European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 3, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Stephen s. Rosenfeld Gorbachev will retain Tough lithuanian stance Lithuania is the Stop not Many of us figured on when we bought a ticket on the Gorbachev express. Until this one wed thought that All the Tough choices were his and that the Issue of the Day was whether head give a Little or give a lot. In fact the choices Are his but the consequences now threaten to be shared. Lithuania a reach for Independence is pushing Mikhail Gorbachev either to let the place go in which Case he wins our cheers but further complicates his Domestic political life or to crack Down in which Case he differently complicates his Domestic political situation and puts his whole foreign policy a a Large part of which corresponds to our foreign policy a at risk. We Are in a trap of our own setting. To keep Faith with lithuanians and to stay the Kremlin a hand we try to convey that detente cannot survive a forcible throttling of lithuanian Independence. To this end the american government portrays itself not simply As an agent of us own Wise decisions but also As the servant of a Stern and implacable popular will. Yet it is evident that from this particular trap if it closes an escape of sorts May yet be devised. To suggest As much is something other than betrayal of the lithuanians or Wishful thinking. Although the mood will inevitably Darken in the event of a crackdown the trend toward an improvement of relations is bound to assert itself again after an interval. This is so because this trend is based not merely on moods and on leadership initiatives but on circumstances of deep Mutual readiness and Felt need. The soviet interventions in Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia 1968 were widely and accurately interpreted As proof of abiding stalinist Wilfulness and since detente was not Well rooted at those times the then current initiatives for better East West relations collapsed. In the event of an intervention to similar effect now in Lithuania some among us would argue that the act would prove the abiding unfitness of Gorbachev or any communist successor for a partnership with the West. Still Gorbachev a five year record of alternately stirring and yielding to democratic impulses in Eastern Europe and in soviet society a and even in the Baltic a has created solid momentum and a Broad Public for getting on with detente. The Baltic Are special. They were taken into the soviet fold in circumstances that created in Many Peoples minds a difference Between their status As constituent republics and the Eastern europeans status As subdued but Sovereign states. The Surprise is not that the West is now failing to respond to Lithuania a urgent appeals for diplomatic recognition but that the West has gone As far As it has in affirming Lithuania a right to Independence a even before its gained control. Gorbachev a approach of offering to enable secession by a process directed by the Central authorities even As he denies Home grown assertions of Independence is a further special Factor. Obviously he is thinking of the Broad spectrum of nationality revolts in the soviet Union and hoping to find a handle to manage the process. That he can succeed in changeling the ferment let alone stemming it seems increasingly doubtful. But even if he grinds Lithuania a Independence movement Down he will still have a Strong incentive a a and he will remain under heavy pressure a to put Lithuania Back on a secession track and otherwise to explore a voluntary confederation to replace the involuntary federation now fragmenting before his eyes. We americans Are conducting our own debate on the incomparably simpler and less consequential Issue of president Bush a stand on this Issue. But even among those who complain about Bush Stone most recognize the delicacy of the situation and Only a few Are prepared to suggest he should have done things much differently. The Paramount considerations on Gorbachev a mind can Only be Domestic. He has no More pressing obligation than to Deal with the disintegration of his country a territorial integrity and governing authority alike. We have our own reasons to get it right but we mislead ourselves if we think he will be much guided by the warnings and hesitations that necessarily Mark our policy. Washington Post writers group William Saf Rebush should heed not suppress Voa message from the Baltic to Baghdad the umbrellas of appeasement Are unfurling. A lasting change can come to the soviet Union a said a powerful voice of America commentary on feb. 15, Quot when citizens no longer need to fear massive surveillance a and worse a from the Kab. Secret police Are also entrenched in other countries such As China North Korea Iran Iraq Syria Libya Cuba and a the rulers of these countries hold Power by Force and fear a was the accurate message beamed by Voa not by the consent of the governed. A but As East europeans demonstrated so dramatically in 1989, the tide of history is against such rulers. The 1990s should belong not to the dictators and secret police but to the people a these words were labelled a a Call to revolution by Saddam Hussein dictator of Iraq. He conveyed his displeasure through four cables from our ambassador in Baghdad to John Kelly the Diplomat who had run the Poindexter a Aback Chann Cly arms bribery of Iran now elevated by president Bush to run the state departments near Eastern Bureau. Kelly joined the King of saudi Arabia in supporting Saddam a protest and denounced the Voas truthful words at a morning meeting on feb. 17 chaired by Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii. Our pragmatic Secretary told the Usia representative at the meeting to bring the Voa editorialists to Heel. The Hangman of Baghdad had reason to be edgy. His nuclear missile program was set Back by a huge explosion last aug 17 that sources Tell me May have killed hundreds of technicians at a1 Hillah South of Baghdad. He also May have suspected that his efforts to smuggle nuclear detonators out of the United states were imperilled by . Customs agents in California their trap was sprung last week. The slate department which could not have been ignorant of iraqis attempt to steal our nuclear secrets has Long sought to appease Saddam. Accordingly the dictator was assured that no More such broadcasts would trouble him and Usia was instructed to Clear All editorials a in writing a with state department censors. The close supervision was extended to another area the Baltic. A we were told by Usia that state wanted no editorials at All on Lithuania a a voice employee tells me. Richard Carlson the voice director loyally insists no new pressure was applied Bush and Baker have evidently decided that a peace for our time would Best be achieved by hearing Only promises of no use of Force from Moscow and by ignoring the pleas for support of a Small nation struggling for Freedom. The newly empowered super Czar Gorbachev ordered the red army to arrest we must refuse to accept Moscow a description of these Brave Young lithuanians As deserters on the contrary they Are patriots resisting impressment by a foreign Power in the face of Likely beatings torture and worse. Bush supported by Jimmy Carter and unopposed by congressional leaders refuses to assert even moral support of the non violent lithuanians. Russian tanks and helicopters Are roaring through a nation that wants Only to be let alone Moscow is ordering out foreign observers to prevent pictures of any crackdown. Young lithuanians Are being dragged away by the occupying army a with thousands More to be for Ceab by conscripted into hated foreign uniforms in coming weeks a and the . Government is worried that any expression of support for the oppressed nation would a inflame the situation.�?�. Spare us the apologia that Nice Guy Gorbachev is being forced to use Force by his mean army leaders and his unruly Baltic subjects. One Man has assumed the Power to Rule by decree and he has decreed that the soviet Empire will not give up its stalinist we cannot liberate the captive nations by Lorce o arms but we can take a stand on the principle of Sei determination. A a would it harm Bush a quiet diplomacy a his masterly inactivity a for him to publicly Praise the no violent stand of president Landsbergis. Would it really inflame the Kremlin for the american president to use the word a Independence speaking about the goal of negotiations to Moscow and to Vilnius As Well As to Baghdad we should rebroadcast the Voas Forb idae Sage a the 1990s should not belong to the dictators and the secret police but to the new York times the opinions expressed in the columns and on this Page represent those of the authors and s
