European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 12, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday february 12, 1991 the stars and stripes a a a Page 13commentary William f. Buckley or. Soviet military history holding Kremlin Back so we Are very much worried the Secretary of state officially informs us about what is going on in the soviet Union. That is certainly understandable Given recent action by the soviet High command one can no longer with any safety say merely Quot by Gorbachev on the matter of a reduction in conventional and strategic arms. We now know though alarmingly Little fuss is being made Over it that the soviet High command has simply repealed the commitment of the soviet Union made through then foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze a to two Mjor arms enterprises. A the first has to do with withdrawing its troops from Eastern Europe they still squat Down in formidable numbers in Poland and East Germany in particular the second with its Start commitments aimed at cutting in half its Supply of strategic weapons. Understand that the two agreements were absolutely relied upon by the american government As things done a it was left Only to go through the ritual of signing the agreements. The whole episode sadly reminds us of the lesson Arnold Beichman cites in his important new Book Quot the Long pretence a on the disastrous history of soviet commitments. But then we Are not dealing any More Are we with the traditional soviet apparatus the answer to this is yes and no. A a a a a a yes the liberation of Eastern Europe can be counted upon to be a permanent thing putting this another Way for the soviet High command to attempt to restore its Warsaw pact Empire would require War at an Afghanistan level combined with total economic isolation. But if there Isnit an overhang from the bolshevik Days How account for the High commands Rabid appetite for maintaining its huge military apparatus several years ago i wrote in this space that the soviet Union deprived of its strategic nuclear weapons would become nothing much More than a vast Lumpen territorial mass something on the order of a North India. It will never to be sure lose its distinctive Genius a this is the land of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy Gogol and Turge tev Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn. But what made the world tremble when the Kren attn spoke was its War machine and this is War machine that the High command which for All intents and purposes has replaced Gorbachev simply refuses flatly to do without. Leaving us where Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii tells us that the soviet unions economic position is so dangerous that it is swiftly imploding. We know that the Brief moment during which it appeared that the soviet Union might take genuine Steps toward economic Reform after the initial enthusiasm shown by Gorbachev was rejected. That rejection followed soon by the resignation of Ellen Goodman Shevardnadze reminds us that the age of the Man of the decade did not last very Long and the Symbol of the return of the old Days revealed last thursday is that communist Crown of thorns the Kab Bug. Boris Yeltsin May be the most popular Man in the . He May be president of  soviet Republic. Of Russia itself but lie. Cannot prevent his own a Stipe from being Zugg e . A a Henry Kissinger has for Many years stressed the analytical Point that needs to animate our thinking toward the soviet Union. It is this although it is undoubtedly True that there Are very few True believers left in an ostensibly communist country what is left is a historical determination to prevail As Peter the great and his a successors prevailed for 300 years building their vast Empire. That spirit looks upon a nuclear missile not Only As a Ferrule with which to beat the enemy and native miscreants but also As a badge of High office. But since the soviet High command presumably does not need nuclear weapons to control Baltic separatism a a a or even separatism in Georgia or the caucasus what then does it practically propose to do with such weapons and w Here is it going to find the Means  an arms race when in Leningrad food is now being a tinned. Professor John Roche of Tufts University a former a adviser to by n do no o i noun run re i in Porti to Faical analyst tells us that w a can perhaps take Comfort from the knowledge that there in t really anything we can do. We done to want to lend the new High command Money or even food Why a a befriend a Power so antagonistic to its own people and so undependable in joint enterprises already forsaken like arms reduction nor is any form of intervention More drastic than say. The discreet recognition of Baltic Independence called for. We heed Only stay out of the Way keep up our guard and renew our membership in the Pearl Harbor committee to keep ones eyes on the Russia Fri duct. A a a a a c urn Poisal Pross Syndicate. Patriot joke blew up in nil owner s face pity the poor recidivist. Victor Kiam Patron and owner of the a Fly a new England patriots a Man better known for his electric razor than his razor wit had been sent to solitary after the Lisa Olson debacle. Now before he served his time he a struck again. Who let this Guy out on furlough Why does no this or Man have him under electronic surveillance ? it at a nearly All male All Jock event in Connecticut the Remington reaper was being roasted about a season in which the losses on the playing Field were More than matched by the losers in the locker room. Somi of his players were More dangerous out of uniform a and i mean out of uniform a a than in. V the naked aggression against reporter Olson had produced an unrivalled Flap about sexual harassment. Our boy Victor who called the incident Quot a Fly speck Fri the Ocean and called Olson a Quot classic Bitch a had ended up in full flight full Page Al network apologies. But Here he was on a weekday pass and he  help himself. He told the crowd a joke Quot what do the iraqis have in common with Lisa Olson they be both seen Patriot missiles up  a gag that Man with a Jock strap. One thought ran through the minds of even this Friendly crowd Quot i can to believe he said that a now we know Why he makes electric razors he can to Trust himself around a Blade. The a a jokes itself a which apparently was making the rounds a offers enough material to fuel any number of sonorous academic seminars on the subject of humor and society. How can humor offend you let me count the ways. Moshing about War death sexual harassment that a three and we be just begun. Kiam managed to wrap up every lethal analogy Between football and combat and women and overlay it with phallic symbolism. Only without the symbolism. The missiles Vic its bad enough that we name a weapon and a football team a patriots a a word that supposedly defines Quot one who loves and loyally or zealously supports ones own  the sports metaphors about War Are flying As thick As the planes Over the desert. It All reduces War to a game. But the reverse is More appalling. The not very subconscious confusion of virility and hostility reads like an entry in the annals of Macho madness men and their missiles. As for the merger of a woman and the iraqi enemy As targets Well at least he a got the right idea about sexual assault. Was this a belated admission that the boys in the locker room were using their us weapons in a hostile act Kiam has always reminded me of one of those nerdy kids w to can to get anyone to play with them unless they have the Only Ball. He bought the Ball the playing Field the whole team. After the Olson Flap last fall he and his boys got their Knuckles rapped and swore they had Learned their lesson. Now again he says his behaviour was Quot insensitive and inappropriate a a word used nowadays to describe everything from wearing White socks with a Navy suit to engaging in mass murder. A is Kiam suffering from multiple personality syndrome the two faces of Victor one apologizes the other insults. One is sensitive the other a lout. A. The Only Hope for the repeat offender is in the Wade Boggs defense. When the. Red sox players sexual infidelity made the headlines he threw himself on the mercy of the court of Public opinion confessing Quot i am a sex  he  help himself poor thing. Kiam should be declared a sexism addict of a bad joke addict or an offence addict. Forget the fines forget the apologies. In the spirit of the times he should be Given an alternative sentence at a 12-step program for people who Are compulsively offensive. Repeat after me a step one we admit that we Are put we less Over the urge Uroff end others that our lives have become unmanageable. Step two we came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Before you get to step 12, Victor try to remember that by ice joke Arentt like . They re More like land mines. When you fall Over them they explode in your face. C the Boston Globe a the opinions exp sed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of in stars and stripes or the United states government