Blames crisis on president
[Letter as printed in the Holland Sentinel, 18 January 1980]
"Wars are too important to leave decisions about them to generals," said the great Clemenceau. Paraphrasing this sentence, one could say that "politics is too important to leave decisions about it to a peanut farmer."
Mr. Carter started his presidency by cutting the military budget, in spite of the terrifying Russian military buildup. He stopped the MX missile, the B-1 bomber, and the neutron bomb, and refused to increase the Navy. As compensation for his decrease in our defense capability, he gave us SALT II (considered by 2,465 retired generals and admirals as a sell-out) and his personal assurance that America is most powerful....
Then came the Iran problem. Iran had been ruled by the shah, a loyal friend of America. Iran delivered us oil and bought our weapons, helping to keep our trade balance even. Also, we had very important listening stations in Iran.
The large, well-equipped Iranian army served as a guarantor of peace in the region.
But, there happened to live in France the old mad messiah Khomeini, who was quite unhappy about the shah's actions against the mullahs, who were large property owners. Khomeini accelerated the riots in Iran.
Mr. Carter then made the "brilliant" political move of asking the shah to leave Iran and to make room for Khomeini. That started the oil crisis, the American hostage crisis, and the Russian intervention in Afghanistan. About 100,000 soldiers of Russia's sophisticated army are "pacifying" small Afghanistan. Their presence on the Iranian and Pakistani borders raises the question of their next move: Iran? Pakistan? World War III?
It seems that Russia took the fact that Mr. Carter disarmed America more seriously than Mr. Carter's assurance that America is most powerful. This they showed by invading Afghanistan, feeling free to do so because of the situation created by Mr. Carter's disarming America, by his lack of reaction to the Russian brigade in Cuba, and by his Iran policy. An old Roman saying, freely translated, tells us that all citizens pay for the political mistakes of their leaders. ("Quidquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.") In our case, we are paying for Mr. Carter's mistakes....
If the Russians' next step is Iran, they will surely release the American hostages and send them back to Mr. Carter as a sign of appreciation for his policy!
If there is no immediate and radical change in the people and in the government, then there is only one thing to do: "Keep smiling; who knows if our world will hold out for another three weeks?"