mond signed on to the m a Reagan style Veteran we both served easy Lime and never heard a shot fired in anger. We re not like the Small percentage of combat duty veterans harmed during their service and who deserve Long term help on the contrary. Army life was a Democrat izing experience for most of us and we do not present the nation a belated Bill for doing our duty. Doe anyone imagine the vast new clout Given the professional veterans lobby will not Cost All taxpayer including vets not seeking the Public trough Bimini in the future this is Washington a place at in cab inet table cannot fail to Pul bread on me constituency t table. Dwight Eisenhower in the Twilight of i presidency ruefully asked Sherman Adams what happened to All those Fine Young people with sum in their eyes who sailed balloons and rang doorbells for us in i952ralmost every Leader disappoint his ardent Early supporters. Having compromised too Many principle Reagan is now reduced to Selling out symbols. Years from now some political crusader at the head of an anti Burca uralic movement will be telling a joke Wii the punch line my Veteran died no Portt times supporting a non violent palestinian alternative _ _. ,._l to it cd to Connll Lin Ramft Cliftn of Mccoe Niezink inc Sov in a Region of extremity and Vio Lence Mubarak Awad is a curious political being. He is an Arab born in Jerusalem who tells his fellow palestinians thai non violent methods offer Lac Best Hope of ending Israel s 20-year. Occupation of the West Bank. "1 Don t want the next generation of palestinians educated in violence. Awad said in an in Crew with the israeli newspaper Haar Elz. I Don t want our Flag to have Only a Rifle on the government of Israel has responded to Awad by moving to expel him. The Interior ministry ordered him to leave by nov. 20. He has not icel and says he will Noi go voluntarily. Awad is an individual without Power or great personal following. But his Case engages Large interests. Diplo Matic efforts to Settle the West Bank s future Are Al a standstill frustrated by among other things deep division in Israel. The government is split Down the Middle on inc proposal for an International conference. Bui the realities do not go away. Foremost is the fad that 1.5 million palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza. If Israel formally annexed the territories in would be a binational slate 40 percent Arab. But if it continues 10 Rule them by military occupation denying the Arab inhabitants All political rights it insures a sullen hos tile population and insures the corruption of its own democratic civic. This uncomfortable reality is coming 10 be recognized in Israel even by some in the liked party which has opposed giving up any part of the West Bank. They Call it the demographic Bui the Politi Cal obstacles Block negotiation. In was Inlo this picture of stalemate thai Mubarak Awad stepped two Yean ago when he set up in Jerusalem a palestinian Center for the study of non violence. Using the models of mahal a Gandhi and Martin Luther King jr., he urged palestinians 10 resist the occupation by such Means As planting Olive Trees on land claimed by the israeli government and refusing to fill out forms in hebrew. Awad lived in the United slates for some years and acquired . Citizenship. For Hal reason the Merior ministry a fused to renew an Ide Niny card Hal allowed him to live in the occupied territories a decision with a certain irony since american jews Many of them retaining their Ameri can passports have played a leading part in the establishment of jewish settlements in the West Bank. The . State department spoke up for Awad calling him a moderating the israeli foreign ministry apparently wanted to let him re main on a visitor s visa. But the de sense ministry whose chief Yitzhak Rabin has run the West Bank with an Iron hand said no. To expel Awad would Send an unmistakable message to palestinians non violence As a political strategy is useless. Violence always has its a peal to a people denied political expression. When a syrian supported guerrilla flew a glider Inlo Israel the other Day and killed six soldiers most americans like israelis were Horri fied. But reports from around the mid dle East said not surprisingly that most palestinians took Pride in the at tack. Logically then one would think that Israel should want to legitimize peaceful political Means of expressing palestinian nationalism. But to say Hal is to ignore the Zero sum attitude that has cursed the relationship for so Long the refusal of each Side to admit the political legitimacy of the other. Even now the Palestine liberation organization plays verbal games about conditions for recognizing the sovereignty of Israel. And Israel dismisses the Plo As a terrorist group refusing to recognize that it in fact Speaks politically for most palestinians a palestinian and an israeli who do accept each other s political existence have been touring the United Stales under the auspices of the peace now organization urging an International peace conference. They Are Hanna Siniora editor of Al fair in Jerusalem and Mordochai vis Hubsky a Knesset member in the Small Winzens rights party. When i saw them i asked about the threatened expulsion of Awad. Siniora said it was another sign that we Are not allowed self express vis Hubsky saw the Case As an exam ple of the larger injury done by the failure of the peace process it s not just a foreign policy question he said. In is seeping into our fiber As a a then he said. I am ready to join Hanna Siniora in protesting about or. Awad. We May save this or hint Man from injustice. But in will go on unless we solve the Basic problem. I Don t want to be the red Cross. I want to be the Pasteur who has the cure for the nun a Ltd
