European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 27, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday january 27, 1992 the stars and stripes Page 13commentary Michael Hirsh chill reminiscent of prewar ties you 3#i. My make m we fuel pm a Awa y 1 i a Bush v ii in. A a it in a. Iii for Many japanese 1992 was supposed to he the year that lifted relations onto a lofty new plateau. So far its been More like a descent into the new year from hell. Worse what s on the horizon for the worlds two largest economic Powers looks even bleaker. One of the most ominous signs was the decision announced wednesday by the los Angeles county transportation commission to cancel a $122 million rail car contract with Sumitomo Japan a trading giant under Strong political pressure to save american jobs. The move could signal a growing grassroots protectionism that Japan fears might Lead to a Trade War. Early last fall Tokyo a assessment of relations with Washington was full of Promise. Japan acquired a savvy internationalist prime minister. The bilateral Trade imbalance was shrinking the . Economy was expected to recover. But the . Recession linked by president Bush in part to Japan a Trade practices is lengthening the hoped for recovery postponed until later this year if then. The Trade imbalance worsened slightly in 1991, according to figures just released. The new world order so hoped for Here has turned into a whole new order of tensions. The first three weeks of 1992 have seen Little but political gaffes diplomatic embarrassments and rising acrimony on both sides much of it triggered by Bush a contentious Jan. 7-10 Trade Summit. And in the absence of an overseas Security threat Japan and its Trade policies Are being thrust into the Center of americans political dialogue this election year As never before. This became apparent last week when controversial comments by japanese politicians a one of whom ridiculed . Workers in response to Bush a demands that Japan buy More american cars a set off a wave of . Anger. The american reaction dominated headlines in both countries and Shook Japan with its fury. A it is necessary to realize that a slip of the Tongue by a politician can easily make worse the already shaky relationship Between Washington and Tokyo a the to Mizuri Japan a largest newspaper said in an editorial thursday. A both nations should be responding to each other More calmly and making far greater efforts to build up rather than tear Down the events in the last few Days have deepened the chill. On wednesday House majority Leader Richard Gephardt and 27 other democrats introduced a Bill that would require Japan to reduce its Trade surplus by 20 percent a year. The Bill is backed by the big three automakers. The same Day Sumitomo corp. Of America Learned it was losing the los Angeles rail car contract. Sumitomo immediately contended it was a victim of Japan bashing. Japanese television thursday showed groups of . Construction workers waving signs Reading a american jobs for american particularly worrisome for Japan was the fact that California has been considered More Friendly to japanese business than the . Heartland. The los Angeles action May also cause concern by . Manufacturers of rail cars and heavy vehicles that Export their products to Japan. Meanwhile . Embassy officials accused bureaucrats at the japanese agriculture ministry of violating one Market opening agreement by asking traders to curb beef imports. However in a conciliatory gesture Japan a parliament announced t thursday it was buying two bricks As part of its Effort to persuade reluctant japanese to buy american cars. Still the dialogue has grown so frigid that increasingly both japanese and americans Are reminded of a period both nations would like to forget the 1930s and Early �?T40s. Quot this reminds me of the fall of 1941, when the japanese were saying that America is decadent because its filled with other races and falling to pieces a said Robert Orr head of the Stanford Japan Center in Kyoto. A that sentiment caused Japan to make some tragic miscalculations. A Mochnol Hirsh is an a correspond ont Haspod in Tokyo Ellen Goodman time to find common ground on abortion the anniversary went As expected. After 19 years of protests and counter protests that Mark the supreme courts abortion decision everyone knows the Drill. Placards of fetuses Over Here posters of coat hangers Over there. Sound bites All around. Of course the Energy level seemed higher this year and the sense of urgency heightened. That too was to be expected. After All the supreme court has decided to hear the Pennsylvania Case this Spring. If the justices overturn Roe or empty it of any last sips of meaning the Date of the protests May change but the argument will go on. Anyone who doubts that should Check the age of the protesters. T hey Are getting younger not older. What a fix we Are in. Pro life and pro Choice forces Are More than polarized they Are mutually demonized. Most americans feel deeply ambivalent about abortion a with views that Are complicated and highly personal. But the Issue is As Public and oversimplified As a vote. Ambivalence is Only heard As two separate voices arguing in absolutist terms. As a country we would like the Issue to go away but instead it is shifting into a higher focus. As a people we rank it Low on the list of National priorities but it is gaining importance in politics. It will rage on a in the presidential Campaign in Congress where the Freedom of Choice act will gain ground in state Legislatures in the push to import the abortion Pill. Even Kat e v1ichelman, head of the National abortion rights action league slopped in the Middle of the anniversary rituals to acknowledge Quot most americans Are hungry for some kind of solution for the controversy. People Are tired of battling out the Issue in the Public Domain. They will do Battle. But they want to move on and resolve abortion she said wearily Quot is not a Happy event in the lives of women. We done to run around saying this is an experience you need to have a fulfilling life. I work on this Issue but i would like to see nothing More than a country that respects the right and works to reduce the need. A a that wish May signal a new direction. During All the years of deadlock those for and against a woman s right to decide have focused far More Energy on abortion than on reducing the number of unintended pregnancies. Indeed As someone who views the loss of abortion rights with alarm and More than that a sense of betrayal i share the current sense of crisis. But this is the time to broaden our perspective a not to dilute the Energy but to enlarge the argument and the audience. Americans done to want to talk about rights without also talking about responsibility. We can t talk about How to end pregnancy without also talking about How it begins. As Francis Kissling the head of catholics Lor a free c Hoice. Says Quot we who Are feminists talk about women s right to control our bodies. For the right to elders. That right ends at pregnancy. But for the pro choices s. It often sounds As ii the right begins at the Tough reality is that in half of All the abortions performed neither the women nor their partners had used birth control. Just to raise this Issue leaves pro Choice advocates open to charges of we know after All about birth control Haws and failures. We know about human frailty As Well. We Don t subscribe to forced motherhood As a punishment. But it is also True that those of us who defend the right to choose do not comfortably endorse abortion As a first Choice. Those who believe that women Are More than wombs do not regard the fetus As Mere protoplasm. Indeed the same women and men who believe in women a rights support Access to abortion As just one part of a much wider vision. I hat vision is of women who Are raised to be Strong Salt Contd Cut and responsible. We have to be willing to say in Public what we would say to our daughters. And to our sons. It is hard to broaden the debate during a crisis tar easier to raise the same old banners. But maybe we can Only lower the decibels of this debate by staking out this common ground. People of Strong moral sensibilities disa Gice violently at Xii abortion. 1 hat is not going to change. But As Kissling says Quot we re going to base to lie together in this sometime before the 2i la anniversary of Roe. M the Mil. Let a the 50th, we have to begin learning How let �?Tin., jut a
