European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes monday november 12,1990 Flora Lewis nuclear rights of nations must be limited iraqis Saddam Hussein is doing his Best to make nuclear weapons. If he survives the persian Gulf crisis in Power he will certainly be More determined than Ever to press his Effort. Even if he does no this successors May continue the attempt As successive governments in Pakistan have done. When superpower nuclear stalemate is credited with maintaining the Long peace in Europe and bringing containment of the soviets to victorious fruition it would be Wise to consider again the fundamental issues in question. There Are no prospects for ridding the world of All nuclear weapons and profound controversy Over whether it would even be desirable. I think not but in any Case it Isnit possible in the foreseeable future. Before the nuclear non proliferation treaty was signed in 1968, it was predicted there would be a score or More nuclear states by now. The last two May not have actual weapons in Stock but could build them quickly. In response to intense . Pressure South Korea abandoned its project. But North Korea has not. Argentina and Brazil have Given up at least for now. But Many still Challenge the principle of the taboo. Saddam Hussein has Only slightly obliquely renewed the argument about discrimination that accepts some nuclear Powers and prohibits All others. His country he claims and by implication any in the third world has an equal right to All High technology available to advanced Industrial countries. He considers it imperialistic arrogance to deny a a equalizing weapons to latecomers. This needs to be addressed along with whether the demonstrated deterrent value of nuclear arms might work to prevent conflict among other countries. No nuclear weapons have so far been used in the world since the two that ended the War with Japan in 1945, but there have been Well Over 100 wars around the Globe in the meantime. In Saddam Scase there is an answer to the effect of deterrence. He has launched two major invasions and shown that his eagerness in acquiring weapons is to use them not to prevent War. There Are no grounds to think greater iraqi capacity would bring More responsibility. But what about a rights a is there and should there be a democracy among nations As expressed in the . Thesis of a Sovereign Equality Quot for All some third world spokesmen Are also giving the idea of global democracy a new twist arguing in terms of population. They contend that More than 4 billion of the worlds people have the ultimate decision against fewer than 1 billion. It is a silly and pernicious argument. There is no global vote and the 4 billion Are at Odds with each other but it shows How the notion of democracy can be deformed. It Isnit just about numbers. William f. Buckley or. Next / at base the Issue is Power. It is unequally distributed and it will remain that Way As Long As the state system prevails. Some Are big and some Are Small. Some have wealth or Equality and some do not. Some Are acquisitive and aggressive and some Are satisfied. So it comes to whether the world Community can sort out its myriad problems peacefully or whether some countries have a justified responsibility for imposing a certain order. A a equalizer came into the parlance from the american wild West the gun that was decisive in a Lawless environment. A world with unrestricted rights to the mass destruction a a equalizers would be one of tyranny and unrelenting terror because we Are still very far from a Law abiding world. This is an age of Peculiar transitions not Only in technology and society but also in thought. In the aftermath of the cold War there is a new shift in the perennial balance Between idealism and realpolitik in International affairs. Sen. Daniel p. Moynihan d-n.y., has just published a Book a on the Law of nations a showing How far the principles of International Law were distorted and undermined during the Long East West confrontation. He is right that it has been a grievous setback a loss for everybody in a time when the actions of practically any country Are coming to affect the lives of practically All. The Gulf crisis is a new test of the Community a will and ability to respect Laws that All profess in the abstract. But it is also a reminder that Law is not self enforcing. Cynical realpolitik based on self interest without standards was carried much too far. But it cannot be replaced with utter idealism. The a a rights of nations Are limited and the limits must be imposed by those who can. They May not be More virtuous but they must strive for it. That is the reason to continue insisting on non proliferation. New York Tim selection results answered few questions the election results of last week have been foraged by the experts seeking out their meaning. The data Are As unyielding As Delphus who made his reputation by giving ambiguous answers. For instance did we learn for certain How the vote is tending on the Issue of abortion answer not really in part because those candidates who were pro Choice and won might very Well have won for other reasons the same being True of other candidates who ran  Jesse Helms As pro lifers. Did we learn what is the National mandate on our military initiative in the Middle East the answer to this is no but this does not mean that our presence there wont be a heavy political Factor in the future possibly in the very near future. One editorialist said that about one thing there was no question namely that the presidency of George Bush will rely for its justification on How he performed in the Middle East. By this is meant will what happens after our huge Endeavor there add up to a settled sense of geopolitical and International improvement in the situation of the West one problem with raising this question at this time is that no one knows the answer to the question what will be the Cost of bringing about an affirmative re sult if or. Bush were Able As in Panama to bring about the end of the dictator and his policies with minimum loss of life that is one thing another if we find ourselves engaged in a land War with casualty figures quickly mounting to four and five digits. And of course politically much depends on whether the democratic party is As clearly aligned As it has been in backing president Bush. One sees the following fissure developing namely a hard democratic insistence that or. Bush consult with Congress before taking the military Road. And what if he were to do so most Likely at this Point the democrats would seek to devolve responsibility Over to the United nations. What would happen if a vote to invoke article 52 and proceed with a military strike against Saddam Hussein were to win the backing of the Security Council except for a veto by China or the soviet Union or both How would the democrats react and what would or. Bush make of their reaction that the United states is now bound in foreign policy to respect a veto by peking or Moscow in any event this was unexamined ground in the National elections which were not fought out Over operation desert shield. Nor did the savings and loan crisis figure heavily. Both parties clearly recognized that there was enough in the record to assign blame universally. Ronald Reagan was president of the United states during the period it All went on and the democrats were in control of the critical committees of the Congress that not Only permitted the mess to continue but also increased the dimensions of the catastrophe by offhandedly extending to $100,000 the Protection of the Federal Deposit insurance corp. In no state were the a amp is adjudged to be a decisive influence on election results. On one proposition All commentators Are reasonably agreed. It is that George Bush a leadership on the tax question was quite simply catastrophic in its effect on Republican prospects. What it did was not exactly to decimate the ranks of republicans in Congress their loss m the House was actually less than the loss generally accepted in an off presidential year what it did was to leave the party with an incoherence on the question of the role of taxes that brought about a kind of philosophical anarchy. Ron Brown the chairman of the democratic party was of course elated by the rvs jul democratic gov. Richard Celeste of Ohio went so far As to say that Republican candidates needed to distance themselves from their Leader in order to survive. The exultation has to do with the democratic conviction that by stressing a fairness doctrine and assaulting the Rich the key to political Success has been discovered. It is unlikely that this will prove to be the Case. The reason for this politically is that when you Start to finance our deficits by taxing the Rich before you know it you have reached the Middle class because the Rich have about enough Money assuming they gave 100 percent of it to the government to sustain he government for a couple of weeks. Inevitably what then happens with High taxes is that you reach the incomes of men and women who Are struggling to maintain their Standard of living while sending their children to College and making mortgage payments on their House. These unlike the Rich Are very numerous and Are unlikely to sit about speechless if the democratic party resumes its sometime role As the enemy of the Middle class into which it is America s economic mandate to Welcome everybody. Universal press Syndicate