AN IMPERFECT WORLD

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CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-0
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December 20, 2016
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Approved For Release 2007/06/21: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-0 4R TIM Ar2,D t1tY~,r+y `7 HOUSTON CHRONICLE 21 AUGUST 1977 utlookl imperfect wonl STAT by George Bush WOULD like.to talk with -you.,about America's new human rights'ap- proach in foreign affairs. 1 ? In the first place;,I think it is correct we stress that we area nation that Values our commitment to human rights. But there are complications now - complications which could be serious. Many of our strong allies worry that this new policy is, going too far. This, in their eyes,. tramples on the heretofore sa- cred commandment against, mingling in, the internal affairs. of another country.` Our leaders indicate they don'ts' intend such interventioW%But it comes across dif- ferently. ri{~ ..ir' another, however, to conduct the policy in such a way that our friends abroad won- der if they must- conform to our every, desire in order to have our, friendship and support. We seem to blast one group of'countres which have been' our staunch friends. True, their democracies are.less than per- fect. , - I...., . , . , _ But look at the balance sheet of;.sorf's . 'Quiet pressura _ ~.t. On the negative side these allies, often violate the fundamental political rights of. free speech and political expressions.. We should work, bringing quiet pressure; to help change that. On the more? positive side, they have, stood with us in-opposition to Communist expansion. ~`? > Y They have nottried'fo export revolution or threaten -freedom outside their own borders. .:. TheY have supported us.m`the ,United Nations against ridiculous assaults. ' And they have permitted their own citi-, zens'a wide ;number of.freedoms we take for granted.. They permit freedom-of reli- gion. They respect private ownership of property. 'Often they permit free immi- gration and movement of people and ideas across national boundaries. .I, "? We shouldn't forget that these countries' curtail generally only political freedoms. Look at the Soviet Union:. You can't get an apartment, a job, or admittance to a. s without the state's permission. Some of.these friends we criticize are. faced-by..-concentrated. terrorism. seeking: to overthrow;the government Their, critics say, If you would sub- scribe. to;ou`yardstick on, human rights, you would. not be-,faced with such terror- ism."`That is, ,unfortunately, a naive 'Guerrilla activities Some' of these'. friendly governments would like tomove towards us. on the human rights, question, but the political pressures athome, given the brutal guer- rilla activities that some have to face, will not permit rapid movement. ,To sum it all up, the.pluses outweigh, in my mind, the, negatives on the. balance sheet. In the imperfect world in which we live, the positive side of the ledger is important. ',.Our new policy on human right is threatening these friendships. If friendship with the United States is to be determined by total, support for our heartfelt commitment to human rights we will be pretty, lonely in the world. Simply look around-,,,'' Cuba. The senator-.says we should now '..Enough for our -friends who violate I show our a . human rights. ,How about other countries! ppreciaiton by giving some- - Here is a troubling double standard in jeers that because Castro is now willing -to, our present approach- to,'the question of give minimum recognition to human MosLof .,these countries have: a disre-. We publicly-berate Chile'. and South: gard foreven'the most basic of human Korea for their woeful disregard of-, h rights. In fact, even the concept of human uman rights. But we express our ap-, rights is one that they fundamentally disa- preciation when North Vietnam tantaliz-,' gree with ?L :. ingly disgorges the names of a handful of The,)~Fench author.. and columnist Jean aviators shot down years ago - some thing they should have done' promptly in, Totalitarian regimz r, widely recognized now as totally repres- sive. Even some of their former supporters'in this-country=_: who said all, we had to do was "give peace a chance".',. signed' a letter expressing their public disapproval of the totalitarian' nature of Yet we seem' to be moving towards Approved For Release 2007/06/21 : CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-Ortlti"ziJu- J Francois Revel makes= this.i point in, his fantastic new book;`x`The Totalitarian Temptation." This is not some confirmed right-wing- I er. Revel is_a social democrat, a member a ~jauuen iuiu1-4,ommunjSt_,. Pidgin Marxism Revel argues that most countries that oppose the United States, commited to the overthrow of democratic 'capitalism are , adherents to a crude form of communism political expression, but every form of and coercion of the government. These countries oppose us in the U.N. ? They berate us everyday. They are often c ommitted to thf e. export o revolution to nations friendly to the West. Strangely, we do not single them out for their human rights transgressions. We slap Argentina and Brazil but we disregard-for human rights in Cuba and.` xnown. A U.S. senator comes back from Cuba and reports- to the President that Castro will let some American families leave Approved For Release 2007/06/21: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-0 We concentrate' on the racial injustice and lack of basic human rights for blacks in South Africa. God knows apartheid and racial injustice are abhorrent to Ameri- Struggle goes on I have,. the feeling some are Ud11J dim mmuulu uC: cunuemnea; out we the struggle beiween democracy and are selective. We overlook the fact most communism still goes on. And let's face it' African countries are totalitarian states there is a difference as far as our national which tolerate no dissent and frivolously disregard any commitment to democratic interest and the interest of democracy goes, between an authoritarian system principles. Some are engaged in discrimi- that resists Marxism and totalitarian natory or genocidal practices, against states who welcome Soviet advances and other -black. tribal groups within their advocate "pidgin Marxism.", countries. In the authoritarian states, there is a Revel says the people of Western large measure of human freedom, an democracies frequently forget that they inherent tendency to expand that freedom live in a transparent society with freedom and the promise of eventual movement to of the press, freedom of thought and free- democracy - witness Spain and Portugal. dom of expression. This allows our faults Not so for Bulgaria, Libya, Albania or a to be exaggerated, while the faults of to- score of other totalitarian states. talitarian systems are filtered by their government's control of information. In this country, we heard a lot about no Vietnam a few i th S f - ou , n. reedom "Thus," he says, "members of demo- press heard a lot nhn"f ..1_...... W years ago e f bl d t 4 .1C64 ...VJ -- W un avora e compare erm o ary power. Thei o today, press freedom is not imperfect others while the sam tematic h ki d of s m id d t id , e n ys e rap as a s r es. disparagement . . cannot manifest itself it simply doesn't exist. As for democracy, _ They are driven by the knowledge they it is completely gone. No dissent whatso- in Communist societies, e,~or Mn human ri hts as we revere therm - have a design for seizing control and are .. _. -- , g t., a+ueu v~ we aver acu va au~tv+y _- I,.rti.....,-.1 In Cambodia, many here gat home I favor a meanlnefut detente but it My problem is with'the apparent selec- I Not government. -rnere was, aunurreor There are plenty of ways the U.S.S.R. inn o - _._ livin - licy p _ - - g -.....-t viewed by friendly countries as interfer- was ma s slaughter. The capital city - _mentto world revolution. t it d t a eI ing in someone else's internal affairs. Pno} n Penh - force o regur g 9 In your lifetime, I. hope you are spared Let's face it, President Carter has ef- virtually its entire population,; sending_9 another war. 1 devasting death . I hope you live to see an increased com- fected a most improbable coalition in this them on history's most country. Many on the political right say, , march. Hundreds of thousands are wiped ' rnitment to human rights around the "Isn't it great we are standing up to-the out in mass killings, but our emphasis on world, for that -implies an extension of Soviet Union on human rights?" human rights transgressions seems to be freedom. This extension-need not be in our +; , _ "Isn't _t elsewhere ,t:.._ r, ,,..,.. m irror image P d great VUI resi ent expresses our cV111- mitment to what we. really stand for as a nation?" It is hard to argue against- either As for me, I want to see the proof of the pudding. I want to see how many Jews are . allowed to leave the Soviet Union. I want United Nations resolutions that. really I worry that in seeking to impose our, ;views in the human n '-rights field on our friends weaken these friends, thus clearing the' ,way: for home system totally repressive, with no commitment to human freedoms. Carter said, "We are-now free of the inor- dinate fear of communism which once lead us to embrace any dictator who join ed us in that fear I don't have an "inordinate fear of communism" but 'ham very concerned about the Soviet Union's threat. Further, I still remain concerned about the stated, commitment of Communist ,. societies.t ,' - Id revolution monarchyi is toppled. His governemnt's leadership is. lined up, shots and the coun- try is now in the hands of radicals who harbor no dissent whatsoever. - . Enough for criticism. What should be Stay strong First--we must stay strong, The Soviet Union spends an excessive percentage of weapons and military might. Its activities. are worrisome not only in the military field, but also in the political area. The most obvious example has to do with the- Soviet-sponsored movement of Cuban troops into Angola and their quick end to. democracy's chances. there. I don't ? "consider these. surrogates ' of the Soviet Union to be a stabilizing factor. Second, we: must clarify our human rights policy;-so as not to erode alliances in an imperfect world where we need allies, even though their systems fall short of our stand ard for human rights. Without diminishing our commitment perhaps we can lower our voices a little., Sometimes, quiet diplomacy can be effec- tive. Thirdly'we must not be afraid to advo cate our, own democratic capitalistic sys tem. a 11,11, :11, embarrassed over this country's good for- tune. That seems to. lead almost to an apology for capitalism and democracy. But economic and political freedom are . tied together. Both are essential to the creation of a system which satisfies both man's material and moral needs: - I am not advocating here a campaign to extend our system to all other countries. Nor am I advocating a bludgeoning of others to accept foreign investment by the United States. I am suggesting capitalism is fundamental to our system just as po- litical humar\ rights are fundamental to our system m :Both need emphasis. The success of our economic system and the completeness of our own adher- ence to human rights in this, country are powerful weapons in the continuing strug- gle between East and West. - My major foreign policy concern rests; s with the Soviet Union. They are strong in' f milit t r.technology Bush, a Houstonian, is a former con- gressman who has served as U.S. ambas- sador to -the United Nations. chief of the U.S.liaison office in Peking and director of the Central Intelligence Agency. : Approved For Release 2007/06/21: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-0