
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 12, 1990                   TAG: 9003122976
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

AGAIN, SOVIET CAPTIVES BETRAYED

MOST OF the time, I wonder what side the president is on. His terrible performance at Malta is a perfect example.

Reports about the depths of the Soviet Union's economic problems are not difficult to find. When President Bush sat down with Gorbachev at Malta, he had the opportunity to deal from a position of strength.

But he threw advantage to the wind and granted the Soviet leader favors and concessions beyond Gorbachev's wildest hopes. While asking for nothing of any consequences, Bush agreed to taxpayer-backed Export-Import Bank loans, observer status at the international trade organization known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, assistance in setting up a Moscow stock exchange, American investments guaranteed by American taxpayers, and a promise of most-favored-nation trade and loan status next June.

All of this adds up to keeping the repressive Soviet government in business. The 260 million captives within Soviet borders were betrayed again.\ ALBERT W. STEWART\ ROANOKE

by CNB