Time mellows President Reagan’s stand on U.S.S.R.

Press, 30 November 1987, Page 24

Time mellows President Reagan’s stand on U.S.S.R.

By

WILLIAM SCALLY

NZPA-Reuter Washington President Reagan’s comments on the upcoming United States-Soviet summit sound dove-like next to the blistering rhetoric he once aimed at “the evil empire.” When he announced that the Soviet leader, Mr Mikhail Gorbachev, would arrive on December 7 for their third summit, a reporter noted the date marked a dark day for Americans — the anniversary of Japan’s World War II attack on Pearl Harbour, and a date President Franklin Roosevelt said would “live in infamy.” Mr Reagan replied that, when the significance of the date dawned on him, “I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be wonderful if Pearl Harbour Day would become superseded by the day that we began the path to peace and safety in the world through disarmament.” He indulged in another such flight of fancy on November 3 in a television broadcast to Western Europe.

"Wouldn’t it be a wonderful sight for the world to see,” he said, “if some

day General Secretary Gorbachev and I could meet in Berlin and together take down the first bricks of that wall — and we could continue taking down walls until the distrust between our peoples and the scars of the past are forgotten.” Such rosy statements are a far cry from Mr Reagan’s original views of the Soviet Union. Here are some key entries in his gradual evolution from confrontation to conciliation:

January 29, 1981 At his first White House news conference, the President said he knew of no Soviet leader “that has not more than once repeated ... that their goals must be the promotion of world revolution.

“Now as long as they do that and as long as they at the same time have openly and publicly declared that the only morality they recognize is what will further their cause — meaning that they reserve unto themselves the right to commit any crime, to lie, to cheat

... I think that even when you do business with them, even at a detente, you keep that in mind.”

Oct 17, 1981 — In a luncheon speech: “They cannot vastly increase their military productivity because they’ve already got their people on a starvation diet of sawdust.”

March 8, 1983 — In a speech to evangelical ministers: “They (Soviet leaders) are the focus of «v“ in the modern world ... So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride — the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire.” January 16, 1984 —"Mr Reagan shifts tack in a speech designed to help defuse a budding “warscare” issue that is dog ging him at the outset of that presidential election year:

“We must and will engage the Soviets in a dialogue as serious and constructive as possible, a dialogue that will ... promote peace in the troubled regions of the world, reduce the level of arms and build a , con-

structive working relationship.”

August 11, 1984 — The President lapses back into waggish anti-Soviet humour in a remark, which he thought was off the record, to test a microphone before a radio broadcast:

“My fellow Americans, I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia for ever. We begin bombing in five minutes.’’ March 11, 1985 — On the day Mr Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Soviet Communist party: “You have to wait for the new man to get in place and establish his regime and then I’ll be more than ready (to meet) because ... there’s a great mutual suspicion between the two countries. I think ours is more justified than theirs.”

November 22, 1985 — Addressing a joint session of Congress on return from his first summit with Mr Gorbachev in Geneva: “I am pleased to report that General Secretary Gorbachev and I did make a measure of progress. While we still have a long way to go, we’re at

last heading in the right direction.”

October 13, 1986 — After the collapse of second Gorbachev summit at Reykjavik, Iceland: “We came to Iceland to advance the cause of peace and, though we put on the table the most farreaching arms control proposal in history, the General Secretary rejected it.” .•

October 14, 1986 — A more upbeat assessment came in public comments after he returned home: “The door is open and the opportunity to begin eliminating the nuclear threat is within reach.”

October 22, 1987 — At a news conference: “I hope that he (Mr Gorbachev) would have time to see a great deal of America. I’ve thought it would be kind of nice to Invite him up to our 1500 sq. ft adobe shack (at his California ranch) that' was built in 1872 and let him see how a capitalist spends his holidays.” But Mr Gorbachev’s visit will apparently be limited to Washington and he will not see Mr Reagan’s beloved ranch.