OCR Text |
Show ;l rJ Mtli J? - J v WWW?.,- - The Ralt Ijike Tribune, Sunday, July of American Policy 16, 178 V 21 :! Ill Even an Embargo Fails to Slow Down U.S. Arms Sales (Ogmbene Is a free-lanc-e writer who cov us military and political affairs.) By Peter J. Ogmbene Special to The Washington Post Few things better illustrate the quality of American arms sales policy than the current dispute over lifting our "embargo against Turkey. We have no arms sales embargo against Turkey. We are supposed to have one. We are supposed to be punishing the Turks for using d weapons against the Greeks m the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a violation of U.S. arms aid law. But the fact is that we are providing more arms aid today to Turkey than to Greece, despite our embargo. Specifically, we are providing an estimated $175 million in military sales credits this fiscal year to Turkey but only $140 million to Greece. This is bemuse the intended embargo against Turkey has a relatively loophole; Because Turkey is a member of NATO, the president is allowed to sell it up to $175 million in arms so that Turkey can meet its NATO commitments. little-notic'- d Embargo a Myth1 Although Turkey wants considerably more than $175 million yearly in U.h. military ail, one could say the embargo is really a myth, remarks a congressional source. The ceiling is considerably higher than the avei age of FMS (foreign military sales) to Turkey. Indeed, a great deal about U.S. arms aid policy is a myth. By law, a foreign government buying American weapons must agree to use the soley for internal security, for equipment (or). . .to participate in legitimate regional or collective arrangements or measures consistent with the charter of the United Nations. . . If another nation employs U.S. weapons in substantial violation of these by invading another country, for purposes the law requires military assisexample tance and arms deliveries to be terminated. self-defen- se In practice, however, the sanction is seldom applied. In 1975, for example, Indonesia invaded and occupied East Timor and subsequently annexed the former Portuguese territory. It was a clear case of aggression, which resulted in thousands of casualties. The United States reacted tmidly. The Ford administration put a hold on new did not stop of arms but commitments deliveries, according to a Stale Department official. Arms Sales Increase Timor is now an Indonesian province, U.S. arms sales to Indonesia increased 73 percent over the past year and when Vice President Mondale visited Jakarta In May he announced that tlie United States would help Indonesia improve its air force. Our first installment will be the sale, on credit, of A4 attack aircraft. Anns sales law specifies the types of countries to wliich the United States will not sell weapons. Excluded are military dictators who are denying the growth of fundamental rights or social progress to their people as well as any economically less developed country' that is diverting. . .its own resources to unnecessary military expenditures to a degree which n.atenally mterteres with its development. But these provisions are easily set aside. If the president asset U that it is in Lite national interest to arm certain dictators or underdeveloped countries, the stricture against arms sales simply evaporates. Such waivers have been used by every recent president, including Jimmy Carter. Sanctions Inconsistent Sanctions have been applied to a number of countries but with little consistency. We tend to treat major purchasers of American arms one way, small customers another. Indeed, when human rights have been violated, who committed the act often seems more important to our government than what rights were ;ilatcd. Tlie administration and Congress," says a State Department official, have cr ..e up against tlie difficulty of applying human rights to the practice of arms sales. When you're talking about big arms sales, youre talking about mutual security. The president, so to speak, got In bed with the shah on New Year's Eve. It makes our policy in Argentina look silly. The official is alluding to a State Department report in February citing Iran for serious human rights violations. It pointed to cases of and arbitrary arrest and imprisonment" charged that some prisoners are held lor lengthy periods, sometimes Incommunicado, without formal charging. Argentina also has a dismal record on human rights. By law, both countries ought to be called to account for these violations when they seek to huv our weapons, but only Argentina is being e The Public Forum Tribune Readers Opinions Christian Duty Editor, Tribune ; The Tribune had an editorial in the July 6th paper entitled, Too Far Gone To Ignore, which discussed the Singer family who are good Christians. You indicate that the have no choice but to do their authorities sworn duty and arrest the Marion, Summit County, farmer. I don't blame Mr. Singer for not sending his children to the state church (public schools) for Forum Rules Public Forum letters must be submitted exclusively to The Tribune and bear writer's full name, signature and address. Names must be printed on political letters but may be withheld for good reasons on others. Writers are limited to one letter every 10 days. 1 reference will be given to short, typewritten (double spaced) letters permitting use of the writer's true name. All letters are subject to condensation. Mail to the Public Forum, The Salt Lake Tribune, Box 867, Salt Lake City, Utah, 81110. - the same reasons. I support his move against the kangaroo courts and K.G.B. law enforcement officers. Mr. Singer has broken no laws. Mr. Singer instead is upholding Christian laws regarding Christian education for his children. Deuteronomy 6:4-- 7 states: Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our God is one God. And thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest hi thine housp, and when thou walkest by the way, and w hen thou best dowm, and when thou risest up. I find nowhere in the Holy Bible that states that parents have to send their children to the state church (public schools), instead I read in Levi 18.21, And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Yahweh. Mr. Singers notorious defiance of Satans laws is upheld by Christians throughout the country. TTie law that is persecuting Mr. Singer has no dignity and should not be tolerated by Christian people. The most that can be done now is to have the kangaroo courts drop all charges against Mr. Singer and to have the K.G.B. law enforcement officer stop persecuting Mr. Singer for upholding his Christian duty. REV. JOHN S. WOODS. Ph D. West Jordan Apol oinziii" n for Nul o Editor, Tribune: Heston Johnson's letter (Tribune Forum, July 9) contains one true statement when he says You sure print some awful letters. He then proves exactly how correct he is Please, world, remember that all denominations have a few nuts on their membership roles, and accept an apology from another Mormon, me. MRS TOM R WHITE Irrtj)un."il)le Land LW Tribune: Regarding The Tribune article of July 9, concerning New S.L. Suburb Glowing in Mountains, I was very disappointed by the lack of research and thought, that went into the article. The author is unclear in log motive for writing such a piece. Was his motive to pay honor to the Summit County Commission and planner, or was it to give free publicity to the subdividers in that county? You see, Summit County sticks out as prohnhlv the most poorly planned county in Utah. Ask any professional administrator or planner and he will agree that Summit County is the place to go if you want to subdivide and develop raw land without any legal restrictions, without any requirements to provide paved streets, sewers, and other vital community services. Furthermore, the few residents in these rural ghettos should be interviewed as to their satisfaction with their new subdivisions. Editor, Sure, they probably think theyre fine now. But ask them why the homeowners associations must pay for, in full, all the street paving, sewer services, etc. They garbage pick-up- , won't like it one bit and will probably not go for Cun-Tt- it. So who is stuck with the bill for servicing these subdivisions? The county taxpayers, that's who. And why? Because the Summit county commission and planner have failed to exercise responsible land use and planning principles. It is these same commissioners statewide who scream for tax cuts, yet on the other hand they create greater tax burdens on the public. The Summit County Master Plan is not hardly worth the paper it is written on. The data collected is totally unreliable, unscientific, and biased. For example, to claim that the Park Area will have a population of 26,000 people, minimum by 1990, is a gross inaccuracy and misrepresentation. The public interest has not been served, and even The Tribune is contributing to this farce. I urge the author of the article go back up to Summit County and take a good hard look around and ask himself if responsible planning and administration is taking place. If we cant be objective enough to recognize the disaster that is being formulated, we will deserve the problems we will be getting: hundreds of homes and no services to be provided by those who are responsible. City-Parle- MARTY HATHAWAY Park City Malice Displayed For Lee and Hickman Editor. Tribune: (Forum, July 9) touched on Heston Johnsons general dislike of Mormons and the satisfaction he derives from displaying it. It Is quite obvious that the goals of Mr. Johnson and his fellow writers are to intimidate or hurt their LDS audience. Unfortunately, they show everyone the malice they harbor toward their fellow man; particularly when they write with the spiteful tone typified anti-LD- by Mr. S Johnsons letter. Why waste your time? Pointless drivel on the editorial page isnt going to devastate any Mormons testimony. JOHN WILLIS RICHARDS Provo Not Aiigels Editor, Tribune: I strongly disagree with Mabel Ann Curtis, R.N., and her arguments regarding nurses, their uniforms, and lack of respect society gives them (Tribune Forum, July 9). As a newly graduated registered nurse, I and many of my colleagues are appalled by the poor wages nurses make in this state. The responsibility and the liability for human lives are tremendous. The nurse today has to keep on top of the latest developments in sc ence and technology. She has to understand how drugs work and know the possible side effects. If a doctor is unavailable, nurses must exercise independent judgment when a life is at stake and time is of the essence. Many ofus are the sole source of support for our families and cant make ends meet on tlie ridiculous wages we make. As long as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, ditch diggers and janitors wages far exceed those of nurses, there will be a shortage of nurses in this state. The public appreciates and respects our profession and what we do for the community, yet few' people know how low our wages really are. Nurses are not angels of mercy, they are g dediiated professionals. They deserve a living wage. RENEE B. MOES, R.N Sandy hard-workin- Exam Indicated Editor, Tribune: After reading the letter Heston Johnson, (Tribune Forum) July v wed like to know if anyone has checked out his banity, MR. and MRS. J O. HYDE cut off. Iran, our biggest customer, spent nearly $6 billion on U.S. arms last year, whereas Argentina has been buying only $15 to $20 million of American military equipment annually. Little Effect Even when sanctions are selectively applied, they can have relatively little effect. Congress to Argentina, restriction on arms "sales which goes Into effect Oct. 1, will not stop military aid to that country. According to a Defense Department spokesman, American firms have contracts to export but have not $3 million In ammunition, $19. yet delivered million in aircraft, $3 million in communications equipment and $7 million in ships and spare parts to Argentina. These items will be shipped there over the next few years. We make the point in dealing with other states that we are a reliable supplier, that the United States will supply follow-o- n support for tlie items that we sell, says a State Department oiiictal. its OK for people to sit in ivory towers saying, Dont do It, but there are other factors to consider. Money's been spent: youve got a production line going; jobs ai-- at stakp. So its a very difficult decision to cut off deliveries." Another official at State ackm;wleu&ed tuai u pipeline cutoff is rare "because of the American business ethos: Once you sign a contract, you fulfill it. So the decision to stop something in the pipeline is political. A lot of times you dont even know whats In the pipeline. Data Scattered State Department is responthe Although sible for overseeing arms sales, transactions are administered by the Pentagon and the individual armed services. The data are similarly scattered, according to a Pentagon 50UTC6, and "cant be handled by one computer here. A3 a consequence, when State queries Defense about equipment in the pipeline, a reply may take several weeks. When one department is responsible for a policy carried out by a second, administrative chaos may result. When 11 tons of bomb parts destined for Chile turned up last month on a commercial pier in San Francisco, longshoremen refused to load the cargo because of their unions opposition to the Chilean junta. The parts were moved to a military pier, but the shipment, said a State Department official, is temporarily on hold. What else has Chile ordered but not received? A Pentagon spokesman said the pipeline still contains about $33 million (of materiaD yet to be shipped to Chile and due to be shipped over the next couple of years. Included is ammunition worth $7 million. No one has told us here," he said, that it will not be shipped. Arms deliveries have been terminated twice in recent years. We couldnt let all this nice cfpiipment rust. (Copyright) Stephen S. Rosenfeld Making Hay With Captive Nations Week The Washington Post Amid the general nastin ness pervading relations, there is a readiness in some Washington quarters to make hay out of Captive Nations Week, coming up next week. The observance treats the Communist countries and especially the various Soviet nationality groups as Moscows captives, and as nations, and calls in effect for the dissolution of the Soviet block and the dismemberment of the Soviet Union. To describe it in these true terms is to make plain why Captive Nations Week has never been more than a vehicle of and extremism. Yet in the current atmosphere a search is on for ways to punish the Kremlin for its political sins, or to convey revulsion without compromising "real interests like arms control, idea is a convenient and the captive-nation- s club at hand. WASHINGTON Soviet-Ameriea- anti-Sovi- nations people barely got a proclamation out of Carter last year, though the law requires one. In that proclamation and in the new one issued this week, there is only an innocuous appeal for basic rights. This is, I would argue, just about right. Politically, the administration will take some heat for its diffidence, although among ethics themselves only certain subgroups emigrants from the Ukraine and Hungary, for Instance) seem any longer to care much. The ethnics, traditionally part of the Democratic urban coalition, mostly have other complaints. Deeply Flawed Diplomatically, the captive nations idea is deeply flawed. To wait for time to etch deeper divisions among Soviet nationalities and imamong East Europart more peans is one thing. This is happening, more or (first-generati- less, and the United States must puzzle out its consequences. But to hold out the promise of nationhood to constituent pacta of the Soviet Union and to invite East Europe to break completely free of Soviet control is to tempt foolish acts that the United States will inevitably be poorly placed to support. It is thus to heedlessly provoke Soviet power. At least since the Hungarian uprising, successive administrations have conducted a compromised, halfway policy in respect to the captive nations, teasing or challenging Soviet power but always within limits. Captive Nations Week indulges the fantasy that the United States need not respect limits. It makes the facile equation that whatever discomfits the Russians benefits us. It is a dream a dangerous dream. long-ter- m (Copyright) There is something reckless and wrongheaded about the idea, but there is something disarming, too. In the 1960s when many people (including me) were more hopeful about n prospects, it was in vogue to dismiss captive nations as an exeicise in irredentism and ethnic politics. That tendency docs not have the same force now. Soviet-Ameriea- Rising Awareness The main reason, I think, is rising awareness of ethnicity. The phenomenon has complex roots and expressions. In its international aspect, it has helped legitimize demands for nationhood on the part of ethnic groups previously held down. It is, after all, quite arbitrary that 30 or 40 tiny ethnic communities of a couple of million or fewer souls should become states while 48 million Ukrainians remain subordinate. If the world can demand nationhood for the 22nd or 23rd Arab group to claim it, whichever the Palestinians are, how can others be denied? A second reason why the captive-nation- s concept is not so readily dismissed in the human rights movement. It has lent respectability to an array of political causes of the right as well as the left, as long as they can somehow claim to assert an individual's or groups WT w nr T1np V J "rights. From the captive nations point of view, the Carter administration held high initial promise. It emphasized human rights and and muscular generally seemed in its approach to Soviet power. Zbigniew Brzezinski had long been on record favoring an active budge building policy toward East Soviet Europe, and viewing the nationalities as the ruling Russian minoritys eventual Achilles heel. Early on, the administration pushed for more radio broadcasting in local languages to the Soviet Union and East Europe. Individual Rights In fact, this promise has not been fulfilled. focus has been on individual The human-right- s rights, not nationality rights. The administration has pursued its several prederessoni' policy of cultivating East Fmiean nationalism with a careful eye to East Europe's judgment of whul the traffic with the Soviet Union w ill bear. There has beer, no change in the approach, in the limped ways open, to Soviet nationalities. Radio operations go on just as before. Even in the State Department, the impetus element of captive for taming the coIJ-wa- r nations is attributed to Brzezinski. The captive- - v V Heie are bnefs of news in Tlie Salt Lake Tribune From 25, 50 and 100 years ago: July 16, J878 Some six carloads of passengers went to Lake Point on Saturday evening by the 6 oclock train, and about 200 of the number took in the moonlight ride on the lake aboard the General Garfield, which left the wharf at 8 p.m. As soon as the steamer pushed out, Olsens quadrille band started up a waltz, and the hurricane deck became a scene of gaiety, lasting the whole trip. As the moon appeared above the mountain tops, a breeze sprung up from the southwest, cooling off the atmosphere and lending a charm to the scene and comfort to the occasion. Tlie steamer, Captain Eouris assured those alamrd, was sound in every respect, and good for ten years service, the cry that had been raised against her being wholly without foundation in truth. July 16, 1928 that held a laree gallery in suspense from the first tee until the final putt was putted home on the eighteenth hole at Nibley pork Sundry made Lcs Jarman and Super golf, V..,lly Johnson Utahs newest golf champions. It Was Abel Larson in the final round of The Salt Lake Tribunes second annual junior open tournament and Johnson w on over Jarman defeated Tel Branca in the junior tournament. Both victories were decided in the final green, and in each case the margin of victory was a slender one up. Jarman and Johnson join Lee Llewellyn to complete the trio of Tribune and state champions. Joty 16, 153 Albert Ernest Bowen, 77, member of tne Council of Twelve Apostles of toe Church of Saints for more than Jesus Christ of Latter-da16 years and a prominent member of the legal profession, died Wednesday at 9:45 a.m. at his residence, 38 N. State, after a lengthy illness. y A leader in church activities since his early youth, Mr. Bowen held numerous errlesint'ticnl positions before he was sustained a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles at the 107th annual conference April 6, 1937. Prior to that time he had enjoyed a distinguished career as an attorney, out in recent years he had devoted his time and energy primarily to his church responsibilities. |