Word: soviet
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Last fall the Soviet Union launched a ferocious propaganda campaign against the NATO missile proposals. Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev declared that the Soviet Union would not "watch indifferently the efforts of the NATO militarists," but would be ready to "take the necessary extra steps to strengthen our security." In a loudly proclaimed peace ges-ture-a carrot to accompany the stick -the Soviets last month announced the withdrawal of some obsolescent tank divisions from East Germany...
...communique called on the Soviet Union to enter into negotiations on the reduction of medium-range weapons as soon as possible. It also made a limited unilateral offer: to withdraw "as soon as feasible" 1,000 of the 7,000 U.S. war heads presently positioned in Europe, most of them in obsolete weapons such as land mines and bombs. The action was intended as a response to the ongoing withdrawal of outmoded Soviet tanks from East Germany, or, as a NATO diplomat acknowledged less than respectfully, "our garbage for their garbage." The Soviets have been giving conflicting signals...
...Soviet campaign only tended to strengthen the resolve of the British, West German and Italian governments. But it also contributed to the uncertainty of some of the smaller members of NATO, notably The Netherlands and Belgium. The opposition socialist parties in The Netherlands managed to collect enough support to put the Dutch Parliament on record as opposing the missile plan. Caught in a domestic political dilemma, Premier Andreas van Agt dashed off to Washington, Rome, London and Bonn in search of a compromise...
...General Joseph Luns confirmed that the countries were Britain, West Germany and Italy; he added that "Belgium and The Netherlands may accept the missiles later." Both recalcitrant countries said that they might well accept the missiles on their territory if there were no progress in disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union; Belgium said it would reconsider in six months, The Netherlands in two years...
...murderous Idi Amin, but it said that they were eclipsed by serious deteriorations elsewhere. An example: the increasing execution of criminals in Pakistan (800 this year) and South Africa (132). The report suggests that there may be something of a regional pattern of abuses. In Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, for example, dissidents protesting abuses of human and religious rights continue to be given long prison sentences or incarceration in psychiatric institutions. In Latin America, most notably in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, there are recurrent charges of deaths in prison from torture, and crude political assassinations. In Argentina...