Democratic Palestine : 23 (ص 29)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 23 (ص 29)
- المحتوى
-
Soviet Disarmament Breakthrough
On February 28th, CPSU General
Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev proposed
that all medium-range nuclear missiles
be phased out of Europe within five
years. The Soviet Union and the US
would scrap all but 100 warheads each,
to be redeployed on their own territory
(in the case of the Soviet Union, in the
Asian republics). Comrade Gorbachev
outlined other disarmament steps the
Soviet Union was interested in explor-
ing: reduction of long-range missiles,
conditional on non-deployment of
weapons in space; substantial cuts in
conventional forces in Europe; reduc-
tion of short-range missiles; and the
withdrawal of the Soviet missiles that
were Stationed in the German
Democratic Republic and
Czechoslovakia after NATO’s 1979
decision to deploy US cruise and
Pershing-II missiles in Britain, West
Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Comrade Gorbachev’s offer was
promptly welcomed by Washington
and a number of West European
capitals. The propaganda usually set in
motion automatically whenever the
Soviets table a peace proposal just
didn’t work this time. The imperialist
forces had been criticizing the Soviets
for conditioning any missiles accord on
non-development, testing and deploy-
ment of weapons in space. Boldly,
comrade Gorbachev broke this linkage,
depriving the imperialist forces of all
their arguments. In broad outline, his
proposal corresponds to the ‘zero op-
tion’ which the US promoted with
European support, precisely because
they thought the Soviets would never
accept it. Blinded by their own anti-
communism, the imperialists have
grossly underestimated the seriousness
of the Soviet’s desire for peace. Gor-
bachev’s proposal caught them off
guard.
In view of the Reagan Administra-
tion’s determined militarism,
epitomized in the SDI program for
weapons in space, the Soviet Union had
two options. It could have lived with
the stalemate that followed the Reyk-
javik Summit, content that the world
had seen that it was Reagan who had
blocked an accord by insisting on the
SDI. Alternately, the Soviet Union
could take a new approach to regain the
momentum in the disarmament talks,
even if this meant major compromises.
The Soviet leadership opted for the lat-
ter, based on their sincere desire for
peace and their determination to chan-
nel their resources towards the
economic and social renewal that is
sweeping the home of the October
Revolution.
Thus, the Soviet missiles initiative
has a double significance. On the
political level, it emphasizes the vital
interrelation between a socialist coun-
try’s domestic and foreign policy, and
that this convergence is in the interests
of global peace and human progress,
while also consolidating socialism. On
the practical level, Gorbachev’s in-
itiative is being viewed by many as
opening the way for «the biggest
breakthrough in arms control since the
heyday of detente in the early 1970s»
(The Guardian, March 2nd). Bruce
Kent of the CND in Britain noted,
«Gorbachev has lifted the level of
debate from warheads to people, and to
the needs of our fragile planet. Some-
one in the name of humanity, and with
the morale stature needed, ought to be
able to reply» (The Guardian, March
9th). The atmosphere at the Geneva
disarmament talks was revitalized as
the Soviets officially tabled their pro-
posal, bringing within reach an INF
treaty (Intermediate-range Nuclear
Forces, i.e., medium-range missiles).
FOLLOW—THROUGH
Despite the substantial Soviet com-
promises offered, the imperialist
powers recovered from their surprise
and began rumbling their reservations,
trying to deprive Gorbachev of the in-
itiative. The US stressed the obstacles
to an INF treaty, especially verification
and the problem of short-range missiles
(which the Reagan Administration in-
sists On increasing prior to the freeze
the Soviets have previously suggested).
The Reagan Administration also in-
sisted that the remaining 100 Soviet
medium-range missiles be stationed at
one base in Siberia, while the US would
put theirs in Alaska, right across the
Bering Straits from Soviet territory!
Britain’s Thatcher and West Germany’s
Kohl pointed to the ‘threat’ of Soviet
superiority in conventional forces (a
superiority which is_ incidentally
disputed by the International Institute
of Strategic Studies’ 1986 report). The
French government was adamant that
negotiations should not lead to the
«denuclearization of Europe», even
though the Soviet proposal leaves aside
the British and French nuclear arsenals.
While expressing disappointment at
the mixed response, Soviet officials
continued to make their initiative more
concrete, steadily undermining all ex-
cuses. They agreed to on-the-spot
verification of missile removal. They
pledged to reposition their remaining
100 medium-range missiles out of range
of European as well as US territory.
They agreed to the INF treaty’s con-
taining a provision on dealing with the
issue of short-range missiles. They em-
barked on discussions of a troop pull-
back from Europe, with the Warsaw
Pact meeting for this purpose on March
24th. An official statement confirmed
that the missiles moved into GDR and
Czechoslovakia would be removed
upon the signing of an INF treaty.
As a result of concerted Soviet
struggle for peace, against all odds, a
series of events show that a break-
through may indeed be at hand. The
Geneva INF talks were extended. The
US announced that Secretary of State
Schultz would visit Moscow, accom-
panied by senior arms control advisors,
to discuss all issues. There is, of course,
still a chance that the Reagan Ad-
ministration will try to sabotage
disarmament by harping on _ its
distorted perception of «regional con-
flicts» and «human rights» - two issues
it wants to discuss in Moscow, in addi-
tion to disarmament and bilateral rela-
tions. However, still reeling under the
impact of the Iran/contragate scandal,
the Reagan Administration may realize
that it needs a positive foreign policy
result in arms control, to try and
recover its sliding popularity.
In any case, the majority of the world
is eagerly watching the arms control
talks in Geneva. This round, due to the
new Soviet initiative, could well lead to
the removal of medium-range nuclear
missiles in Europe - a cause for which
unprecedented numbers of people have
demonstrated and struggled over the
past few years.
29 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 23
- تاريخ
- أبريل ١٩٨٧
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
Contribute
Not viewed