European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 23, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Carl Rowan superpowers can destroy but can t control i a to a t a o now that the last soviet troops have linked out of Afghanistan in bloody humiliation we americans ought to learn a vital lesson the word super Power is a Misnomer even when applied to the world s possessors of the two greatest nuclear arse nals. The . And soviet Union have enough arms to destroy the world but can never have enough to control it not in the face of the fierce nationalism the religious fanaticism the suicidal rages that dominate societies that Are not super in terms of military or Industrial Power. It has taken the Kremlin nine years to learn what . Discovered so embarrassingly in Vietnam a generation ago that there Are Stark limitations to the usages of military Power even in an age of nuclear overkill nerve gases and sophisticated espionage. Only a few crazies thought we could use nuclear bombs to break the will of to Chi Minh and stifle the spirit of the Vietcong so As to avoid a terrible defeat. American usages of military Power were circumscribed by the support the North vietnamese were getting from China and the soviet Union. However Many wild men May sit in places of powering Moscow they could not sell the idea that modern weapons including Gas and nuclear warheads could defeat the rebels who were propelled by an islamic revolution that gave them help from Iran and Paki Stan. And not to be downplayed military support from the United states. The soviets left their quagmire after the deaths of Aujest 13,000 soldiers and the maiming of 22,000 More and i have the feeling that despite glasnost and perestroika the soviet people Are not being told the whole truth about the Cost of the nine year debacle in Afghanistan. The . Adventure in Vietnam lasted just about along if you count the creeping involvement of Dwight Eisenhower and John Foster Dulles and the More rambunctious escalation of John f. Kennedy and those around him. More than 58,000 american boys died i that War and 153,300 were injured not counting the Many thousands who today claim harm from agent Orange and other chemicals or who show signs of grave psychological harm. Beyond that the Vietnam War remains an Albatross hat president Bush would like to cast off american foreign policy but he will not easily escape an Ameri can mood that says go for a few sure to win strikes at a Grenada or Libya but Don t invade Nicaragua or Cuba or get embroiled in warfare against Iran Syria and the other  americans know that non Powers have ways of fighting Back through terrorism that includes blowing up civilian airliners bombing buses taking hostages. Ellen Goodman i now leaving afghanis Nam but in our Congress in our corps of columnists we have the Macho men and women whose brains Are numbed by the cliche that a great Power must act like a great Power that is attack some perceived foe from time to time and if necessary nuke  the lesson of Afghanistan and Vietnam is that no foreign policy can succeed in these times if it does not contain a Large element of diplomacy which Mikhail Gorbachev is using shrewdly and a credible expression of com passion for the needs of people in the most wretched reaches o Afghanistan Angola Cambodia Mozambique an similar societies. This is a lesson not easily Learned by people who think that by spending $300 billion or More a year on weapons they have made themselves super an bought control of the rest of this fragile planet. North America Syndicate Dukakis Able to read Early warning signs these tales. They have become our mor mine addict. Farr still and a in heat the morning after the election than the person holding tight tighter in we inn t Iipp Theoik x., Mike Dukakis went to Roamn Hill or tightest it in Alcort re .�., vow Wiist Iii ii Audi i i it laity plays although we Don t use the Cally dependent. Or in or Kolii 4r\l\r i a. A i word morality or talk in terms of sin and redemption. These Days we prefer a More medical Model for our stories of conversion and salvation. They Are illnesses. We treat them. Our tales begin with confession but Are supposed to end with cure. I my name is Jane and i was once bulimic but now i am an exercise guru. I my name is Betty and once i was a recently when gov announced that his wife had gone to treatment Center for alcohol abuse it was As much a Page 1 Story As the news of he earlier addiction to diet pills. There were a limited number of episodes two or three in which she clearly had been drinking excessive amounts and it was obvious her husband said soberly. Tightest. It is also Worth noting How rarely we allow prominent men into our morality plays. During this Nasty Campaign Dukakis was actually accused of once seeking psychiatric help. J u u a set a a4utwa clinic named after me. I my name is Oprah and i was a food addict but now Iam a size 10. I my name is Drew at 12 i was a cocaine addict and at 13 i am recovered drug addict. True to the form our morality plays Are required to close on such an upbeat note. The weak have found strength the troubled have been treated the patients do a limited number of episodes suddenly announced that he would t Ake an alcoholic or alcohol abused run or .g�veni9r again i was not the Mik t o Beaco l Ansback to work. Kitty stayed Home. There was no plane for her to catch no sched ule no staff. The governor used a desk full of paperwork to push away any shadows of a candidate for president cannot depression or introspection. Call it work admit depression anymore than a Candi therapy if you like that terminology. It s Date for the supreme court could admit his Way. For weeks he looked Gray to smoking marijuana or a candidate for around the Gills not quite Well. When he he Cabinet could admit promiscuity suddenly t e would he my name is Jhn and i m a Romaniz. ,3uu drug and alcohol abuser but now i have Mak governor Agan e Ervo a a. Could she have become dependent on Only private citizen who thought he Kitty Dukakis is most certainly not an liquor in a matter of months should have waited until the mourning alcoholic but chemical dependency As. Nan S\J"Ivmj-iav4 a o n to 111 r n 4 a ,._ t j ithe weekend before she went into the preplanned treatment the Dukakis family had dined genially at a local restau rant. The week before that Mike an Kitty had delighted in their new status As grandparents. Not even her press Secre Sonuia Aico Nozic Pend was Over to make such a decision. Ner n husband said comes in a liquid As. By if this husband deals with loss by 9losin8 the door and moving on his wife a a her a Stewer a worrier. Is hat 9asx for her to let go of the past or stakes. Even her work Chebook  risen. The end. Tefr red freon the a t n i h Tell her audience 7ha? an add Csc never recovered but always recon line of a Puipuia. Ii a. No r Nwa a a Uci Wufka me d had seen Kitty Dukakis with More the speeches were about that past. A ,s,9rtwoofwine on the Trail. A the differences Between this caring ering " this is Thev. A u. A ical addiction to alcohol takes time. Couple like those in any marriage can be our morality  what is missing from the stage is but whatever the scepticism about the both strengths and weaknesses he is the we i d -. What happens the morning after release diagnosis of alcohol abuse there was no Rock and she the roller coaster in Good 9 p the month after the cover Story the year to need or neighbor who doubted the diag times he provides steadiness and she after the cure. We Don t always see the no lot St Ess there in t a name for the provides Energy. In bad times a Rock can e unions expressed in the columns difficulty of leading a stressful life with letdown that comes from losing. There look awfully hard and a roller coaster can a cartoons a this Page represent those out another and most Public postscript.  an officially designated Post Cam have some scary highs and lows the auth is and Are in no Way to be mow wit Adi it pain stress syndrome. That does Psi Hor a m-  in aka seeing it. I my make it less real