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Show y 'y any, r my iyiiiyiipiiifyTtiira-iB- infriry wywnywiy iitfay nayrt muj , jy wq m afMayia'r't")1 - '"Jf "1 nyMy) j- Anthony Lewis gbf Salt akf (Tribune Saturday Morning, April Sprfion Foreign Policy Keeps Stumbling New York Times Service 17, 1982 A Page 16 BOSTON Anyone who wants to know why U S foreign policy is up to its neck in disasters these days wjll find illumination in some recent comments by Jeane If There Is to Be Laser Race U.S. Must Come in First More often than not, the General Accounting Office (GAO) is critical of system initial operational capability before the year 2000. Defense Department officials, however, have told Congress that by the early 1990s, the Soviets could have a large space complex in orbit government agencies and the military for spending too much money on projects, some of which may be of dubious benefit to the nation. That this congressional watchdog agency is nagging the Pentagon for not spending enough to expedite feasibility demonstrations of a space-base- d laser weapon, is a fair measure of the seriousness of the perceived shortfall. Space-baselaser stations capaof ble destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles in the initial booster stage as well as neutralizing other types of space and atmospheric weapons are seen as the next great development in warfare. And, as is so often the case, fear that the Soviet Union will achieve crucial breakthroughs first, also provides impetus for the GAO criticism. The GAO study, according to Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine, explains that if successlaser weapons could ful, space-base- d affect policy and help bring about a long-tersolution enabling transition nuclear weapons from offense-basedeterrence to defense dominance. That would be welcome progress. commitment to laser No all-ostations and other applications of the technology for military purposes can be made until feasibility of the techniques has been demonstrated. Under existing Pentagon schedules, according to the GAO study, these demonstrations would not occur until 1985 or later. The GAO study, says the aviation magazine, further states that a triad laser technology program as now structured will not laser weapon support a space-base- capable of attacking a variety of targets within earths atmosphere from space. If the GAO is correct, the U.S. could get there first if only more money was made available in the 1983 and succeeding defense budgets. Reportedly, much of the technology for providing a laser feasibility demonstration already exists in this country. Laser weapons and the fantastic claims made for their ability to destroy hostile objects quickly and at great distance are still just claims. The things might not work so well or at all. Even if they can perform as advertised, it should be abundantly clear that the world does not need another quantum leap in the scary art of So, will someone tell the Soviets to stop trying to gain laser weapon superiority? There is this consolation. laser weapon capability on the scale forseen by the most optimistic (?) military planners, the threat of nuclear devastation can be virtually eliminated, to be replaced, no doubt, by death rays out of the blue. In view of the dire consquences of coming in second best in the laser weapons race, and in recognition of the possibility that development of laser military application might lead to domination by defense rather than offense oriented military strategics, a feasibility demonstration should be pursued at full speed. That is not a choice of the heart. It comes from the pit of the stomach. d n. d ut d Leave the Rules Alone is needed, he said, to widen the margin of safety for the lead hazards have already placed in the environment. Doubtlessly the introduction of cars equipped with catalytic converters and which are required to be fueled with unleaded gasoline has contributed significantly to the reduction of lead in the air and, subsequently, in the blood streams of Americans. Still the medical experts say the need to lower that level further is crucial to preventing, and reducing, the inciailments. dence of The need for maintaining EFAs current regulations intact, thus, becomes a matter of some urgency. Particularly so when it is remembered that the Reagan administration wants the Clean Air Act amended so that cars can again be built without catalytic converters, an eventuality that would certainly be followed by a sudden and significant upsurge in the sale of the cheaper leaded fuels. The proof is clear and convincing; present regulations limiting some, and eventually all, gasoline to a bad content of 0.5 grams of lead per gallon have markedly reduced a major American health hazard. To ease those regulations would only serve to demonstrate the utter ridiculousness of arguing with suecess. along with being a callous, near criminal, disregard for the health of all Americans, particularly the children. The opinion of medical experts is almost universally the same: As the amount of lead permitted in gasoline has declined so has the amount of lead found in peoples in gasoline w-- e blood. The Environmental Protection Agency is currently examining possible revision of rules limiting the amount of lead that can be added to gasoline. Those rules should not be tampered with. The evidence, from things like the extensive tests and surveys done by the National Institutes of Health, is emphatic proof that the existing restrictions on the use of lead additives have been effective in removing from the atmosphere one of the major causes of lead poisoning in children, and a substance long recognized as a major causative factor in birth defects and mental retardation in children. Dr. Vernon N. Houk, acting director of the National Center for Environmental Health, sajd that a recent study done at the center "clearly demonstrates that as we have removed lead from gasoline we have also removed lead from ourselves and our children. Additionally he said. "Although the mean blood level decrease is dramatic, it does not solve the problem of pediatric lead poisoning in the United Stales." Continued reduction in the use of lead octane-boostin- g lead-relate- d . - linlrin. Hvihm Sloth I.n-- I. . , Kirkpatrick, President Reagan's ambassador to the United Nations. She was defending her decision to appear as guest of honor at an Argentine Embassy dinner the night after Argentina had invaded the Falkland Islands. Mrs. Kirkpatrick was asked about the dinner on the CBS interview program "Fare the Nation. She said the administration had shown its disapproval of the invasion by voting in the U.N. to call for Argentina's withdrawal. Then why go to the dinner? Because, she said, "the United States has never taken a position on the ownership of those islands." George Herman of CBS asked, "We have a position on armed aggression, though, don't we? After some preliminary sparring Mrs. Kirkpatrick said: "Now, look, one has to be clear about this, I think. Armed aggression would take place in a clear-cu- t way against territory on which there was clear-cu- t ownership. The Argentines, of course, have claimed for 200 years that they own those islands. And the British have held that they own those islands. Now if the Argentines own the islands, then moving troops into them is not armed aggression. Perfectly clear : Aggression is not aggression if the aggressor claims he is the rightful sovereign of the land he invades. So Hitler was not an aggressor when he gobbled up the Sudetenland in 1038, because be claimed that that Czech territory was really German. The explanation has all the slippery ingenuiacademic treatise. Bui Mrs ty of a third-raf- e Kirkpatrick is no lonepr an academic. She speaks for the United States. And in that role her words are numbing Mrs. Kirkpatricks formula could be used to justify aggression in support of any irredentist claim. And the world is full of such claims. In Latin America just about everv country has a claim against some part of its territory by some other country The principle agreed on when the United Nations was formed in San Francisco in 1945 was that territorial claims are not to be enforced by armed attack. The world was too dangerous. And it is more dangerous now. In short, the propriety of Mrs. Kirkpatrick's appearance at that dinner had nothing to do with the fact that the United States has taken no position on who owns the Falkland Islands. Whoever does, we are against changing the status quo by force. it was Until the Reagan administration, inconceivable that a high American official would sit down as guest of honor at an aggressor's party the night of thp aggression. Mrs. Kirkpatrick said she had checked with other officials about going to the dinner, so it was an administration decision. If Mrs. Kirkpatrick had wanted to give a candid explanation of the decision, she might have offered one of the following: We in this administration think we have to lire up as many countries as possible in the fight against world communism. Argentina has an important role to play. That is why we have tried to end the chill of the Carter years and become friends with its military rulers. We do not want to risk all that now. It is true that some unpleasant things have happened in Argentina, such as the of thousands of people. But disappearance toughness is required to defeat terrorism, and that inevitably means there will he some excesses. As I suggested after visiting Argentina and Chile last summer, those countries could give good advice on how to prevent the spread of guerrilla war through Central America. Specifically, though 1 cannot say too much about this, we have been working for Argentine help against Nicaragua. If you think about the explanation that Mrs. Kirkpatrick gave, or about the unspoken ones inherent in our policy toward Argentina over left-win- g the last year, you see the fatal characteristics of the Reagan foreign policy: invincible ignorance, unyielding ideology. and it Color some regime earns our embrace. It does even though it is a brutal and incompetent tyranny. It does even though it works hand-i- n glove with the Soviet Union. Ideological preconceptions prevail in the teeth of the facts. I wonder whether doubts are nagging at Secretary of State Haig as he struggles heroically, and so far unsuccessfully, to defuse the effects of Argentine adventurism that was Congratulations . . . Drew Middleton Britain Beefs Up Forces For Falklands Conflict New York Times Service LONDON Britain Wednesday strengthened the air component of the expeditionary force headed for the Falkland Islands, British military planners said the move would increase the prospect for successshould fighting ful landings in islands develop. The Royal Navy announced that Atlantic container ship capable Conveyor, an 18,146-to- n of 24 knots, would he chartered to carry additional Harrier jump jets to the South Atlantic. This will bring the number of Harriers available to over 40. The present plan is for the additional Harriers to take off from Atlantic Conveyor and join the other planes on the Invincible and the Hermes, the two carriers with the fleet. At the same time, the Navy said it was recommissioning the Intrepid, a 11,000-to- n assault ship, to take additional troops and supplies to the fleet. The navy also is requisitioning four trawlers that will be used as minesweepers and may send some Hunt class minesweepers to the region. The Hunt class ships have plastic hulls and were built for operations around the coasts of Europe. A Ministry of Defense said that the addition of Intrepid and Atlantic Conveyor will add significantly to the amphibious capability of " our The Royal Air Force announced that its Nimrod reconnaissance aircraft are now flying from Ascension Island on scouting missions over the South Atlantic. The Nimrods arrived at the island over thp weekend. e Nimrods carry sensitive radar that can pick up ships or obiects as small as a submarine's periscope. But military analysts argued that at least two squadrons, about 24 aircraft, would be required to patrol the blockade zone around the Falklands, because Ascension is 3,500 miles distant. From the time the British fleet sailed. long-rang- e long-rang- ss . Tax Code Rewards Living in Sin and Living in Europe I ;, Vh.' thaw at r ,in m that Kennedy had inaugural Anyone earn v In you i.ip. 'I" Surr-- w the lw-Leave .. hot President John K law- - S !,i fountr. I".1' v t m without paying a So much for the thro m tin "go o 1 '' tax hand-nmel- u rv for a year a id U V hki the nl me - - - y y t's our ,.n Therefore the prudent taxpaver temams unwed It the prudent taxpayer is to a winking imuse. they get ' monno i.nn d. y aur poor tin lont.ne it would he your huddled IllJ-- o" ol l.lh; held more appropriate if the hm la'inr than a an oversized "Kv;t welcoming torch n m "A tax system - a jh -The G Gerald Carson ayofame Kgg. the Personal lrn ome Tax V.n From. How It Grew." Vet. a look a the r S tax -ph laws reveals that thi- - emm'iy''. - ai d omal go,.!rather some peculiar promotes (thie- - - inrluding ino-- t of the even deadh on- -- Jo-- o, hi-- ', for example Unel" Sam looks on lu- -t a - long as that deadly sin never evolve- - into who' he view - as a deadlier sin ri.u lag1. The ta. laws reflect Nietchc's It is the la-- t nail in philosophy on marriage the cotnn of death " And if you insi-- t upon will make von pay driving thi' nail. for a decent burial Take Go b o t in mind a hen r.e g.iv m n Ini' that - a rat tin ho up to $20 humor Tribune Km n Sr ( married divorced However, that shouldn't discourage 'la in from having children I'nele Sam is very hiv.vohnt win n it onu - to dependents The md the lietler the writeoff 10' ie the me: net -- .1 .v i I -- v nil eft I iou- tin- - -i e all t add ,nn ire o'ltln high in I.u' 'h'1 wMfare 11 ep for living - not in the ept of eoill e tortile nd tv pn ally her me ome r .1 ge ad v a nt age of the ta x lire a k de-ig- ti n e v ! huger la-- family, the lugger her liei k The government whether von aie iii'n or poor encourage- - piocreatiou "ill ide die li aditional fnyuly structure The government is particularly solicitous aivnit raising, blooding and showing horses. acourHing to Carson This eoneem could serve the national defense if the Pentagon should decide to reactivate the cavalry, he said. Dont pay your MasterCard or any other bill for that incur debt. The interest delights the Or lvetter yet. invest in a failing business - an amlmiance service for sickly X'ts sounds promising And just as the newspaper parody. Off The Wall Street Journal jokes, "If you have cancer, don't get rid of it too fast, you might losp valuable deductions." The paper invents a little known tax deduction tailed the Tumor Tax Credit, when "a cancerous tumor o large that it'selten quite valuable to - a at fn institutions, and Ihu- - worth a healths' tux deduction " In fact medical expense, are writeoff The government, in effect, subsidizes hv poohnndna The entire Ametn an tax system encourages loth The more money yon make, the more y 011 are taxed So wITy. wmk harder'1 matter old man ki-e- you are no longer unemployed task-force.- The good news is its getting cheaper to live . . . the bad news is its because of all the salps. encouraged by a year of American policy He knows that the Argentine regime is refusing to giv e up its aggression without assurance that it will p the fruits. And he knows now that the Russians are helping Argentina. As for Mrs. Kirkpatrick and her dinner, there is a footnote that adds irony to her explanation. Not even the Argentines were sure she would be brazen enough to come. Since first writing about the party, I have heard from someone was there that the embassy people were relieved and delighted when she turned up. (Copyright) Take a hard look at the poor slob who bought into the traditional American ethics for the last 10 years. He believed if you work hard, you will be rewarded. And for that Uncle Sam taxed thank you very him at a 50 percent rate much Our hard worker believed a penny saved - a peony earned And for putting his money in a savings account, our hard worker was taxed up to 70 percent. Finally, to demonstrate his faith in America and his confidence in the economy, our hero invested in the stock market For that, the value of his investment was cut by more than half largely due to the failure of the tax cotie to allow for inflation finally. Uncle Sam has a new image of the ideal American citizen anti taxpayer: He is a lecherou-- , old blind, gluttonous pi ndthi ift and hv pochmndriac who was the maior stockholder "I the now defunct Washington Star anti father of dozens. If the IRS wants to audit him. it will find him at his lavish heat lihouse tin the Riviera . 'Copy right military analysts here and in other NATO capitals have asserted that it carried insufficient air power to fight the Argentine air force and support a landing. Moreover, they said that with only about 20 Harriers available, the fleet's surface ships would be vulnerable to attacks by Argentine aircraft. Military sources at NATO headquarters in Brussels said that even 40 Harriers plus may not suffice if the British high command decides to land on East Falkland, the archipelago's principal island. Their view was that even with sufficient air cover, a landing by sea would be costly in men and materiel. The marines and airborne troops who form the hulk of the land forces w ith the task force are of high quality. But at the moment there are not enough to defeat an Argentine garrison now estimated at about ,1)00 men. A superiority of at least four to one is considered necessary for most amphibious assaults. Intrepid, one source said, may carry additional troops, although there is likely to be a delay before the assault vessel now at Poitsmouth will he ready to sail. Her sister ship, Fearless, left with the task force carrying iwo Marine commando units, about 1.200 men, and the chartered liner Canberra is on route with more than 2,000 marines and airborne troops aboard. A second, less potentially costly operation, would be a landing on South Georgia Island, about 900 miles southeast of the Falklands. The Argentine force there is well dug in, but the islands distance from the mainland makes Argentine air support unlikely. A third option open to the British is to launch raids against the Argentine force on the main island. The marines, airborne troops and the navys Special Boat Squadron, that service's version of the army's Special Air Service, are attacks. highly trained in course .Argentines against a British landing on fhe mam island, a subsidiary operation in South Georgia or a guerrilla war would he to use its four submarines against British surface ships. This could be costly, because the Royal Navy ships carry Ihe latest submarine detection dev ices, and the Argentine submarines are notoriously noisy when submerged. Tins might force Argentina to commit its only carrier, which has Sea King helicopters armed with Sea Slug missiles, lxith from Britain. Neutral mii'tary analysts regard the carrier as an easy target for the Royal Navys nuclear powered submarines and their long-ranTigerfish torjiedoos. 'Copyright! 1 diesel-powere- Orbiting Paragraphs The housewife down the street reports a distress ng imbalance of trade in the neighborhood. having exported two dozen eggs. 32 cups of sugar and three sticks of margarine in the pasl year, while importing only a nip of flour and a tablespoon of baking powder 'You're getting to be an oldtimer if you remember when you didn't need a reason to visit people. t Remember back when the girl who was whistled at didn't whistle buck' |