September 3, 1975

Let World Bank, UN Watch Mideast

The French call it "deja vu" - that strange feeling of having lived a supposedly new experience in another place or another time now forgotten.

I cannot shake that feeling as U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger asks Congress to approve a Mideast peace plan that requires American money, military equipment and "observers."

It was just such a first step by President Harry Truman that started us on the Vietnam disaster.

Where are the protestors who saw so clearly 30 years later, when we were getting whipped, that it was a mistake to interfere in other people's wars?

But, I keep forgetting.

We got involved then on the premise we were helping a free nation resist oppression.

Today we are concerned about oil to propel our automobiles.

Our modern outlook has thrown ideology into the ashcan.

Automobiles are here and now!

Thus, those who rioted in the streets to get us out of Indochina are strangely quiet as a new set of national leaders prepare to get us into the Mideast.

Kissinger's new plan calls for two "early warning stations" manned by American "volunteers" on the Egyptian-Israeli front.

These volunteers - 100 for a start - would be drawn from U.S. intelligence sources, "armed for their own protection," and paid $35,000 a year.  Cost of the electronic equipment: "undetermined."

More specific are the other costs which American taxpayers are expected to accept for a peace we are told is vital to our interests.

• About $2 billion in the new fiscal year will be given Israel in the form of new jets, missiles and other weapons.
• Egypt is to get $300 million in U.S. aid to help rebuild war-shattered towns in the canal area.
• Israel also is to receive about $700 million in economic assistance next year, and $350 million a year to buy oil to replace that from the Sinai oil fields which Israel will return to Egypt.
• The U.S. will underwrite $150 million of the cost of constructing a new defense line for Israel and an "undetermined amount" for construction of a giant tank farm to hold at least a year's supply of oil.

There also will be a U.S. pledge to provide Israel basic supplies in the event its sea lanes are closed by the Arabs in another embargo.

It has been reported that a senior U.S. diplomat said the cost of getting the agreement "will be well worth it, considering what another war or another Arab oil cutoff would cost if no agreement were reached."

The statement is amazing in its cynical candor.

At least we are not laboring under any moral delusions this time.

For the life of me - and the possible lives of thousands of future draftees - I can not see why it is the United States' responsibility to buy peace and to place armed Americans between the belligerents.

Forgive me if I seem harsh, but if one or both sides of a war haven't been hurt enough to stop fighting of their own accord, a little tribute won't buy tranquility.

The United Nations would seem to be the proper peace-keeping authority.  That is what the UN was set up for.  If it can't do the job then let us abolish the charade.

The argument that only the U.S. is trustworthy enough to broker a Mideast peace is a ploy to tap the bottomless U.S. treasury.  Somehow, Uncle Sam has got himself confused with Uncle Sugar.

Certainly we should encourage both Egypt and Israel to find a common middle ground.

And, certainly, we should commend Secretary Kissinger for his dedicated efforts towards peace.

But there is a point where neighborly concern becomes meddling.  We tread closely to that line already.

Let the UN back up a peace keeping force with the four billion dollars deemed necessary.

If the near bankrupt UN is unable to raise the cash on a pro-rata assessment then let tile World Bank ante up.

Robert McNamara, president of the World Bank, has announced it will "loan" the developing nations $16 billion next year interest free.  Surely the members of the international investment fund and the underdeveloped nations have as much stake in peace as does the U.S.

Whatever the final arrangements, peace is a multi-national responsibility.  Surely, our previous experience in world politics has taught us the danger of acting alone.

Author: Lindsey Williams