AN IMPERFECT WORLD
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Approved For Release 2007/06/21: CIA-RDP99-00498R000100050081-0
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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
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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
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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. :
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