THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 13, 1996 TAG: 9604130336
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
There's still plenty of iron left in the ``Iron Lady.''
The Cold War is over, you say? So the United States should declare victory, downsize the military and enjoy a peace dividend?
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was having none of it on a visit to Virginia's Colonial capital Friday.
Speaking at the College of William and Mary, where she serves as chancellor, Thatcher practically waxed nostalgic for the great East-West standoff in which she played a leading role. And she had high praise for one of the Cold War's lasting legacies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Taking direct aim at critics who debunk NATO as a relic of a bygone era, she declared it the ``greatest defensive alliance in the world.'' Not only should it endure, she said, it should expand to include former members of the Eastern Bloc such as Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic - and never mind what Russia thinks.
To those who say NATO has no mission in the post-Cold War world, Thatcher proposed one. Repeal the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, she urged; then develop a global anti-missile defense system along the lines of the ``Star Wars'' scheme once proposed by her friend and fellow Cold Warrior, Ronald Reagan, and let NATO operate it.
Reagan ``was ridiculed at the time, but he was absolutely correct,'' she said. ``We deliberately refrained from having an anti-ballistic missile system, and now missiles are falling into the hands of rogue states like Iran.''
Resplendent in her trademark upswept hairstyle and an emerald-green gown, Thatcher regaled a capacity crowd with ``Thatcher's first law of politics: The unexpected happens, and you'd better be prepared for it.''
Harking back to World War II, she said Britain and its European allies were slow to re-arm after World War I and were therefore unable to respond forcefully to Hitler's aggression. ``The unexpected had happened,'' she said, ``and we were not prepared.''
To those yearning for a peace dividend, Thatcher had this stern admonishment: ``There will always be conflict. It's part of human nature. It's part of the battle between good and evil.
``It's not strength that causes wars; it's weakness.''
Thatcher was the keynote speaker at a two-day conference on ``Quests for Western Security Amid Global Uncertainty'' co-sponsored by William and Mary and NATO's Atlantic Command, based in Norfolk.
Earlier in the day, a succession of speakers debated how well NATO - founded half a century ago to counter Soviet expansionism - has adapted to the new era.
Some even questioned whether the U.S.-European alliance is relevant anymore.
Ted Galen Carpenter, director of foreign policy studies at The Cato Institute, a Washington think tank, ridiculed NATO's ``almost desperate search for a new mission'' since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He described the alliance's current predicament by amending Gen. Douglas MacArthur's farewell to Congress: ``Old alliances don't die. They don't even fade away. They just come up with new rationales for their existence.''
NATO was established, he said, ``to guard a weak Western Europe against an expansionist Soviet Union. It's been 50 years. Both sides of the equation have changed beyond recognition. Europe is strong; the Soviet Union has disappeared. It's no longer a credible military threat.
``The current version of NATO is no longer in the United States' strategic interest.''
Some speakers pointed to the Bosnian peacekeeping operation as a model for NATO's continued existence.
``Like it or not, NATO's future is influenced by its success or failure in Bosnia,'' said Marine Gen. John J. Sheehan, NATO's Atlantic commander.
U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va., called the Bosnian mission ``a critical test case of our resolve to work in concert with our NATO allies.''
But Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as secretary of state during the Bush administration, said NATO has ``clearly flunked'' the Bosnia test.
Stephen F. Szabo, associate dean for academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, said the U.S.-imposed Balkan peace pact essentially ``stabilized and ratified ethnic cleansing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher: ``There will always
be conflict.''
by CNB