ROANOKE TIMES

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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990                   TAG: 9004030504
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARC HOWARD
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long


U.S. CAN SUPPORT GOALS OF BOTH VILNIUS, MOSCOW

"IT IS at all times necessary . . . until right ideas confirm themselves by habit, that we frequently refresh our patriotism by reference to First Principles." So said Thomas Paine in 1795, and so thought I as I boarded a plane leaving Vilnius, with 20 Virginia Tech students, less than four days following the Lithuanian declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The Baltics are a long way away from my old corners of the world in Blacksburg and Charlottesville, as they are from my new home in Washington. Yet, it is the very principles first declared by Virginians and practiced in Washington that prompted the Sajudis movement to declare its nation's right to self-determination. In this sense, the people of Lithuania and the people of America are intimately linked.

As a Washingtonian and, even worse, a congressional staffer, my propensity is to hail the tenets of geopolitics. Mikhail Gorbachev is our friend, I tell myself. We cannot afford to undermine the success of perestroika. By doing so, we threaten the economic stability of the region and the military security of the world. True enough, but as a Virginian and an American, how can I justify the abandonment of cries for freedom? Wasn't it Thomas Jefferson who pledged his life, his fortune and his sacred honor to the proposition that the people have the right to alter or abolish governments that are destructive of their natural rights? And, wasn't it Martin Luther King Jr., the last great American philosopher, who amended Jefferson's pledge with the caveat that to ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it? Yes, it is difficult to be an American, but that does not eliminate our responsibilities.

The fact is that the secession of Lithuania places a gun, not only at the head of the Soviet Union, but also at that of the United States. Each nation must decide whether it will act on behalf of stabilility or on behalf of principle. This is no easy task in the realm of foreign relations. Nevertheless, the Congress of People's Deputies and President Gorbachev have acted. It is now time for action by the United States; if not by the White House, then by Congress. And, as a nation conceived by an act of defiance, there can be little doubt about what our course must be.

While the administration acted correctly in its criticism of Soviet troop movements around the free and independent republic of Lithuania, it incorrectly asserts that the independence movement is somehow a vindication of its do-nothing policy. Without direct pressure from the United States, it is likely that the Kremlin will eventually succeed in its bid to quash the constitutional right of the Lithuanians to self-government. The bravado shown by the administration in Panama seems to dissipate whenever the White House is faced with a conflict of conviction. Gunboat diplomacy is easy against Noriega, but innovative, non-military solutions elude the administration when it is a choice between Uncle Gorby and the freedom fighters of Lithuania.

But, says China Hand Bush, we must not sacrifice long-term goals for a quick fix of principle. Baloney. It is not an impossible goal to support the Gorbachev government as well as that of Sajudis. To accomplish this, however, both the White House and Congress must transcend battles of turf and get down to business. Listening to Richard Gephardt would be a good place to start. The majority leader's plan to send food aid and a Free Enterprise Corps to the U.S.S.R. might very well get President Bush out of the situation in which Lithuania has placed him. Unfortunately, the president thinks Rep. Gephardt wants his job. The result is petty politics while Estonia, Latvia and Georgia get ready to follow Lithuania's lead.

The shelves are empty in Soviet stores, and the factories face closure in once-agricultural Lithuania. By enacting the Gephardt plan for food aid and education in free enterprise for the U.S.S.R., much of the internal pressures on Gorbachev would subside. With food on the shelves and construction of new markets, Gorbachev might not feel the urgency to stop secession. Recognition of Lithuania by the United States could then be extended without the appearance that the White House is abandoning its commitment to perestroika.

Lithuania once relied on its soil for production. Now it relies on factories which are dependent on Soviet resources. Without these resources, the factories will close, and people will be out of work. The only alternatives will be to starve or to rejoin the union. By recognizing Lithuania, the United States could extend foreign aid and would do much to reduce the hardships that will come when factory workers lose their jobs and oil is withheld by Moscow. Without this aid we will vindicate the twisted plan of Joseph Stalin, who restructured Lithuania's industry for just such an occasion as secession.

After leaving Vilnius, I visited St. Isaac's Cathedral in Leningrad. An architecture student in my group remarked that although the grandeur of St. Isaac's was undeniable, it was marred by an oversight. The corners, he said, were disturbing, for the base of one wall was made of marble and the other of wood. The inconsistency of material may have been for a good reason, but it diminished the greater picture of this monument to Peter the Great's patron saint. This is the case with Lithuania.

In the interests of peace, America has an obligation to support Gorbachev. This goal is America's cathedral, but Lithuania is its corner. By ignoring the corners, we threaten the stability and beauty of the greater picture. Should we abandon Lithuania to its fate, even for good reason, we diminish our moral backing, and we chip away at the foundation of America's monument to liberty and self-determination.

Dr. King told us that a true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others. For 50 years the United States has risked its world standing, its budget, and the lives of its young men for its neighbors around the world. We are left with a monumental budget deficit, homeless pepole and drugs in our streets, and an ocean of stones in Arlington Cemetery. We have lived up to our credo, but we must not now abandon our neighbors. To ignore Lithuania would be to renounce the sacrifices we have made. To do nothing would be to ensure the triumph of evil.



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