SO-CALLED FRIENDS AND ALLIES AREN'T

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

DATE: MONDAY, January 20, 1992                   TAG: 9201200226
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
SO-CALLED FRIENDS AND ALLIES AREN'T
WHILE THE recent trade mission to Japan was termed a dismal failure by some, it has taught us some valuable lessons. Mainly, that our so-called friends and allies are neither friends nor allies.
We should have recognized it during the Persian Gulf conflict. Rather, they are the same people who bombed Pearl Harbor and brutalized American prisoners during World War II. Their methods and uniforms have changed, but the men inside are the same.
If General Motors must indeed lay off thousands of workers, let's do it fair: Have them send their security people out to the company parking lot, write down the license numbers of all the cars made in Japan, and then send pink slips to all the corresponding names; this should send a message to the Japanese and disloyal Americans alike.
As a longtime Republican, I am sorely disappointed at our president's inability to deal with those people. Perhaps November is the time to make a change. Still proud to be an American. SIMON LAMPERSBERGER BLUE RIDGE

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB