ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991                   TAG: 9102210435
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

POLITICS AND A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES

GOOD INTENTIONS mean nothing to Washington. The reign of terror continues to tighten in China. In South Africa, sweeping reforms are under way.

Still the hypocrites in Congress ask us to send aid to Peking and condemnation to Pretoria. Never mind that South Africa is America's only dependable supplier of strategic metals and the last standing Western civilization in Africa, the only beacon of democracy still aglow on a dark continent.

All of this makes me want to know what kind of world leadership we are getting out of Washington. President Bush and his cohorts in Congress are getting the international picture all backwards. Sure, Mr. Gorbachev is acting nice. Sure, Mr. Deng's communist Chinese are big players in the world arena. Both are using their armies to repress freedom and democratic hopes. Gorbachev may exude charm, but he has not changed his spots.

Sure, South Africa needs to change. But the basic ideas of freedom, God and family are alive on the tip of Africa. And with the removal of punitive sanctions, South Africa will, over time, evolve into a better and freer place for blacks and whites. JACK O. MARTIN ROANOKE 


 by CNB