European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 28, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Haynes Johnson regulators ignored signs of so debacle it was the dog that did t bark that helped Sherlock Holmes solve the Case. While merely mortal detectives failed to find the clue that unlocked a baffling mystery Holmes quickly discovered it to be most obvious. After pondering Why the dog had t barked when the deed was done Holmes correctly deduced that it was because the crime was committed by someone entirely familiar with the household in question and known to those who lived there. Something of the same can be said of the mystery surrounding the great savings and loan debacle. How is it possible the american Public now asks that this situation festered for month after month year after year without being detected by any of the regulators and political overseers of the financial institutions involved elementary detective Story fans. From beginning to end it was an inside Job. When confronted with Evi Dence of wrongdoing the watchdogs chose not to sound the alarm. Instead they looked the other Way. For a Quick study of a system gone awry and an example of How the Public repeatedly was deceived and let Down by those charged with seeing that the thrifts were run wisely and honestly consider these headlines culled from the Washington Post Over thelast two years sept. 22, 1988 regulators said to hides a deals Cost of . Rescues of thrifts believed to beastly  feb. 7, 1989 Bush unveils so Rescue plan Costco Public put at $40  May 29, 1989 so plan May exceed estimates Cost put at billions More than Bush  aug. 23, 1989 so bailout not enough new Esti mates suggest figures show higher Thrift failure april 7, 1990 Gao raises its estimates on Thrif bailout  thursdays a bailout estimate boosted by $59billion administration warns costs could  for a compelling example of How the a a mushroomed into the single worst financial scandal in . History worst in losses to the Federal Treasury worst in numbers of institutions involved worst i extent of fraud uncovered one need Only examine the congressional testimony offered last week by Neil Bush the president s son. Bush came to Capitol Hill to answer questions about the failure of a Colorado so of which he was a direct 1 re a i which wl11 rec Luire a bailout from the taxpayers of j1 billion. He was an Earnest energetic witness for Nim Selt and a most revealing witness As to the inner William f. Buckley or. Have Shomion for this frlcfl�sstv�ntiem-ceknuwslea2epa.l.,.$5006illloki,.do \ rbr$550 billion 550 isme to to i hear600?. Workings of the so Industry. The key to his testimony was not evidence of per Sonal wrongdoing but of the cozy insider atmosphere that prevailed. Most instructive was the Way that deals were being made by those insiders and their Friend Sand business associates. Like hundreds of others across the nation Bush s Thrift Silverado banking savings and loan association tailed primarily because it made bad Loans and unwise investments. His like others operated amid a big Deal deregulated environment that characterize the last decade. Bush told How he approved and sought Loans fro real estate developers with whom he had other Busi Ness dealings. In one he obtained a $100,000 Persona loan from a business partner who in turn had Bor rowed More than $100 million from Silverado a loan now in default. As a director Bush voted to approve that big loan. As to Why he did not disclose the personal loathe had received from the business partner on conflict of merest forms or note his dealings with the other partner who also obtained Large backing from Silvera do Bush offered an intriguing explanation. It was not a conflict of interest he said because he did t own an interest in their business they merely owned part of his business. He also explained How it was that he did not have to repay his own $ 100,000 personal loan. I know it sounds a Little fishy Bush said. The loan was never meant to be repaid unless there was Success. If the plan had made Money Bush would have profited from it. When it did to the loan was forgiven. It was All ask free for those who were fortunate enough to be on the inside. For those Ordinary citizens on the outside Well try to get such a Nice Deal from your the idly neighbourhood Thrift and see what response you get. Therein lies the essence of the so problem. It was a wonderful Deal for the favored insiders while i lasted. Now it s gone bust and the rest of us will be forced to pick up the pieces and pay the escalating costs for decades. The Washington Post arms control just dealing in numbers not threat Secretary of state James a. The number of warheads the enemy has a in a Hii Vii a i i. 1s  criticisms of the and the safety of the United states event of Thi Al  Tant political principal theorist of deterrence and Lucaine Nas made with the soviet Union to. A year win do the unification pert on disarmament Annh re who than chooses to Cone with it in 1,T.T, lne facts Are otherwise. It does not of Germany. This is an event Desirah he the of to r us re la t cop t language absolutely identical to that used by every negotiator on arms control since the Enterprise began. It would appear to me at least that most of the criticism is coming rom those who in the past from time to time have simply rejected the concept farms control  Baker is half right. There Are those who have rejected not the concept of arms control but a concept of arms control. It is this illusory concept of arms control in which we Are currently engaged. The apparent objective is simply to Kimmish inventory which however has up to a Point nothing to do with diminishing the threat. The fastest Way of saying this is that with the modernization of the ss-18s a program now completed by the soviet Union 154 of the modern variety can cause As much devastation As 308 of the antique variety. So that the reduction from 308 to 154 is meaningless. It is reduction that tends to satisfy Only the number fetishists those who believe that there is an exact correspondence Between a greatly matter How Many weapons the enemy has if his aggressive use of those weapons would result in suicide. It has been the purpose of our deterrent system to assure that any use of nuclear weapons designed to destroy our retaliatory re serves would fail. It is very important to concentrate on the derivative Point her which is that All else is ephemera How Many s,sc24s or 25s they have How Many mrs we have what the distinctions Are Between air launched and sea launched cruise missiles what is their Range what Are their permissible War Heads. The list of individualized elements is endless and endlessly mean ingless except insofar As it tells us we Are Safe. Or we Are not Safe. There is Zero Point in celebrating a reduction in arms unless that reduction walks us Back across the threshold of nuclear vulnerability. Up against that calculus Baker sea neutering has got to be weighed against factors other and it is at this level of. I desired by everyone with the exception of the soviet Union. But there Are circumstances under which the soviet Union would however secretly Welcome the event since East Germany is no longer a hard working satellite of the soviet Empire it is of Little use to a projected soviet Mili tary juggernaut. But it would be wonder fully useful to the soviet Union if detached now from Moscow East Germany became the instrument for the disarmament of West Germany. That would appear to be the direction in which Gorbachev is headed hence the dismay among conservative monitors of the disarmament process. The soviet Union has 375,000 troops in East Ger Many and it was expected that the withdrawal of these troops would be scheduled to coincide with  of the sort has in fact been done. Moreover limitations have been placed on the cruise missile which limitations shave the effect of shielding the heart of Russia from retaliation should turn Back in the direction of aggression. Richard Perle the principal theorist of deterrence and expert on disarmament wonders whether the soviet Union is about to achieve under perestroika and glasnost what it sought unsuccessfully to achieve for 40years, namely the disarmament of Ger Many. One wonders just what will the Ger Man leaders do As the Date approaches they Are scheduled to effect a plan for economic unification As soon As Earl july then move to political unification toward the end of the year. But there Are 20 soviet Divi Sions squatting Down on territory Over which they have claims As military Vic tors of a great War. And their terms for unification Are no International pact no foreign troops. If those terms Are accepted that Means the end of nato an the end of . Forces in Germany and probably the end of . Forces in Europe. How has anything accomplished by Baker in his dealings with Shevardnadze helped us to avoid that possibility c Universal press Syndicate in. Mini Al car id in co Unn and cartoons to a the of author and in nod a a Waln the View of the Star. E vew Start and stripes or the United state government