James R. Schlesinger's star is rising, reports Sun-Times Washington Bureau chief Thomas B. Ross. In fact, Ross concludes, there are signs that President Ford "is moving his defense secretary into a position of equality with—or even dominance over—his increasingly controversial secretary of state." Ross was the only newspaper reporter on Schlesinger's plane en route to the spring meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.

Chicago Sun-Times

May 25, 1975

## Eclipsing Kissinger?

# Schlesinger star rising with Ford

By Thomas B. Ross

**BRUSSELS** — The secretary of defense arrived at his Pentagon office at the normal hour, put in an hour's work, took a helicopter to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland and walked up the ladder of his four-engine jet at 8:30 a.m. for the flight to Brussels.

There was barely a stir as James Rodney Schlesinger, who runs the largest, most powerful bureaucracy in the world, entered the plane. Military officers in ill-fitting mufti continued their reading. Civilian advisers greeted him easily, offered up a few official papers and settled back into their seats.

Schlesinger took off his coat, revealing a shirttail that rode above his pants top. His short-cropped, prematurely gray hair was tousled, his shoes were half-shined, his silver buckle — with a "J.S." in the middle — was tarnished.

Schlesinger bit on his unlit pipe, stretched

his full 6 foot 3 and glaneed down at the morning newspapers on the desk in front of his seat. The headlines carried the good news that the House — by votes of more than 3 to 1 — had rejected moves to cut the defense budget and withdraw U.S. troops from overseas.

There was a peace dividend, after all — the end of the involvement in Vietnam has had some positive aspects, too, he said — opposition to military spending was no longer automatic, the entire nation felt a need to show that the United States would not abandon its remaining friends in the world, the liberals were remembering that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — where he was heading that morning — was originally their special creation.

After takeoff, Schlesinger continued the conversation with Harry Bergold, a brilliant

Turn to next page

[LC]

Washington Letter

Christian Science Monitor
May 27, 1975 [LC]

# Manipulating Mayaguez news coverage

By Godfrey Sperling Jr.

Washington

At some point historians may be able to provide a clear chronicle of the President's decisionmaking process during the Mayaguez rescue. But the picture as of now is particularly cloudy, shaped by conflicting and what appear to be self-serving reports of what happened in those behind-the-scenes presidential sessions.

In the early wake of the episode there were widespread reports here which gave Henry Kissinger the "preeminent hawk" role. He was said to be the "hard-liner" among the President's advisers, going even beyond the President in his position that tough, decisive action was necessary.

At the same time there were reports, again allegedly from "insiders," which were saying that James Schlesinger was the "dove" in the consultations. He was pictured as advising a somewhat go-slow policy, emphasizing that diplomatic measures must be pursued fully before any kind of military initiative be taken.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff were — at least in some "authentic" reports — said to be advising a softer course than that being followed by the President.

Now comes a new report — this one from what might be called "well-placed observers".

who certainly were in a position to hear what the President was saying during these meetings — and what his advisers were saying to him.

These sources have told this paper that the characterization of Kissinger as the "hawk" and Schlesinger as the "dove" was "utter nonsense." Instead, the sources insist, "there was not a dime's difference between Kissinger and Schlesinger in the advice they gave the President."

These sources also seek to throw down the assertions in some reports that the President took a harder line than his joint chiefs.

They contend that the President always followed this procedure: He would listen to options suggested by the joint chiefs; second, he would make his decision after finishing his consulting process and being assured that his information on the situation was correct and up-to-the minute; and, third, he would always go back to the joint chiefs and say: "I've decided to take this action. Is this the recommendation of the joint chiefs?"

"In every instance," this newspaper was assured, "the answer was 'yes.'"

Actually, these officials contend, the President on occasion resisted advice from the joint chiefs that might have entailed more force.

They say that while saturation bombing of the Cambodian mainland was not being urged by the military, it was an option that was at least brought to the attention of the President — and which he turned down. They also say that it was the President's own decision to keep the military from bombing a Cambodian vessel which — it later turned out — was carrying crew members of the Mayaguez.

How does one reconcile these varying reports? Again, it probably will be up to historians who have much better information at their disposal.

In the meantime one can find a good deal of credence being given in this city to a growing theory that the press has, up to now, been relying much too heavily on two, largely self-serving leaks.

Leak one — the "Kissinger the hawk" story is said to be coming from those around the Secretary of State who believe it is important that he be perceived as bold, strong, and decisive.

Leak two — the "Schlesinger the dove" story is said to be coming from those around the Secretary of Defense who feel it important

that he be shown to be cool, restrained, and wise.

The relatively "dovish" joint chiefs report (as opposed to a more "hawkish" President) is said to come from these same sources — a story intended to support the thesis of a relatively dovish Schlesinger.

Finally — so the theory goes — since these leaks do not conflict, they have been relied on heavily by reporters who found elements of validity in these reports in the very fact that they can be put together so neatly.

However, now other sources, this time from the direction of the White House, are challenging the earlier stories.

But, again, one can find self-serving aspects in these new "leaks." The account that there was virtual agreement among the President's chief advisers (particularly Kissinger and Schlesinger) and the picture of a President who was exercising restraint along with his decisiveness puts Mr. Ford in a particularly good light.

What really happened? Clearly, one must wait and see.

Mr. Sperling is chief of the Washington bureau of The Christian Science Monitor.

THE CHRISTIAN S

May 27, 1975

Christian Science Monitor

"First the blade, then the ear,

The Monitor's view

Mr. Ford goes to Europe

President Ford's imminent trip to Europe is the right thing at the right time. And he is undertaking it with the kind of confident, cooperative attitude that ought to distinguish American leadership in aiding the solution of international problems.

Europeans have understandably felt ne-
glected by the United States, especially since
the much-touted Year of Europe sank without
trace during American preoccupation with
crises elsewhere. Secretary of State Kissinger
has begun to restore an atmosphere of
vigorous concern for transatlantic ties that
remained necessary and had never seriously
weakened. Now the President is adding his
personal stamp of reassurance at a time when
strains, such as those in Cyprus and Portugal
are troubling old alliances.

As Mr. Ford meets with heads of NATO governments in Brussels, talks with Egypt's President Sadat in Salzburg, and makes other stops in Madrid and Rome, he has the foreign-policy backing of Congress to an extent that might have seemed unlikely several months ago. In the aftermath of Vietnam, including the seizure of the Mayaguez and his resolute recapture of it, Congress is strongly supporting U.S. defenses and overseas troop commitments. Earlier Mr. Ford might have visited Europe trailing echoes of congressional demands to withdraw U.S. forces from the continent; now he speaks as a leader buoyed up by cries of approval.

There are critics both at home and abroad,
of course. While the Mayaguez incident proves
Mr. Ford will not be trifled with, some
Europeans belittle the military significance of
such a victory by a superpower over a small

nation like Cambodia. The question is raised
of whether lengthier diplomatic efforts should
have been made despite the apparent neces-
sity of acting quickly to save the crew.

In the light of international concerns about U.S. use of force — now that it has made clear it possesses a post-Vietnam will to use it where necessary — Mr. Ford has wisely emphasized restraint along with strength. Interviewed by European journalists, he gave perspective to Defense Secretary Schlesinger's recent statement that the U.S. would be less tolerant of any future Mideast oil embargo, with military response being one of the options. Mr. Ford minimized any such possibility by stressing a cooperative approach that "in effect" ruled out the use of force.

On the matter of Soviet-American detente,
too, Mr. Ford rightly underlined the positive.
He denied the Russians had benefited more
than the U.S., and he reaffirmed the impor-
tance of the flexibility provided by detente
with no abandonment of firmness.

Later Dr. Kissinger and Ford aides clarified
what seemed the President's doubts about
whether Portugal should remain in NATO.
They emphasized that he was talking about
a country if it should become Communist
dominated — and said Portugal was not
now regarded as such.

Europeans will realize that this trip is not
wholly for them. It gives Mr. Ford visibility as
he prepares for the 1976 campaign. It confirms
his preeminent role in foreign policy at a time
when Dr. Kissinger has been coming under
criticism.

But, whatever the domestic impact, the
important thing is that, at long last, a new year
of Europe is under way.

June 4, 1975 Christian Science Monitor

# What Europe trip has done for Ford

By Godfrey Sperling Jr.

Staff correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor

With the Ford party, Rome
President Ford is gaining increased con-
fidence in his ability to deal with the in-
tricacies of foreign policy.

This is the conclusion of those who have
been with him on his week-long travels in
Europe — in Brussels (for NATO), in Madrid
(to meet General Franco), in Salzburg (for
two days of talks with Egyptian President
Sadat), and here in Rome (to meet Italian
leaders and the Pope).

Mr. Ford is described as "boning up"
carefully on all foreign-policy details — far
different, it is said, from President Nixon who
is represented as being interested in only the
broad framework of foreign-policy issues and
objectives.

One result of this, it is believed, is that the
President will rely more and more on himself
and a little less on Secretary of State Henry A.
Kissinger in Middle East and all other
diplomatic moves.

After the Salzburg talks between President Sadat and President Ford, the U.S. side is making modest claims about results. But privately the view is that substantial leverage was won in terms of Mr. Ford's talks next week with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

To sum up on the Middle East, the road
ahead for U.S. policy now becomes clear:

* The President still will make his promised reassessment in about three weeks, a week or so after the Ford-Rabin talks in Washington.

The Sadat-Ford talks "contributed im-
portantly" to the reassessment, but they have
by no means been determinative.

* Despite rather enigmatic comments from both the Ford and Sadat camps, U.S. officials still feel that a resumption of step-by-step diplomacy remains a possible if not likely option. But the President will not send his Secretary of State back on shuttle diplomacy unless he is, it is said, almost completely certain — "90 percent certain" — that this approach to a Mideast settlement will be successful.

* The President is employing "momentum" as a diplomatic tool. Both at the NATO meeting in Brussels and in his talks with Mr. Sadat, Mr. Ford, in his utterances put great stress on "movement" toward a settlement — asserting that such "movement" must be achieved now, not later. The President hopes that both sides — particularly Messrs. Sadat and Rabin personally — will be carried along in a rapidly increasing diplomatic tempo and that the pace and thrust of it will of themselves help to shape a settlement.

The Egyptians at the Salzburg talks were also using the word "motion." They seemed to be accepting the concept that momentum toward peace is building. And, as perceived by U.S. sources, the Egyptians too seemed to hope that this rising tempo would, of itself, act as a pressure on the Israelis.

* Back of the motion and momentum was an assumption, which both the United States and the Arabs now are underscoring as they turn for the Israelis' answer: that if a settlement is not reached — and soon — it may be impossible to avert a new Mideast war.

## Bill Anderson

# Rumsfeld's NATO trip is cheered

WASHINGTON—The fact that Donald Rumsfeld is going to Europe with President Ford Wednesday is taken as good news by some of the thinkers at the Pentagon.

One reason is that numbers of politicians in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization view Henry Kissinger as a lame duck secretary of state.

These NATO leaders also have not been convinced of the operating vitality of the President. This accounts in part for Ford's insistence he indeed is going to be a candidate again, along with his quick action to recover the S. S. Mayaguez two weeks ago.

Rumsfeld's presence is reassuring to American allies because it gives them the continuing thread of government they admire—plus Rumsfeld's acknowledged expertise in NATO affairs.

Europeans know clout when they see it, a factor further strengthening the Pentagon pleasure in Rumsfeld's inclusion on the trip. As chief of staff at the White House, "Rummy" is correctly perceived as the second most powerful person in the Ford administration.

In addition, Rumsfeld draws weight from his tour as NATO ambassador—a

post he held with success in making friends. There are many tricky undercurrents of power plays involving Germany, Britain, Italy, and smaller NATO allies.

These same currents are whirling even stronger before the approaching meeting and for a variety of reasons. One important consideration still to be measured is the impact of the American withdrawal from Indochina and the hasty exit from Thailand.

The question to be answered by time is, whether the American military weakness will alter allied arms strengths in NATO. In some ways, we were told, United States strength in Europe is actually improved as the conference begins.

The position papers show that American land forces are in far better condition than during the Viet Nam war. In the Johnson period, huge amounts of supplies and numbers of officers were drawn out of NATO to feed the Asian need.

The U. S. now has roughly 4.3 divisions in NATO. "Morale and training is exceptionally good," a source said. The

300,000-member force will soon be up to five full divisions.

A basic problem, however, is how to keep the forces of Britain reasonably close to a preplanned level. The sun has set on the empire's political strength and the darkness of its financial situation is shocking American officials.

The Italians, tho, have been working their way out of last year's financial mess. Still, the leftward [and therefore antimilitary] governments of the other allies throw inhibiting dampers on the meeting.

It is expected that Ford and Rumsfeld will have to give some time to the problem of Spain. The Spanish would like to get closer to NATO without actually becoming a member. In addition, the U. S. faces the serious problem of negotiations over our continued military presence on Spanish soil.

A side issue could develop if the Netherlands push a new theory of a "nuclear-free" zone of the nuclear have-not nations which face the short-range Soviet atomic weapons.

All in all, it will be a work-filled conference, and Ford will need all the help and good advice he can get.

26

F

Kissinger steps back a bit on foreign policy

# Ford moving to center stage

By Godfrey Sperling Jr.

With the Ford party, Brussels

NATO leaders assembled here now are seeing, according to sources close to Gerald Ford, a president who is beginning to put his own unique, "instinctive" stamp on the making of U.S. foreign-policy decisions.

The President, these sources assert, now is beginning to follow — and the Mayaguez episode is cited as an example of this shift his "deep instincts" that lead him to consult with a number of his top administration people before making a decision.

By relying as much as he has in the past on one man's advice, that of Henry A. Kissinger, the President was acting, according to these sources, against these instincts for wide consultation, and also against the way he was making decisions on domestic matters all across the board.

Now, in a manner which is being described as "quite perceptible," the President is seen as widening his base of advice on foreign policy, leaning more heavily on his Secretary of Defense, James R. Schlesinger, and on other members of the National Security Council.

Also, the President is said to be relying more heavily on a number of advisers in the field on international trade and global economics, notably his Special Trade Representative, Fred Dent, together with Secretary of the Treasury, William E. Simon, Chief Economic Adviser Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve chairman Arthur Burns, White House adviser William Seidman, and Commerce Secretary Rogers Morton.

"This leaves Henry Kissinger still as the dominant adviser in shaping U.S. foreign policy," these sources say. "But," they add, "as the President now moves to widen his base of consultation, Kissinger becomes a little less dominant."

These sources contend that this shift in presidential decisionmaking is "not anti-Kissinger" in intent.

Instead, they say, it is more a matter of what those who have known Mr. Ford for years foresaw as inevitable: that, at some point, his cautious nature would cause him to apply the checks that stem from wide consultation to the making of foreign-policy decisions.

One senior American official traveling with the President on this trip to this NATO summit denied that Dr. Kissinger's role has been diminished. And, on the surface one can readily get the impression that Dr. Kissinger is in control of the scene here. But President Ford, according to his associates both in and outside his administration, is definitely moving to make certain that he is perceived as the one who is providing the main U.S. leadership in foreign relations.

Thus, this presidential move toward more visibility as the chief U.S. leader in global matters — together with the widening of his base of consultation — clearly increases Mr. Ford's involvement in the foreign-policy field. And Dr. Kissinger, still an impressive figure on the stage, steps back just a little while remaining powerful and close to the President.

Is this shift one that is likely to lead to Henry Kissinger having to give up his role as Presidential Assistant for National Security Affairs, keeping only his Secretary of State position? There are continuing reports that this might happen — and Dr. Kissinger has critics at high administration levels who would like to see this come about.

But this reporter, in his checking of sources that would be in a position to know if this were to come about, finds nothing of this kind in the making.

Instead, there is persuasive evidence that the President is simply — but calculately — asserting himself more in the field of foreign relations. And that for Henry Kissinger there is simply no option but to step aside a bit.

"THE SO-CALLED 'ABRASIVE' TONE IS UNLIKELY TO PLEASE OR IMPRESS LEFT-LEANING MEMBERS OF NATO. IT IS ALSO LIKELY TO UPSET THE EAST COAST LIBERAL ESTABLISHMENT IN AMERICA ITSELF..."

IN AN EDITORIAL THE PAPER SAID "PRESIDENT FORD REAFFIRMED THAT THE U.S. WAS FIRMLY COMMITTED TO THE DEFENSE OF ITS ALLIES IN WESTERN EUROPE. HIS WORDS RECEIVED AN AL MOST PATHETICALLY GRATEFUL RECEPTION FROM ALL THE EUROPEAN 'STATEMESMEN' PRESENT. YET DID THEY MATCH THEIR RELIEVED GRATITUDE AITH PROMISES OF THEIR OWN TO INCREASE DEFENSE SPENDING AND PLAY A GREATER PART IN THEIR OWN PROTECTION? NOT IN THE LEAST ..."

FINANCIAL TIMES CORRESPONDENT MALCOLM RUTHERFORD REPORTED THAT MR. FORD'S SPEECH "WAS NOT NEW AND CONTAINED NOTHING SURPRISING. BUT IT HAS BEEN NOTICEABLE THAT HE HAS BEEN GIVING THE IMPRESSION OF RUNNING U.S. FOREIGN POLICY HIMSELF RATHER THAN JUST FOLLOWING DR. KISSINGER, EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE NO APPARENT DISAGREEMENTS."

THE NATIONALISTIC DAILY EXPRESS' COLIN LAWSON REPORTED THAT "THE DEEPENING CRISIS IN NATO EXPLODED INTO THE OPEN WHEN THE TWO-DAY SUMMIT ENDED ... WITH CLEAR AND SEVERE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRESIDENT FORD AND MR. WILSON."

LAWSON SAID THAT IN THE " ONLY PRESS CONFERENCE TO BE GIVEN BY A HEAD OF STATE," MR. FORD'S WORDS "CLEARLY HIGHLIGHTED HIS DIFFERENCES WITH MR. WILSON, WITH WHOM HE APPEARS TO HAVE AGREED TO DISAGREE ON SPAIN, PORTUGAL, AND DRASTIC CUTS IN BRITAIN'S DEFENSE BUDGET."

(END TAKE ONE)

300

0?"9

NNNN

STORIES STRESSED THAT BOTH PRESIDENTS SEEK A PEACEFUL AND JUST SOLUTION TO THE MIDDLE EAST PROBLEM. A TELEVISION COMMENTATOR SAID BOTH "HAD TO BRING HOME RESULTS," AND THAT MR. SADAT SAW IN M R. FORD "THE BEST ADVOCATE OF THE ARAB CAUSE, FOR THE U.S. PRESIDENT CAN PUT PRESSURE ON THE ISRAELIS." STILL, HE JUDGED IT "DOUBTFUL THAT RABIN WILL GIVE-IN NEXT WEEK IN WASHINGTON."

PRO-CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC FRANKFURTER NEUE PRESSE REMARKED TODAY THAT "FOLLOWING THE FAILURE OF KISSINGER'S RECENT MISSION, FORD IS TACKLING (THE MIDDLE EAST PROBLEM) ON HIS OWN, AND COMPLETE FREEDOM OF APPROACH. THE U.S. APPARENTLY WANTS TO REGAIN THE INITIATIVE.....DURING HIS TRIP TO ARAB COUNTRIES, SADAT HAS BEEN ACQUIRING CONSIDERABLE PRESTIGE. APPARENTLY HE WANTS TO APPROACH THE PROBLEM AS OPEN-MINDEDLY AS DOES FORD. IF ISRAEL GOES ALONG, THE CHANCES THAT THE U.S. AND EGYPT CAN MAKE PROGRESS ARE GOOD."

ON SPAIN, OBSERVERS WERE INCLINED TO SEE THE NECESSITY OF CONTINUATION OF THE BASES AGREEMENT. A TELEVISION COMMENTATOR SAID, "THE U.S. NEEDS THE BASES AND WILL HAVE TO PAY A PRICE FOR THEM." (END TAKE ONE)

BT
0001

NNNN
V

5

FORD LOOKS LIKE "A MAN IN CHARGE". Washington Week in Review: Charles Corddry said President Ford has shown himself to be "a man in charge" while in Europe, but the trip may have resulted in few real achievements. The Portugal problem, for example, "is obviously on the shelf," Corddry said. "I think he got nowhere on that one. It's hard to see anywhere he could get." Corddry called the NATO summit, "the annual reaffirmation of the need to have a solid alliance."

The President was hindered in his negotiations by the
recent letter from 76 senators urging continued U.S. support
of Israel. This means "there's nothing the President can
offer the Egyptians," Corddry said. As a result of the
letter, the President's ability to formulate U.S. foreign
policy "isn't exactly promising." (5/30/75)

BELGIUM WILL BUY F-16, PAPER SAYS: A British newspaper
said today the Belgian Government will buy the American F-16
fighter plane for its NATO defenses instead of France's
Mirage F-1 and will officially announce its decision June 15.
The Observer, in a story from its Brussels correspondent who
quoted "well-placed officials," said the Belgian Cabinet
decided to buy the American plane after pressure by
President Ford and leaders of other NATO Nations. -- AP (6/1/75)

U.S.S.R. SAYS SCHLESINGER USED SCARE TACTICS: The Soviet Union described as imprudent and dangerous Sunday a suggestion that the U.S. use battlefield nuclear weapons in the event of a Soviet attack on Europe. A commentary in the Communist party newspaper, Pravda, which apparently reflected top Kremlin thinking, said the Soviet Union does not plan to invade Western Europe. It said Secretary Schlesinger suggested the use of tactical nuclear weapons to frighten American legislators and European allies into increasing defense expenditures. -- UPI (6/1/75)

WEST GERMANY TO GIVE BRAZIL NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Brazil is on the verge of getting from West Germany the equipment and technical information needed to produce nuclear weapons, U.S. officials said Sunday. The agreement being completed between the two nations, which officials said might be announced at any time, is specifically designed to give Brazil the ability to use its vast uranium deposits for producing electricity. But officials said the agreement would give Brazil "the full nuclear power cycle" and would make it at least theoretically possible for the largest nation in South America to join the nuclear weapons club. -- UPI; Washington Post (6/1/75)

3

ABC film showed President Ford being greeted by cheering throngs Saturday as he rode in open limousine through Madrid streets with Generalissimo Franco. Tom Jarriel (ABC) said the President received a "very generous welcome."-- AP; UPI; ABC; NBC; WTOP (6/1/75)

FORD AND SADAT HAVE MUCH IN COMMON: Garrick Utley, in Salzburg, said President Ford and Egyptian President Sadat have much in common and should understand each other well.

"President Sadat is asking Gerald Ford just what kind of peace settlement the U.S. really wants in the Middle East. He says up til now, American policy there has been too vague," Utley said. "And while the President and Henry Kissinger are reflecting on that, Sadat says he wants more of the Sinai Desert back now. Last March, a deal in which Israel would have given up two key passes and an oil field in the Sinai fell through, a set back for peace efforts and for Henry Kissinger's reputation for infallibility. Now Sadat says he still wants the two passes and the oil.

"Aside from the negotiations here, President Sadat also wants to establish a close personal relationship with Gerald Ford," Utley said. "He assumes it will be Mr. Ford and not Henry Kissinger, who'll make the final American decisions about American policy in the Middle East.

"Egyptian officials point out that the two Presidents really have a lot in common," Utley said. "Politically, the Egyptians did not take Mr. Sadat seriously when he became President, but now he has turned out to be a strong leader. And in the very unlikely case that they run out of things to talk about, they can always discuss a common past-time: the two Presidents are passionate pipe-smokers."-- NBC (6/1/75)

FORD TO DECIDE ON ISRAEL'S FOREIGN POLICY BORDERS: The Chicago Sun-Times reported Sunday that President Ford, in a major policy shift, has decided to formulate an official U.S. position on what Israel's final borders should be. Thomas B. Ross in Salzburg, Austria, reported that "key U.S. officials" disclosed Saturday that Ford will report on his decision to Egyptian President Sadat during their meeting.

The Sun-Times said officials indicated the Administration has not yet formulated precisely where the new Israeli border should be and that there will be no announcement of the policy shift during Ford's visit to Austria. The officials said, however, that there was general agreement that the border should be somewhere in the neighborhood of that outlined in resolution 242 adopted by the United Nations Security Council at the end of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. -- UPI (6/1/75)

6

To add spice to the already simmering relationship between Rumsfeld and Kissinger, Rumsfeld grabbed Kissinger's coveted role as a "senior American official." The egotistical Kissinger has become possessive of the title and enjoys wisecracking about the escapades of the unnamed "senior American official." So when Rumsfeld, who rode with Ford to Brussels, talked to reporters on the plane and insisted on being referred to as "a senior American official," Kissinger predictably was angered and became more determined than ever to exert himself publicly during the NATO sessions. (6/1/75)

UPI, N.Y. Times: Secretary Kissinger says it's a "stupid debate" -- the one over who's running United States foreign policy. President Ford says Mr. Kissinger is. Mr. Kissinger says the President is. Reporters covering the White House still wonder, "You vultures, you are always asking me that," said Kissinger to reporters on the President's plane en route from Brussels. The question was raised after he had given Ford high diplomatic marks in an interview last week. Kissinger said he had merely answered a question. (6/1/75)

FOREIGN POLICY

IRAN IS REPORTED IN A DEAL WITH ROCKWELL ON SPY BASE --
By Seymour M. Hersh, N.Y. Times: Iran has signed a multimillion-dollar contract with a U.S. defense contractor to set up a communications intelligence facility in Iran that would be capable of intercepting military and civilian communications throughout the Persian Gulf area, according to well-placed U.S. officials.

The contract also calls for the defense company, Rockwell International of Anaheim, Calif., to recruit former employees of the NSA and its Air Force component, the Air Force Security Service for the project.

The U.S. has routinely provided military aid and expertise in communications intelligence to its allies around the world, intelligence officials said. But such help, they noted, was always under the direct control of the U.S. military, which could decide how much information should be made available to the host country.

Iran's agreement is described as unusual by these officials because it provides for the direct recruitment of past and present NSA and AFSS staff, many of whom have, or have had, access to this country's most closely guarded intelligence techniques.

June 1, 1975

Joseph Kraft

# Ford's Toughest Negotiations: Are Back Home in Washington

Washington,

The present European trip is a test of President Ford as a leader in foreign policy all right. But the issue is not, as some White House aides seem to believe, whether he can assert himself over Henry A. Kissinger, the Secretary of State. The true issue is whether the President can make the hard decisions involved in sorting out the conflicting interests in this country. It is a question of the validity of the self-comparison Mr. Ford likes to make with Harry S. Truman.

Consider what the European allies really want. What they would most of all like to hear is that the United States is getting ready to lead them out of the worldwide recession. But that only means that Mr. Ford and his economic advisers will have to face up to their most vexing internal problems with more acumen than they have shown up to now.

The thing the Europeans next want is a settlement in the Near East. President Anwar Sadat of Egypt is promising just that—at a stiff price.

Mr. Sadat wants the United States to push Israel back to the 1967 frontiers, but he and other Arab states are prepared to give only the haziest guarantees of Israeli security. He wants to put the Near East, and the question of the Palestine insurgents, up for grabs at a conference in Geneva which includes the Russians. He also, having become the Abe Bearne of the international community, wants some immediate financial help.

So the true question is back here. The question is whether Mr. Ford can organize the pressure required to get acceptance of these terms by the Congress and the Israelis.

The third thing the Europeans would like is a secure supply of oil from the Persian Gulf at a lower price. Mr. Kissinger has belatedly been won over to the best means to that end—talking the question out in the context of a meeting between oil producers and oil consumers. But if a producer-consumer conference is to bear fruit, Washington will have to come up with proposals for stabilizing the prices of other raw materials produced by the poorer, less-developed countries.

At present the State Department, which favors such a proposal, is at war with the Treasury Department, which has objections based on the sanctity of the free market. President Ford has not been able to decide between his diplomatic and his economic advisers, and so the true obstacle to further progress lies in the Oval Office itself.

Another allied objective is to shore up southern Europe. That means in the first instance avoiding an outbreak of fighting between Greece and Turkey. But that matter, in turn, is intimately associated with skillful handling of the commercial ban on aid to Turkey. In addition, there is the opening for Communist penetration made by instability in Italy and Portugal. The north European countries are tying to meet the challenge by aid and assistance to the socialist and liberal parties of southern Europe. They would like the support of Washington, and most American officials are willing.

But President Ford and Mr. Kissinger lean to a harder line—a line which emphasizes support for anti-Communist, right-wingers and threatens left-wingers with ostracism or worse. As a result the whole position of the administration is in doubt.

Provided he can resolve these doubts and disagreements, the President has a fairly comfortable foreign policy prospect ahead. The Russians, wary that after the debacle in Southeast Asia the United States may behave like a wounded tiger, are doing their best not to upset detente. So the future agenda includes a jumbo summit meeting in Geneva to ratify the status quo in Europe, a resumption of the producer-consumer talks in Paris, a Geneva meeting on the Near East; a Soviet-American summit with good prospects for another agreement limiting strategic arms; and a Soviet-American summit at Peking.

Given these prospects, the President has solid reason to want to identify with foreign policy. But it is sheer mischief to suggest that to assert himself he has to drop Mr. Kissinger. As the mischief goes on, it becomes a serious question whether Mr. Ford has the fiber, as Mr. Truman did, to tolerate subordinates of truly high abilities.

8-A

Friday, May 30, 1975

Philadelphia Inquirer

[L.C.3]

# Ford Off to a Good Start—But Difficulties Loom

By ROBERT S. BOYD

Inquirer Washington Bureau

BRUSSELS—President Ford seems to be off to a good start toward the goals he set for his European trip, but some difficulties are already cropping up and the final results will not be clear until after he gets home next week.

Ford's whirlwind round of meetings with the presidents and prime minis-

## Analysis

ters of Europe has three purposes:

* To help the Atlantic Alliance, which Ford calls "the cornerstone" of U. S. foreign policy, solve some of its painful internal problems.

* To help America by demonstrat-

ing that it is still a mighty power, despite setbacks at home and in Asia.

* To help Gerald Ford personally by showing that an ex-congressman from Grand Rapids can handle foreign affairs as well as previous chief executives—and as well as his potential rivals for the presidency say they can.

To accomplish these goals, Ford plunged into his personal diplomacy,

starting at breakfast yesterday and continuing late into the night.

He warned quarreling Greece and Turkey against renewing their war.

He lectured errant Portugal's prime minister against slipping too far toward Communism.

He cautioned proud France that her standoffishness undermines Western solidarity. And he again assured Europeans that the U.S. commitment to defend them against Soviet attack was as solid as ever.

It was a vigorous, self-confident performance that is likely to boost Ford's prestige at home and abroad. Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger hovered constantly at the President's elbow, but it was clearly Ford's show and he appeared to enjoy it.

Nevertheless, there were problems.

For one thing, Ford seemed out of step with many of his colleagues on Spain and Portugal's status in Europe.

The President bluntly told Portuguese Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves that Communist domination of his country would be "unfortunate" and "somewhat incompatible" with the purposes of NATO."

This kind of confrontation with tiny Portugal is something that many European leaders had hoped to avoid. NATO Secretary General Joseph Luns made a speech yesterday, arguing that it is not necessary for members of the alliance to agree on all matters and suggesting that a calm approach would give Portugal a chance to reassess its position.

Portugal insisted that it was not Communist-dominated and that it wanted to stay in NATO. Danish and Norwegian leaders who talked to Gonçalves came away saying that they were impressed with his sincerity and his determination not to let Portugal become a Communist dictatorship.

Since Ford and Kissinger obviously do not share the confidence of the Europeans, a serious dispute could re-

sult.

As for Spain, Ford brushed aside European objections and renewed his proposal to bring Spain into a closer relationship with Western defense.

He did so despite a warning from Danish Premier Anker Jørgensen that northern Europeans will not stand for Spanish admission to the alliance as long as the Franco dictatorship remains.

For some reason, perhaps unintentional, Ford put in his plug for Spain immediately after he called on the Europeans to "strengthen our own democratic institutions and encourage the growth of truly democratic processes everywhere."

On another matter, Ford may also have bought himself future grief, this time at home. Both he and his top aides repeatedly blamed the Democratic-controlled Congress for undermining European confidence in American stability and leadership.

At times, Ford actually seemed to be forming an alliance with the Europeans against his own Congress. For example, he told Greek Prime Minister Constantine Caramanis that the Congressional ban on U. S. aid to Turkey made it hard for him to win any concessions from the Turks. And he told Turkish Prime Minister Sulei-

man Demirel that he sympathized with Turkish anger at the aid cutoff.

This kind of washing of America's domestic linen before foreigners could harm Ford's chances of gaining bipartisan approval for his policies.

It also could undermine his goal of persuading Europeans of the unity of the U. S. government.

In spite of these difficulties, Ford must have been pleased by the startling role assigned him by his European hosts. Although all 15 leaders of the alliance are theoretically equal, the Europeans clearly treated Ford as the top man.

He was given the honor of arriving last and speaking first in the opening session of the North Atlantic Council yesterday.

While other NATO leaders entered the hall with little fanfare, Ford's big black limousine, specially flown in from Washington, was greeted with shouts, cheers and a handful of waving American flags.

In his welcoming remarks, Belgian Prime Minister Leo Tindemans singled out Ford for "special mention as the head of state of the mightiest country in our alliance."

That kind of talk must have been music to Gerald Ford's ears.

Associated Press

Kissinger yawns, then relaxes during a session of the NATO summit meeting

TOM BROKAW
NBC Evening News MAY 31, 1975

[LC]

The summit meeting "was a kind of crash course on Gerald Ford's expertise in foreign affairs with America's best known professor, Secretary Kissinger, always present," Tom Brokaw (NBC) reported. "As if he were judging a student, Kissinger gave the President 'high marks' for his performance."

Brokaw said not all the NATO leaders were as enthusiastic. "They were surprised President Ford continued to push for Spain's membership in NATO when that is an unpopular position in Europe." That dissatisfaction was not reflected in the communique, however, which addressed other alliance problems and emphasized a strong defense, Brokaw said.

"Still, other foreign observers continue to wonder whether anything President Ford did here was his own idea." Brokaw said the skeptics continue to believe Kissinger remains the author and executor of American foreign policy.

Although Kissinger has been as visible as Ford, and has his own established international constituency, "it is Gerald Ford who is President of the United States and that is a title no one here is inclined to underestimate," Brokaw said.

Brokaw said White House officials are convinced they achieved one of their goals -- they are confident that other Western leaders now have a much higher personal regard for Ford. John Chancellor (NBC) said "from what we could learn Ford did well."

NATO

SADAT ASKS FORD TO GET ISRAELIS TO PULL BACK FROM OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: President Ford and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat began two days of talks Sunday about the possibilities of Mideast peace. Sadat called on Ford to influence the Israelis to pull back from the occupied Arab territories to pre-1967 boundaries. Ford hailed Sadat as a wise statesman and said the U.S. clearly understands the historical significance of the Egyptian policies. "This is the first time the two leaders have met," Tom Brokaw (NBC) reported in the network's lead story. "And an Egyptian official said later they immediately developed a very good personal relationship. Neither side expects a dramatic announcement from the talks but that does not diminish their significance.

"There is new hope that President Ford can succeed where Secretary Kissinger failed, that the President can bring Egypt and Israel closer together and lay the groundwork for peace in the Middle East without a Geneva conference. Because, if Geneva failed, the chances of another war are great," Brokaw said.

AP reported that Sadat, in his toast, referred to the eventual "recognition of independence and territorial integrity of states," in an apparently conciliatory gesture toward Israel, while in his public remarks, he took a hard line toward Israel, saying "belligerency" can be ended only if it is recognized that land cannot be taken by force.

The two Presidents did most of the talking, Brokaw said, with Secretary Kissinger and Egyptian Foreign Minister Fahmy in the background.

"President Sadat said he came representing all of the Arab world, and at a luncheon toast, President Ford strongly endorsed the Egyptian leader's efforts," Brokaw said.

Garrick Utley
NBC EVENING NEWS - June 1, 1975

C-4

Foreign Policy: Comment

COMMENT

# Why Kissinger Will Stay

By Stanley Karnow

Washington—For a while not long ago, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger looked like the shakiest domino in the domino theory. But he has regained a good deal of strength lately, and he probably will stay on the job until President Ford ends his present term.

This does not mean that Kissinger enjoys the unalloyed prestige that he had during the heyday of the Nixon administration's overtures to Moscow and Peking. His reputation has been tarnished by tales of covert American intervention in Chile, the Cyprus crisis, and, above all, the disaster in Indochina.

Even so, Kissinger still is a powerful figure here in Washington, largely because he is one of the smartest politicians in the capital. The key to Kissinger's power is his proximity to the President. Rumors to the contrary, he is Ford's closest adviser on foreign affairs.

Kissinger briefs the President alone every morning, and this intimate session gives him the chance to exert tremendous influence, especially since Ford's knowledge of foreign affairs is limited.

At the same time, Kissinger is able to protect his authority by functioning both as secretary of state and head of the National Security Council. This means that, in addition to controlling the State Department, he can dominate all foreign policy proposals funneling into the White House from the Pentagon, the Treasury Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and other government bureaus.

Kissinger's clout is further reinforced by his ability to maneuver within the Washington bureaucracy, often by circumventing other Cabinet members. It is no secret, for example, that Kissinger and Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger do not see eye-to-eye on a number of issues.

Nevertheless, Kissinger exercises influence in the Pentagon by having his assistant, Gen. Brent Scowcroft, communicate directly with senior military

officers who themselves find it useful to work through Kissinger against Schlesinger.

Kissinger also has succeeded in grabbing the ball away from Treasury Secretary William Simon on international economic matters, even though his knowledge of economics is slim. He has achieved this by setting up his own State Department economic team under Under Secretary Thomas Enders.

Although Kissinger no longer is the golden boy on Capitol Hill, he continues to hypnotize enough congressmen to give himself immunity from legislative constraints. His power over the Congress stems from two main factors.

In the first place, he is skilled at flattery, and nothing can melt a congressman as easily as being invited to breakfast with Kissinger and briefed in conspiratorial fashion. Secondly, the Congress lacks the leadership to challenge Kissinger, except perhaps on a few controversial questions. So there is much grumbling about Kissinger on Capitol Hill at the moment. But beyond a couple of congressmen, like Sen. Adlai Stevenson (D-Ill.) and Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.), the criticism of Kissinger is muted.

Kissinger also has managed to bulwark himself by maintaining good relations with the media. He carefully cultivates the most influential television reporters, major newspaper representatives and columnists, playing on their egos by dealing with them on a personal basis.

Lately, Kissinger has gone further in bolstering his position by traveling into the Middle West to display his talents as a speaker, and he performed well recently in Kansas City and St. Louis. His motive behind this trip was to show his detractors in Washington that he is popular among the people.

Kissinger may not, like Bismarck, stay in office for 40 years. But he seems to be determined to keep operating as long as he can, and, judging from his present status, he is likely to fulfill that wish.

Stanley Karnow is foreign editor of The New Republic.

Newsday, 6/1/75

THE WASHINGTON POST, SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 1975

Joseph Kraft

President Ford in Europe

The present European trip is a test of President Ford as a leader in foreign policy all right. But the issue is not, as some White House aides seem to believe, whether he can assert himself over Henry Kissinger.

The true issue is whether the President can make the hard decisions involved in sorting out the conflicting interests of this country. It is a question of the validity of the self-comparison Mr. Ford likes to make with Harry Truman.

Mr. Sadat wants the United States to push Israel back to the 1967 frontiers, but he and other Arab states are prepared to give only the haziest guarantees of Israeli security. He wants to put the Near East, and the question of the Palestine insurgents, up for grabs at a conference in Geneva that includes the Russians. He also, having become the Abe Beame of the international community, wants some immediate financial help.

The third thing the Europeans would like is a secure supply of oil from the Persian Gulf at a lower price. Dr. Kissinger has belatedly been won over to the best means to that end—talking the question out in the context of a meeting between oil producers and oil consumers. But if a producer-consumer conference is to bear fruit, Washington will have to come up with proposals for stabilizing the prices of other raw materials produced by the poorer, less-developed countries.

Another allied objective is to shore up Southern Europe. That means in the first instance avoiding an outbreak of fighting between Greece and Turkey. But that matter, in turn, is intimately associated with skillful handling of the congressional ban on aid to Turkey.

Additionally, there is the opening for Communist penetration made by instability in Italy and Portugal. The

North European countries are trying to meet the challenge by aid and assistance to the socialist and liberal parties of Southern Europe. They would like the support of Washington, and most American officials are willing.

But President Ford and Dr. Kissinger lean to a harder line—a line that emphasizes support for anti-Communist right-wingers and threatens left-wingers with ostracism or worse. As a result, the whole position of the administration is in doubt.

Provided he can resolve these doubts and disagreements, the President has a fairly comfortable foreign policy prospect ahead. The Russians, wary that after the debacle in Southeast Asia the United States may have like a wounded tiger, are doing

their best not to upset detente. So the future agenda includes a jumbo summit meeting in Geneva to ratify the status quo in Europe; a resumption of the producer-consumer talks in Paris; a Geneva meeting on the Near East; a Soviet-American summit with good prospects for another agreement limiting strategic arms; and a Sino-American summit at Peking.

Given these prospects, the President has solid reason to want to identify with foreign policy. But it is sheer mischief to suggest that to assert himself he has to drop Dr. Kissinger. As the mischief goes on, it becomes a serious question whether Mr. Ford has the fiber, as Mr. Truman did, to tolerate subordinates of truly high abilities.

Associated Press

©1975, Field Enterprises, Inc.

page 2 --

[LC]

Ted Koppel, AM America, Salzburg--

Both sides, the Egyptian and the American, appear equally determined to leave the impression that President Ford has now taken over the Middle East peace efforts, but there is less to that impression than meets the eye. Despite public assertions to the contrary, the major parties involved in the Middle East solution have already decided on a tentative approach. Senior Egyptian officials here in Salzburg privately rule out any imminent reconvening of a Geneva peace conference because they are fully aware that its chances of success are practically nil. The Palestinian Issue would be raised immediately in Geneva and the conference would collapse almost as soon as it began. So the Egyptians, and more surprisingly the Syrians, have agreed on a new American initiative, moving first toward a Sinai agreement between Isreal and Egypt and then a Golan agreement between Isreal and Syria. For the time being there will be no effort to resolve the Palestinian question. The man who will be most intimately involved, as before, will be Secretary Kissinger. The primary difference this time around is that he will remain more discretely in the background and will probably not visit the Middle East again until the details of a new interum agreement are wrapped up, something that is expected to take place in August.

KISSINGER MYSTIQUE

Steve Bell, AM America, Salzburg--

It's been conceded privately all along that one objective of this trip was to bring President Ford out from under the considerable shadow of Henry Kissinger when it comes to dealing with foreign affairs. But it's difficult frankly when the so-called Kissinger mystique attracts crowd attention overseas maybe more than at home, and especially when the subject is the Middle East, where Kissinger's past efforts at shuttle diplomacy, both successful and otherwise have taken on an essence of legend in their own time. Following the first face-to-face meetings between Presidents Ford and Sadat reporter's questions produced the following insights. The two Presidents were told, carried by far the major burden of the conversations with only occasional comments from Kissinger and others. No Mr. Ford did not use a prepared text, it was a conversation. The American briefer described the talks as very thorough and friendly. The Egyptian briefer said Sadat was quite impressed with Ford's warmness and straightforwardness. But the most important question, whether the Egyptians and others will see President Ford as a strong leader who can put his views into action has not yet been answered. It should be noted that President Sadat did view Richard Nixon as a man of strength, and that was considered an important factor in the Egyptian cooperation with Secretary Kissinger.

# TIME
THE WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE

June 9, 1975

Vol. 105, No. 24

## THE NATION

### AMERICAN NOTES

#### The Fine Feel of Money

For 32 million Americans, one of the most anticipated pieces of mail every month is the sturdy brown envelope bearing a Social Security check. But mailing the money creates problems. About 35,000 checks a year get stolen. And the amount of clerical work is overwhelming. Says Treasury Official Les Plumly: "We have to print them, stuff them, seal them and mail them. If we don't find some other way, the sheer volume will sink the system."

So, starting on the West Coast in August and moving along to the East Coast by October, the Treasury will give Social Security recipients the option of having their checks sent directly to their banks. Then, to grapple with the mountain of mail to banks, the Treasury plans next year to introduce "electronic funds transfer" (EFT). Through the marvels of computers and electronics, money will automatically be credited to the bank account of any Social Security beneficiary who wants it that way.

Nobody would ever see a check—and that, it turns out, is another problem. Says one Treasury official: "Some people have a feeling that if they don't touch the money, then the money's not really theirs." The Treasury would like to make all of its payments this way, including salaries of federal employees. But the Government estimates that EFT will be chosen by only 40% of the people on its many payrolls by 1980. The rest will put up with inconveniences just to get their hands on those familiar envelopes containing those welcome Government checks.

#### Legalizing Pot at Home

Whether or not a person should have the right to use marijuana if he wishes has been hotly debated, of course, across American dinner tables for years. States and municipalities have wrestled with the issue and are increasingly liberalizing laws against personal use. In Oregon, for example, someone caught taking the drug gets off with a fine of $100 at most. Last week Alaska went a good deal further by becoming the first state where the use of marijuana at home was legalized. However, the unanimous ruling by the state's supreme court also continued prohibitions against the sale or public use of the drug.

Approving the private use of pot, Chief Justice Jay Rabinowitz declared:

"The state cannot impose its own notions of morality, propriety or fashion on individuals when the public has no legitimate interest in the affairs of those individuals." With a touch of frontier spirit and pride, Rabinowitz elaborated: "Our territory and now state has traditionally been the home of people who prize their individuality and who have chosen to live here in order to achieve a measure of control over their own lifestyles, which is now virtually unattainable in many of our sister states."

#### Blockbusting the Black Caucus

In a letter asking admission to the 17-member congressional Black Caucus, California Democrat Fortney H. Stark Jr. conceded that "I lack an implicit qualification." The lack was skin-deep: Stark, who has many black constituents, is white. Caucus Chairman Charles Rangel of Harlem was not too pleased. "It would be difficult," he said, "for the Black Caucus to change its name to the 'integrated caucus.'" If the caucus lets in just one white, how many others might request entry? Several white Congressmen have asked for some association with the caucus, but not full membership. Inclinations toward integration are clearly working both ways these days on Capitol Hill.

#### Taking On George

More than a year before the Democratic National Convention, six men have put themselves in the party's presidential race—and four have Southern draws. The latest to enter is Terry Sanford, 57, the Duke University president and liberal former North Carolina Governor, who last week set as his goal the stopping of the man whom all liberal and moderate Democrats most fear: George Wallace. Indeed, Sanford is one of those increasingly vocal Southerners who believe that their region has much more, and better, to offer than Wallace's demagogic appeal and implicit racism. As Sanford put it, "I came up at the same time in similar circumstances, and it is my responsibility to challenge him."

Roughly the same argument is made by other Southerners in the race: Georgia's Jimmy Carter, Texas' Lloyd Bentsen and Oklahoma's Fred Harris. So many more Democrats are on the verge of entering that the field will soon be as crowded as a cotillon, and all will be watching how well the Southerners do against the cocky, crowd-pleasing Governor from Alabama.

EDGIE ADAMS

### FOREIGN POLICY

#### Ford in Europe:

Instead of a conference of 14 heads of government, last week's NATO summit in Brussels turned out to be a one-man show starring Gerald Ford. From 7:45 a.m. Thursday, when the President breakfasted on coffee and croissants with Luxembourg Prime Minister Gaston Thorn, until 6:30 p.m. Friday night, when he ushered out his last guest, François-Xavier Ortoli, president of the European Community Commission, Ford dominated the gathering. He met individually with 13 Western leaders, talking candidly and sometimes bluntly. He made an exceptionally firm speech at the conference's opening session, reaffirming that NATO is the foundation of U.S. policy in Europe but warning that "strains and difficulties within the alliance during the past year" must be overcome. He delivered veiled but tough advice to the Soviets that détente had to be a two-way street. After the summit, Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger continued traveling through Europe, stopping for two days in Salzburg with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to explore the prospects for peace in the Middle East (see THE WORLD).

The trip to Brussels was a largely symbolic mission to overcome allies' jitters about U.S. reliability in the post-Viet Nam War era. In return, West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt,

TIME, JUNE 9, 1975

GISCARD, KING BAUDOUIN, FORD & PRINCE ALBERT OF BELGIUM AFTER DINNER AT THE ROYAL PALACE IN BRUSSELS

Blunt Words, Healing Balm

reflecting the views of other NATO mem-
bers, assured Ford: "You can rely just
as much on us." A second purpose was
to demonstrate that the U.S. is still com-
mitted to an activist foreign policy in Eu-
rope and the Middle East. Further, in a
side trip to two economic conferences
in Paris, Kissinger promised that the
U.S. would begin building what he called
a "new order" in the world economy.
He signaled American willingness to
talk with developing nations about sta-
bilizing prices for raw materials like cop-
per, rubber and cocoa as well as oil. In
a related step aimed at impressing the
OPEC cartel that the U.S. is determined
to conserve energy, Ford imposed a sec-
ond $1-per-barrel tariff on imported oil
and proposed phasing out price controls
on domestic oil later this month (see
ECONOMY & BUSINESS).

Sagging Underbelly. Ford's words and actions in Brussels also provided much-needed healing balm for the alliance, which has recently been sorely troubled. Inflation and recession have greatly weakened some NATO members, particularly Britain which votes this week on whether to remain in the Common Market. French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has continued the Gaullist policy of not participating in NATO's military planning; indeed, he declined to appear at the summit, attend-

ing only a state dinner given by Belgian
King Baudouin and a closed-door meet-
ing with Ford.

Worse, the alliance's underbelly is
sagging badly. Greece and Turkey have
been on the verge of war over Cyprus
for months and have threatened to with-
draw completely from NATO. Portugal
is threatened by Communist domina-
tion. Italy has made a partial economic
recovery, but still faces growing Com-
munist strength in elections this month.
Southern Europe, in fact, was the con-
ference's dominant concern.

Starting with his arrival in Brussels
Wednesday night with a vibrant Wife
Betty, Ford demonstrated that his brand
of personal diplomacy was a comforting
combination of his easygoing manner
and his new expertise in foreign policy.
In contrast to Richard Nixon's stiff-leg-
ged stride past the Belgian honor guard
during a 1974 visit to Brussels, Ford ca-
sually strolled along, chatting animat-
edly with King Baudouin. In fact, the
European leaders were as favorably im-
pressed by Ford's style as by his words
and ideas. Said a Belgian diplomat: "If
American football is responsible for that
man's stamina, I'm all for it."

More important, several conference
participants who had seen Ford before
—among them French, West German
and British statesmen—found him

much more confident in foreign affairs
and acting more on his own. Kissinger
was always at Ford's elbow, of course,
talking, joking and helping to guide the
private talks. Still, Ford carried most of
the conversation himself, even cutting
Kissinger off on occasion to make a
point of his own.

**No Solutions.** After five hours of sleep, Ford rose at 7 a.m. Thursday to begin a grueling series of sessions that were summed up by the Brussels newspaper *Le Soir* in a headline: THE ATLANTIC WORLD MARCHES BEFORE MR. FORD. The marathon concentrated on Greece and Turkey. The President met for more than an hour with Greek Premier Constantine Caramanlis in U.S. Ambassador Leonard Firestone's residence, then gave equal time to Turkish Premier Süleyman Demirel.

Ford warned both leaders not to take
steps that might lead to war and said
that the U.S. was eager to help resolve
their dispute. But he intentionally pro-
posed no specific solutions and did not
offer to act as a mediator. Kissinger ex-
plained: "The U.S. role will be to help,
to facilitate their negotiations, and to
come up with an occasional idea."

Caramanlis left favorably impressed
by Ford's grasp of the situation and with
a renewed interest in bargaining with
Turkey. Demirel, who was still bitter
about the U.S. embargo on arms to his
country, was more restrained. But the
Greeks and Turks later began bilateral
talks in Brussels in hopes of starting to-
ward an eventual settlement.

After lunch with West Germany's

TIME, JUNE 9, 1975

PRESIDENT FORD & GENERAL FRANCO RIDING IN A MADRID MOTORCADE
A symbolic mission to overcome jitters about U.S. reliability.

EDWARD FORBES

Schmidt, followed by a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen, Ford took up the gravest NATO concern: Portugal. Suddenly, the warm, relaxed mood of his revolving-door diplomacy turned chilly, as demonstrated by a brief public session with Portuguese Prime Minister Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves for photographers. In contrast to the small talk and smiles that had enlivened the day's previous pic-

ture-taking occasions, Ford sat quietly and gravely; his guest was ill at ease. According to a U.S. official, Gonçalves became "quite agitated." He was at pains to assure Ford that Portugal was not a "Trojan horse" intending to disrupt the Atlantic Alliance. His nation, he later told reporters, was "a loyal European state and intends to remain a loyal NATO member." Falling back on the euphemisms diplomats reserve for uncomfort-

ably difficult encounters, Kissinger described the meeting as "a frank and useful exchange of views."

Ford expressed apprehensions about Portugal to other heads of government. But they appear intent on taking a fairly relaxed, carrot-and-stick approach. They would offer long-term economic credits if Gonçalves' leftist government encourages democracy; they would threaten outright expulsion from NATO if it does not. Said an American diplomat: "They are either all the way in or all the way out."

**Human Dignity.** In his speech at NATO headquarters, President Ford not only reassured the NATO leaders about U.S. constancy but also voiced the toughest words about détente since the U.S.-U.S.S.R. rapprochement in 1972. He called for "a productive and realistic [NATO] agenda for détente—an agenda that serves our interests and not the interests of others who do not share our values." Added Ford: "Both sides should be working toward undiminished security for all." He insisted that the forthcoming conference on European security, which the Soviets hope will confirm the boundaries set by the outcome of World War II, must involve measures "to advance freedom and human dignity for all Europeans," including those living under Communism. He urged, in effect, that the Soviets stop their continuing buildup of conventional

## Haig: 'The Most Crucial Time'

A professional soldier who served as a foreign policy aide to Henry Kissinger, General Alexander Haig reluctantly gave up his job as Army Vice Chief of Staff to become chief of staff of Richard Nixon's White House after H.R. Haldeman was forced to quit. In that thankless assignment, Haig played a pivotal role as Nixon left office and, for all practical purposes, was the acting President in Nixon's last anguished days. After helping Gerald Ford settle into office, last October Haig was picked by the new President to be Supreme Allied Commander Europe, following a succession of geopolitically minded U.S. generals that began with Dwight Eisenhower. Criticized for his service under Nixon, Haig has aimed "to learn my job, keep my mouth shut and direct my energy to helping make policy." Last week in his first on-the-record interview with a U.S. newsman since he became NATO commander, Haig met for 60 minutes with TIME Correspondent Dean Fischer at NATO headquarters in Belgium. Excerpts:

**Q.** Is there a feeling in Europe that in the wake of events in Southeast Asia, the U.S. word is distrusted?

**A.** There has been a growing consciousness that the U.S. will inevitably

have to be more concerned about Europe. In that sense, you could detect a sigh of relief in Europe that the war had ended. But what we cannot forget is that the full ramifications of events in Southeast Asia have yet to be felt. Because that is so, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that the short-term benefits of U.S. withdrawal will not be put to a very severe test as the historical consequences of a fundamental shift in power relationships in Southeast Asia become clear. And they will.

**Q.** What effect does the renewed focus on the Western alliance have on détente with the Soviets?

**A.** There is a growing skepticism in Europe about détente. It is viewed from two vantage points. One is almost emotional and psychological, caused by confusion about priorities for defense and security. The second one is reflected in the attitude of people like Scoop Jackson. The thesis of their attack is that détente is a one-way street, we are providing technological and economic advantages to the Soviet Union and we aren't receiving reciprocal benefits.

**Q.** Is it possible to pursue détente and simultaneously maintain a strong military and political alliance within the NATO framework?

**A.** It complicates the task. But it is a problem of maturing to a fundamentally changed strategic environment. The West, including the U.S., has not been very adept at this. The West has got to understand the alternatives to détente. We have to be forever tough in getting *quid pro quos* and farsighted in assessing what those *quid pro quos* are.

**Q.** How severe a problem was Watergate in foreign policy?

**A.** It had a major negative impact. It had a major impact on the outcome of events in Southeast Asia, especially in terms of time. It had an impact on Executive and Legislative Branch cooperation at a time when there needed to be close cooperation. I think that the negative impact of Watergate has ended, but the consequences of it will be felt for decades.

**Q.** How bad a problem is the weakness of NATO's southern flank?

**A.** Both Greece and Turkey are geopolitically situated in such a way that their ultimate best interests will lie with continued association with the West. We can only hope that American politics will facilitate that understanding. In that sense, I've been propounding the short-sightedness of the Turkish aid cutoff.

**Q.** What will happen in Portugal?

**A.** The situation is very tough to predict. But we know the subjective view of the Portuguese people. What remains

12

TIME, JUNE 9, 1975

military forces in Eastern Europe.

The NATO leaders correctly interpreted Ford's speech as a reflection of his own views. Said a West German NATO specialist: "That is not Kissinger. It is a totally different approach." Indeed, as Ford wrote the final, stern words into the speech during the flight from Washington, he consulted not with Kissinger, who was one of the architects of détente, but with White House Chief of Staff Donald Rumsfeld, who is more interested in improving relations with Europe than in furthering détente. It was yet another sign that Ford is taking control of U.S. foreign policy—and that Rumsfeld's star is rising.

During the speech, Ford warned that NATO cannot survive if members like Greece and Turkey continue to support the alliance halfheartedly. Said he: "We must preserve the quality and the integrity of this alliance on the basis of unqualified participation, not on the basis of partial or special arrangements." He also implied that NATO should look to Spain as a potential replacement for Portugal as the southwest anchor of Western Europe defense strategy. That is a highly controversial idea because most NATO members oppose associating with Spain so long as Dictator Francisco Franco stays in power. Said Ford: "We should begin now to consider how to relate Spain with Western defense." In any case, he noted that Spain already

EDDIE ADAMS

KISSINGER OFFERING ADVICE TO FORD DURING THE SUMMIT'S OPENING SESSION

Reassuring words for friends and tough talk for the Soviets.

makes "an important contribution to Western military security as a result of its bilateral relationship with the U.S."

Strengthening U.S. ties with Spain was the next item on the Ford-Kissinger itinerary. After more meetings with European leaders (among them Giscard and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson) and a second day of NATO sessions, the President and Kissinger flew to Madrid. Ford and Franco rode through the

streets of Madrid, then Ford lunched with Premier Carlos Arias Navarro and Foreign Minister Pedro Cortina Mauri. Among other things, they discussed the pending negotiations for the U.S.'s continued use of four military bases in Spain. In exchange for renewing the agreement, which expires in September, Spain wants some unspecified recognition—short of NATO membership—of its contribution to Europe's defense.

**Some Doubts.** After a state dinner at the royal palace, Ford flew to Salzburg on Sunday to take up the problems of peace in the Middle East. The President was to fly back to Washington overnight on Tuesday, stopping for ten hours in Rome to talk with Italian President Giovanni Leone and Premier Aldo Moro about Italy's economic and political difficulties. Ford also was to discuss the humanitarian aspects of the world's trouble spots with Pope Paul VI.

The President was understandably pleased by his reception in Europe, saying that he felt there had been a "general sense of satisfaction" at the meetings. But Europeans still had some doubts about his ability to follow through on his speechmaking. They noted that the 1976 U.S. presidential campaign is about to get under way and that Congress's increased concern about foreign affairs limits the President's ability to act abroad on his own, even though most Congressmen have decided to support Ford's foreign policy for the time being. Nonetheless, painfully aware of the rivalries and problems that continue to divide them, European leaders showed that they still look to the U.S. for leadership and welcomed the renewed sense of purpose that Ford brought to U.S. policy toward NATO. Said Premier Moro: "The solidarity reaffirmed by President Ford has become alive and operative for all." In that important psychological sense, both Europeans and Americans called Ford's excursion abroad an unqualified success.

to be seen is whether the pluralistic, moderate majority is capable of organizing itself against a hard-core, externally trained minority dictatorship.

**Q.** What is the attitude of the NATO troops toward military service?

**A.** The attitude of young people has shifted very fundamentally from an anti-Establishment stance. This change of opinion does not mean a return to the status quo. I think it probably is a re-

alization that revolutionary tactics are not the best way to achieve reform.

**Q.** What then do you perceive as the fundamental problem?

**A.** The most fundamental danger to NATO and Western society is the socioeconomic phenomenon. The aspects of this problem are far graver than some have interpreted them to be. For the first time there are definite limitations to raw materials, especially energy. Beyond that, there are rising expectations, which are largely the product of our success in a market economy. These expectations are referred to as egalitarian economics, and they pose a dilemma for Western governments. If qualitative excellence has been abandoned in favor of an egalitarian approach, that is a built-in contradiction to a market economy.

**Q.** How do you view the world now?

**A.** This is the most crucial time in the postwar history of the free world. I describe it as a period of the double imperative. The imperative for unified security arrangements is clearly justified by the continuing improvements in Soviet military capability. The second imperative is to maintain the climate for cooperative endeavors in the socioeconomic area. To me, the dangers facing the West in that area are more immediate and more intense because we are talking about the entire Western way of life.

HAIG VISITING TROOPS IN GERMANY

13

Rowland Evans and Robert Novak

Donald Rumsfeld's Dangerous Game

[LC]

Only marginally shrouded by President Ford's conspicuous public success on his European trip in asserting his own dominance over U.S. foreign policy, the backstage maneuvering to reduce Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's stellar role is now reaching a crescendo of its own.

Its impact on Kissinger himself is beyond dispute. When he first read an authoritative dispatch to The New York Times on May 28, Kissinger, about to start a meeting in Paris of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was white-knuckled with anger. That dispatch from Washington stated that the President was "reducing" his reliance on Kissinger and that Kissinger was losing his near-total "grip" on the nation's foreign policy.

Subsequent stories during Mr. Ford's European journey embroidered the theme. High-level administration officials, both inside and beyond the White House, are convinced that the source of much of this backstage, highly-authoritative leaking was Donald Rumsfeld, 42-year-old chief of the White House staff.

It would not be the first time that Rumsfeld, who returned there eight months ago from his post as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to organize Mr. Ford's White House staff, has demonstrated a taste for backstage power-brokering. Nor are Rumsfeld critics certain that his motives are all that suspect.

"Rummy plays hard ball," said one such critic. "But he's got the President's best interests at heart—as well as his own."

The most conspicuous White House-engineered pressure against top Cabinet member prior to the current moves against Kissinger came last winter against Secretary of the Treasury William Simon. Leaks from well-placed White House sources greased the resignation skids for Simon at a time when Simon was the most loquacious and conservative holdout against the administration's anti-recession budget deficits.

At the time, Treasury Department operatives were convinced that the source of the anti-Simon barrage was Roy Ash, then head of the office of management and budget (OMB). These same operatives, however, are now convinced that it was Don Rumsfeld, not Ash, who was hurling the anti-Simon thunderbolts.

Even before that, moreover, top aides of Secretary of Defense James

Schlesinger privately complained that Rumsfeld, partly because Schlesinger had upstaged him at earlier NATO meetings in Brussels, was conducting a low-decibel campaign against the Defense Secretary. As with Simon, nothing happened, although muted White House criticism of Schlesinger continues.

The hardest-fought Rumsfeld campaign, however, came not against any Nixon-holdover Cabinet member but against Vice President Nelson Rockefeller. The issue was whether the President should permit Rockefeller to name his own staffers to run the Domestic Council.

Rumsfeld fought a hard but losing battle on that one, and his reasons were both sound and carefully considered: If the Vice President as chairman of the Domestic Council could control its top staff, he would command its operations, and such command might conceivably become a heavy political liability for the President. Mr. Ford, however, sided with

Rockefeller—and Rumsfeld made his displeasure known subsequently by returning an early draft of a Domestic Council working paper to director James Cannon with a caustic order that it be redrafted.

The downgrading of Kissinger, however, moves Rumsfeld into far more dangerous waters. Kissinger is a proven master at the art of bureaucratic in-fighting. He easily surmounted and survived two earlier flanking attacks on his power;

First, when Rumsfeld and other White House political aides failed to persuade the President to disengage himself from the Vietnam debacle in his state-of-the-world speech to Congress on April 10; and second, when reports leaked from the White House press office (obviously with Rumsfeld's personal approval) that Kissinger should give up his second hat as head of the National Security Council fell flat.

Some Rumsfeld critics take the conspiratorial view of these torpedo

attacks by the President's youthful and ambitious White House staff chief. Rumsfeld, they say, yearns to be Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, chief of the National Security Council or even Secretary of State. These critics point to the gaudy personal publicity that has been coming Rumsfeld's way: the Merv Griffin Show; an ABC television show, on the "President's right-hand-man"; a Washington Post series on the "second most powerful" man in Washington; the cover of last Sunday's Parade magazine, to name a few.

But others see a loftier Rumsfeld target: to make Gerald Ford come alive as complete master of his own administration—in short, as President in fact as well as name.

Whatever the rationale, Rumsfeld is now taking high risks with his torpedoes aimed at Kissinger. Firing torpedoes is not President Ford's style, a fact that Kissinger himself will soon make full use of.

By Harry Naltchayan—The Washington Post

AOS 2

D A

OFFICIALS 5-29

WITH FORD

BY RICHARD H. GROWALD

BRUSSELS (UPI) -- MOVE OVER MR. SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL. YOU HAVE COMPETITION.

UNTIL NOW, REPORTERS HAVE HEARD AND REPORTED COMMENTS ON AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY FROM THREE BASIC SOURCES.

ONE WAS, OF COURSE, SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY A. KISSINGER. ANOTHER WAS AMBASSADOR ROBERT ANDERSON, KISSINGER'S OFFICIAL SPOKESMAN.

THE THIRD VOICE WAS HEARD BY NEWSMEN TRAVELING WITH KISSINGER ABOARD HIS PLANE. THAT VOICE HAS BEEN NAMED AS "A SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL TRAVELING ON KISSINGER'S PLANE."

NO REPORTERS WOULD, OF COURSE, INFER THAT THE "SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL TRAVELING ON KISSINGER'S PLANE" WAS KISSINGER.

BUT COMPETITION APPEARED WEDNESDAY.

KISSINGER, ANDERSON AND, OF COURSE, "THE SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL TRAVELING ON KISSINGER'S PLANE" WERE FLYING FROM PARIS TO BRUSSELS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S PLANE. REPORTERS GOT AN EARFUL OF SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL.

BUT, FLYING TO BRUSSELS FROM WASHINGTON AT THE SAME TIME, WAS A "SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL FAMILIAR WITH NATO AFFAIRS."

THIS UNNAMED OFFICIAL WAS TALKING TO NEWSMEN ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE CARRYING PRESIDENT FORD, PRESS SECRETARY RON NESSEN AND WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF DONALD H. RUMSFELD, WHO IS FAMILIAR WITH NATO AFFAIRS BECAUSE HE WAS FORMERLY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANIZATION.

THE "SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL FAMILIAR WITH NATO AFFAIRS" TALKED TO REPORTERS ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE.

REPORTERS, OF COURSE, WOULD NOT REVEAL THAT THE SENIOR U.S. OFFICIAL FAMILIAR WITH NATO WAS RUMSFELD.

UPI 05-29 09:23 AED

# A New 'Senior Official'

By a Washington Post Staff Writer

BRUSSELS, May 29—There are now two “senior American official (s)” traveling in Europe to be sorted out by those interested in the arcane practice of matching anonymous U.S. spokesmen on foreign policy with live people.

One is the “senior American official” who travels on the planes carrying the delegation led by Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger. This senior American official speaks with a German accent and his identity is about as transparent as a window pane.

But a new “senior American official” arrived here today. He was identifiable as a “senior American official very familiar with NATO who was traveling with the President.”

Official U.S. records show that there are two ranking American officials particularly identifiable with NATO. One is Ambassador David K. E. Bruce, the current U.S. permanent representative to NATO. He wasn't on the President's plane. Donald Rumsfeld, assistant to the President who formerly held the same post as Bruce does now, was on the President's plane.

Who was the “senior American official very familiar with NATO who was traveling with the President?” Under White House rules, he cannot be further identified.