European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 11, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes James Reston Bush should Stop . Vagueness on Israel p of to to w a i i. A i1_ a. 1the Bush administration s first real foreign policy test is Likely to come in the Middle East. The leaders of both Politi Cal parties Are talking vaguely about restoration of nonpartisan cooperation abroad but it s mostly talk. What both need is More precision on policy toward Israel and the Palestine liberation organization. The parties have Long agreed that Israel s Security is a vital interest of America. The same thing has been said about our relations with the nato allies and Japan with one important difference. We have made it Clear to our friends and adversaries that we would oppose the Conquest of the Western european allies or Japan with military action if necessary. But no such Clear commitment covers our relation with Israel. That country is described As our Prin Cipal Middle East ally and no Leader of either party has Ever suggested that we would permit its destruction. But this policy has never been formalized by treaty and Israel s enemies keep nibbling away at its Security As if they could achieve their Aims without facing .power. The Reagan administration has taken Yasser Arafat s word that he opposes terrorism and recognizes Israel s right to exist within secure Borders in accordance with . Security Council resolutions 242 and 338. But he does not recognize Israel s present Borders and does not regard the present subversive warfare against Israel As meanwhile officials Here urge is Rael to Exchange land for peace As a basis for compromising the present difficulties but they Don t say what America would do if Israel gave up the disputed land and got no peace. Thus the israelis palestinians and hostile Arab states that Are armed by the soviet Union Are left i doubt. This vagueness has been tolerated by both parties Ever since America presided Over the formation of Israel and it s doubtful that any secure settlement in the Region will Ever be reached until Washington convinces everybody concerned that Israel s existence within fair William Safire a. recognize Myhl and defensible frontiers is really a vital president elect George Bush and his chosen Secretary of state James Baker can begin this process by removing doubts about their intentions in the talks with the Plo. But to make such a. Policy credible they will also have to do some talking with democratic leaders of the Congress about a Security treaty with is Rael. The new administration has a Chance to make a new More practical beginning. This Means being sure that Israel s squabbling politicians really want to reconcile their differences and remove the vagueness in their relations with Ameri Ca. Merely talking with Arafat about terrorism peace for land and . Resolutions without convincing him and his associates that America is ready to Back the Security of Israel with Force is not Likely to make any fundamental change in this endless and intolerable state of seminar. Nor is there much future in negotiating a demilitarized palestinian state for a future Sovereign state could make any military arrangements it liked with the soviet Union especially if Israel were not sure of Washington s Protection. This is not simply a formula for the Secu Rity of Israel. The Middle East with its vast Oil reservoirs and location Between the continents is a vital interest not Only for us but for nato and Japan too. And Israel is an essential base for the Protection of one of the world s most important strategic areas. At least the Bush administration along with its other allies should take a new look at it. Talking to Arafat alone is no answer to a crisis that will inevitably get worse As the palestinian population increases and the divided and diminished israelis find themselves Iso lated with Only promises from washing ton on which to rely. James Reston is senior columnist of the new Yor times. Senate should quiz Baker on rights turn about i we i .1. My my a/"ih1\m"\/vlta rftmo/1 o v%nnfiisxv\n4a a i. 4 1_ o i i. _ will not equivocate cried a passionate journalist a Century ago. And i will be heard being heard a Heady experience carries the obligation to listen and respond to those who hear. Three recent examples 1. On the morality of Preemption. When it was suggested that Israel and the . Begin jointly planning a strike at the libyan Poison Gas Plant Abba Eban a grand old Dove denounced this dark vision that he saw As a dream to roam the Middle East bombing Arab weapons systems. It must be a Long time since a responsible journalist published an incitement to two governments to initiate what could become a nuclear apparently he fears that the soviet Union would launch a nuclear attack to support lydian Leader colonel Moa mar Qadhafi. But weigh the likelihood of that insane reaction to the risk in a very few years of a threat to Jerusalem or new York of Long Range missiles with Poison Gas warheads designed in West Germany controlled by any terrorist state. Phony Preemption can be an excuse for aggression but As a response to a genuine threat it can save lives. The israeli destruction of the Baghdad reactor was a Case in Point does anyone doubt that Iraq s Saddam Hussein who proved so ready to employ Poison Gas would have refrained from incinerating millions of iranians with a War winning atomic bomb a decade ago the world self righteously condemned that anti proliferation act but the residents of Tehran Are now have because of it. Eban can relax the Reagan Era will end not with a bang but a whimper. Secretary Shultz s anti Gas rhetoric in Paris would have carried More authority if he had not dissuaded the . Congress from ordering sanctions against Iraq for its gassing of kurd. 2. On the German problem of seeing no evil in help ing to build the new some West German politicians and to stars furious at being reminded of previous National experience with Gas As an agent of racial extermination reacted with tirades against the jewish such anti semitism Only proved my Point. More moderate German commentators under stood the profound damage being done the Federal re Public by the Kohl Genscher regime s blustering cover up. The responsibility for absolute proof of the complicity of West German nationals in today s third world War crimes does not devolve on outsiders we can Point to the preponderance of evidence but it is up to Tough minded German investigators and prosecutors to take the sworn testimony needed to get the truth. If the Federal Republic has no Laws to Stop its Poison Gas profiteers from endangering the world s cities civilized nations can reasonably expect the bundestag to pass such Laws. The world s largest exporter May want to protect its trading position but its customers want to protect the lives of their citizens lives endangered when greedy and amoral West German executives and technicians help to turn terrorist states into missile equipped superpowers. 3. On the Cave in to soviet demands for a human rights extravaganza in Moscow in 1991 it was appeasement but was it James Baker s first Blunder in he run up to the Cave in reporters and pundits i Washington were assured by White House and state department officials that the decision to bestow this human rights accolade to Mikhail Gorbachev had the approval of the incoming Bush administration. Not the slightest objection was heard said Reagan ites on background from George Bush or any of his top men particularly Secretary of state designate Baker. However after a powerful editorial in the Washington Rost objecting to this premature Seal of our approval and a subsequent blast in this space exposing its linkage to a conventional arms conference the tune changed. Bush s top people Are telling senators privately that they had opposed the Moscow venue and had asked for months that their hands not be tied in this Way. And lame sucks at state caught off base now claim they never pretended to have Bush approval. To uni i a
