European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday june 18, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 commentary . Rosentha some advice for new envoy to soviet Union president Bush a decision to make Robert s. Strauss the new ambassador to the soviet Union is a pretty Clear message i am sending my Good old buddy to make the deals with my Good new buddy. That does not strike me As an inspired message to Send when the soviet Union is at a moment of change that will affect history a ours As Well As the Kremlin a. It can be change that will allow the communist system to stagger on fed and bankrolled by the West As Quot Mikhail s. Gorbachev Hopes. Or it can be change that will give the soviet people a Chance to break with a past bankrupt economically politically and morally. At a time like this the president might be better off to Send the toughest american expert on the soviet Union he could find somebody Gorbachev could not cozy up to somebody he might worry about because he knew How to play endgame. Maybe a real hard headed anti communist labor Leader like Lane Kirkland whom the soviet people would adore would be Best or any Republican still around whose political Range extends beyond the next Dole of agricultural credits a Jack Kemp maybe or William Buckley. If Bush wants a or. Democrat How about one who actually ran for office like John Silber president of Boston University whose habit of speaking As sharply As he thinks Cost him the Massachusetts governorship he would give Gorbachev a useful intellectual Jolt All right. But that a fantasy. Bush is already moving to commit the United states to the word and paper plans of his Kremlin buddy. Still so far the Texas buddy has been nobody a fool nobody a. If the american people have any Luck Strauss will resist being Gorbachev so or the presidents. Strauss is helpful to people looking for Friendly advice. So Here is some for him. Before you appear for Senate confirmation hearings or. Strauss think about some questions that seem to have escaped the administrations attention. Several Alert senatorial aides Are preparing to suggest them to their Bosses. 1. Or. Strauss supporters of massive Aid to Moscow say it will be conditioned on great Reform. But the other Day in Oslo or. Gorbachev proclaimed that to set conditions would be a futile and  he also warned of world instability unless he gets what he wants As sen. Daniel p. Moynihan put it the Bank robber holding aloft the nitroglycerine. Or. Strauss Isnit there a contradiction Here does no to it worry you 2. Aid to the Kremlin is supposed to expand the human rights of the soviet people. A delegation of americans britons and soviets has just reported that the red army is protecting azerbaijanis who Are arresting torturing killing and deporting armenians living among them. Comment 3. Lithuanians charge that the Gorbachev regime is still conducting an eco nomic blockade against them a food often included. What has state told you about this 4. The new soviet emigration Law which is the administrations rationale for lifting Tariff restrictions has loopholes a like extendable barriers for a a Security reasons and for citizens of military age. It a does no to take effect for about two years. Why the great Tariff hurry in Washington As if we done to know 5. Economic Aid will go to a government that has about 10 percent of Public support and acknowledges it cannot carry out its own mandate. Worse Aid will be channelled through the Sticky hands of tie same apparatchiks who ground the soviet people into the dirt. Now they Are battering on contracts they sign with Western businessmen and governments. Or. Strauss,.doesn�?Tt that make you a Little sick to your stomach 6. Lets get to the Bone. Or. Strauss. You know that economic Aid to the dying soviet regime is really political life support for the cruel and criminally slovenly communist system. Are you really going to sit there and Tell us the Quot United states should do that and that the american taxpayer should put up the guarantees like some new cockamamie International saving and Loans Deal come on. Strauss of course will be the presidents Loyal envoy. But lie docs not seem the kind of Man who will also willingly become the president s Patsy. History a Clown. This is no april Gaspic. Good Luck or. Strauss for Allol us. C United  International Tom Wicke Clifford sets the record straight on Vietnam the Erslyn Gulf War evoked Many echoes of Vietnam and the Quick and overwhelming Victory in the desert awakened Many of the old charges a in Vietnam the . Sold out a Loyal ally failed to use sufficient Force but still lost the w a Only for Lack of support at Home. One of the most important contributions of he memoirs of Clark Clifford a counsel to the president a is to demolish these arguments. A the War was not lost at Home a Clifford writes. A it was lost where it was fought in the Jungles and Rice paddies of Southeast Asia and in the offices of a corrupt and incompetent  Clifford served As a member then chairman of the foreign intelligence advisory Board in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and in the last year of the latter was its Secretary of defense. He argued against president Johnson a deployment of ground troops to Vietnam re in 1965, thereafter supported the War policy then from the Pentagon became a powerful advocate for a winding Down the War and negotiating peace. Clifford was More than an officeholder. From his service As counsel to president Truman and architect of the treat presidential Victory of 1948, As manager of the i Senhor or to Kennedy transition in i960, As a personal Counselor to John f. Kennedy and As a leading Washington attorney he had become by the late 60s one of the most impressive figures in the capital and the democratic party a a voice to be listened to with respect. As Secretary of defense Clifford had the courage to do what few Public officials Ever do he reversed himself and argued against a policy he had previously supported. As a memoirist he does not shrink from admitting his own mistakes and those of the administrations that pursued a War he came to see As a Sun a winnable at any reasonable level of american,participation.�?� the ., he asserts a overestimated our allies underestimated our adversary and thought that the american presence on the Battlefield would be sufficient to change the situation in our favor. We were  Clifford is impatient with the charge of a a a Selling out Quot an ally. The United states he Points out sent troops and advisers to Indochina from the late 50s until 1973. A the longest War in american  it sent a massive aids to South Vietnam throughout that period and for two More years. More than 2.5 million americans of whom 58.000 diced were engaged in the War. And Well More than $150billion was spent to support ii. He dismisses Loo As a a a dangerous myth the notion that the anti War movement in the . And the press were responsible for defeat. And it was he writes a the Hawks not the doves vrho weakened America by pursuing the War for so Long. ,. By putting our National prestige on the line at the Point where our ability to control events was at its weakest the Hawks undermined the very National strength and prestige they claimed to be protecting a for All these reasons Lark Clifford buttressed by the record of the period copiously quoted and by his own a unparalleled experience a argues a we should not draw the wrong lessons from Vietnam. It was a defeat but not because we failed to slay the course. Rather than lacerate ourselves for our failure 1 believe we can look Back today and say that we demonstrated our willingness to make an enormous commitment. We did everything we could reasonably do to help the South vietnamese Mote for that  these arguments wont end debate on Vietnam that a probably beyond anyone a Power. They ably counter however the lacerating idea that we could have done in Vietnam what we did in the desert if Only we would have. A it i thu yet. A