Assistant City Coordinator Robert Bruce said that the tests presumably would be administered by the city civil

tics. But if the new office were elective, that's where it would be — in politics.

gr sessional committee.

Separating Middle East forces

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger de-
serves high praise for recognizing the
urgent need to keep Middle East nego-
tiations alive and, even more impor-
tant, accepting the personal challenge
posed by that sense of urgency. The
result is his third trip to the Middle
East in as many months, this time
shuttling between Egypt and Israel in
an effort to narrow the differences
between them over provisions for sep-
arating their armed forces.

We make no judgment now about the
agreement that seems likely to
emerge. Separation of forces is only a
first step, whose significance will best
be tested by further negotiations that
such an agreement should make possi-
ble. But the outline of even this first
step shows how different are circum-
stances now from earlier years.

The points in dispute are complex in
detail, but simple in concept. For the
Israelis, it is a question of how far
back from present positions they will
withdraw. For the Arabs, it is a ques-
tion of the extent to which they will
thin out their military strength east of
the Suez Canal. That such issues

could be close to resolution would
have been unthinkable four months
ago.
1-16-74 Minn Trib

Israeli policy had been to rely on for-
ward positions for security, to resist
withdrawal in the absence of direct
negotiations and to require that no
Egyptian forces be east of the canal. A
mirror image of that policy existed on
the Arab side. Egypt had insisted that
any partial Israeli withdrawal be ac-
companied by the pledge to evacuate
all territory taken in the 1967 war;
then negotiations would be possible.

Some kind of compromise was neces-
sary to break the deadlock, and possi-
bilities for mutual concessions became
apparent after the October war. Kiss-
singer, to his credit, has taken the ini-
tiative in pressing each side to accept
less than all of what it wants.

A disengagement of forces will not as-
sure an eventual settlement. But no
settlement is likely with the armies of
Egypt and Israel in their present con-
fronting positions, where cease-fire vi-
olations threaten to escalate into war.

Czechs under a subtle purge

From an article by Trudy Rubin in the Atlantic

The Czechs outdid them-
selves to please their Sovi-
et masters in the 1950s.
They were close to the
West in geography and
outlook, so the Russians
applied the screws; the
Czechs obliged with thou-
sands of arrests and purge

trials that were bigger and
more sensational than any
others in the East Europe-
an bloc.

What has happened since
the Czechs' brief, failed
experiment with humanist
socialism in 1968, during
Alexander Dubcek's re-
gime, is very different
from the events of the

1950s. Though thousands
have been questioned by
police, there have been
few arrests.

But a new and more subtle
kind of purge has been
going on for the last four
years. Once again the gov-
ernment seems to exact
more from the citizenry
than the Russians might
have expected. The op-
pression is directed at the
Czech intelligentsia. A
whole generation of the
country's best writers,
journalists, academicians
— especially those in the
social sciences — film and
theater directors and some
actors as well have been
thrown out of their jobs.

At the root of the whole
story is the terrific secre-
cy in which the president
and Kissinger elected to
conduct foreign policy.
Those excluded from
knowledge were not
merely staffers down the
line. The civilian heads of
the Defense and State de-
partments were kept in
the dark, as were the uni-
formed military leaders.

But a basic fact of bureau-
cratic life is that officials
who need information and
are used to getting it will
find ways to gain access if
they are suddenly includ-
ed out.

Precisely that seems to
have happened to Presi-
dent Nixon and Kissinger.
The uniformed military in
the Pentagon, cut off from
information they needed,
found a way of getting it
through lower-ranking
military men on duty in
the White House.

The story would have end-
ed there except for two
things. Some of the infor-
mation bootlegged to the
Pentagon found its way
into the press, notably
the column of my col-
league, Jack Anderson.
Secondly, the Pentagon in-
formation system was un-
covered by the White
House plumbers, the spe-
cial investigating unit set
up by the president, which
eventually played such a
nefarious role in the Wat-
ergate affair.

The "plumbers" reported
their discovery to Mr. Nix-
on, apparently through
Gen. Alexander Haig,
who was then serving as
Kissinger's deputy. When
the Watergate investiga-
tion began, the White
House trotted out the inci-
dent, replete with hints of
a Pentagon spy ring, as a
"national security" reason
for not continuing the in-
vestigation. That line was
peddled to both the Senate
Watergate committee and
the special prosecutor,
then Archibald Cox.

At that point, investiga-
tive reporters from a num-

WEEKLY REPORT OF PUBLIC MAIL

Mail traditionally drops during the holiday period, but the level of mail at the end of 1973, (though down from the December peak of 11,000 in the second week of the month) was, as we expected, *still much higher than normal* for the season. For example, in the last week of December 1972 and the first week of January 1973 we received a total of *just under 2,400* pieces of mail; for the corresponding period of 1973-74 we received *nearly 6,300*.

The bulk of the mail was on **the Middle East** (about 3,200 pieces), shading into the energy crisis, and on MIA's in Indochina which was the largest single subject (1,650 pieces) in the Secretary's mail for the two-week period, though they formed only a fraction of the White House mail. On both main subjects campaigns, postcard or otherwise, provided most of the mail. The MIA campaign was widespread; the several Middle East campaigns centered chiefly on the East coast.

## January 7-11

Mail has now increased again. Between January 7 and January 11 the Department received over 7,500 pieces of mail; 2,800 were from the White House and 4,200 addressed to the Secretary.

## Near East

The Middle East/energy crisis accounted for almost all the White House mail (2,500) and about half the Secretary's (2,100).

There were still some late supporters of the Morgan bill (Tab A), but with its passage virtually assured most pro-Israel writers concentrated on the fate of Israeli POW's in Syria. Over 1,000 campaign postcards and forms, and a large number of petitions were received, many from New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (Tab B). An equal number wrote in support of the Israeli position at the peace negotiations, again largely in the form of several campaigns up and down the East coast. (Tab C) The phrase most often used in this connection was "defensible borders". There was very little comment on the suggestion that the US might guarantee Israel's security, and only a few

- 2 -

writers supported Israel's retention of all the occupied territories. In general there was support for the Secretary's efforts towards peacemaking; many writers thanked him for his support of Israel. (Tab D) A small minority, (20-30) accused him of betraying Israel and/or the Jewish race. (Tab E)

There were very few letters, by comparison with previous occasions, on the Arab terrorists' attack on the plane in Rome, but among these was a letter from the Airline Pilots' Association. (Tab F)

On the energy question, many writers combined pleas for support of Israel with comments on the oil boycott; in addition there were 200+ letters primarily on the energy crisis. As before, writers urged that the US not yield to "Arab blackmail" (Tab G) and, some urged retaliation, usually in economic form. (Tab H) The most usual suggestions were that US aid, military or economic, be stopped; that the export of food and oil drilling equipment be halted, and that the training of Arab pilots, military or civilian, in the US should cease. In this connection, a few writers demanded that gasoline not be made available to TWA for training Arab pilots. Another writer opposed Export-Import bank loans for a Saudi Arabian pipeline.

A very few--less than a dozen--called for military reprisals. (Tab I) One writer expressed "digust" with France for making a separate trade with Saudi Arabia. (Tab J) Comment and suggestion on the oil shortage covered a wide field, including complaints of hardships, suspicion of oil companies and suggestions for primarily domestic solutions, such as new types of fuel, new allocation systems etc. (Tab K) The oil shortage was a prominent issue in Congressional mail (19 letters), but there was greater division of opinion; some writers called for retaliation (Tab L), but four or five opposed the support of Israel which they saw as the primary cause of the energy shortage. (Tab M)

About 10% of writers continued to oppose Israel (Tab N) Writers were still uneasy over possible US involvement in the Middle East, but there has been no marked upsurge in anti-Israel mail as a result of the oil shortage. We continued to receive some mail endorsing a pro-Arab advertisement in the New York Times. (Tab O)

- 3 -

In short, there was little change in the themes of the Middle East mail, simply some variations on themes already established. Interest was stirred in some other areas of the Middle East. There were a few letters, in Congressional and public mail, which were part of a continuing campaign in support of Armenians in Turkey. (Tab P) A campaign has started on the West coast, urging the release of two American girls jailed for life in Turkey (about 40 letters). (Tab Q) There were also a handful of letters objecting to the cancellation of India's debt to the United States. (Tab R)

## Far East

The latest campaign on behalf of MIA's, now a month old, continued strong and widespread (mostly printed postcards). (Tab S)

Political prisoners in South Viet-Nam, as usual, were a major topic in Congressional mail and were also represented in public mail (50 pieces). (Tab T)
Comments were on the same order as before; some writers referred to a British film "Hostages of War" as the source of their allegations.

There was also slight revival of interest in US/Vietnamese orphans. (Tab U)

Some writers (25-30 letters) objected to the shipment of oil to Viet-Nam, either because of ideological objections to the Government of South Viet-Nam, or simply because they do not want to decrease the short United States supply. (Tab V)

Governor Reagan's trip to the Far East, and particularly the participation of Mrs. Reagan's hairdresser, was censured (12 letters, including several in Congressional mail). (Tab W)

There is always residual opposition to dealing with the People's Republic of China. (Tab X)

For the third week, we received protests (about 30) over the Japanese refusal to abide by whaling quotas and requests that Japanese fishery products be boycotted in retaliation. (Tab Y)