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From: orb@whuxl.UUCP (SEVENER)
Newsgroups: net.followup,net.politics
Subject: Re: Re: US-USSR talks
Message-ID: <248@whuxl.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 21-Sep-84 08:29:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: whuxl.248
Posted: Fri Sep 21 08:29:15 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 20:44:12 EDT
References: <557@ttds.UUCP> <388@vu44.UUCP> <566@ttds.UUCP> <5976@mcvax.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs
Lines: 28

> > Lately it seems as though the Reagan administration have changed their
> > (official) manner of speech and the forthcoming talks between mr Reagan and
> > mr Gromyko cannot be anything but welcomed.
> 
> I agree that the talks must be welcomed. Funny that the Reagan
> administration's manner has changed like this, just when elections are
> coming up.
> 
> Steven Pemberton, CWI, Amsterdam; steven@mcvax

However, besides serving Reagan's political purposes in the upcoming
election, the talks are not epic-breaking--the surprise is not that
Reagan is finally meeting the Soviet Foreign Minister but that he has
not done so until just before the election.  It has been a regular 
practice of past Presidents to meet with the Soviet Foreign Minister
before the UN sessions.  Reagan has also made absolutely no offers
to reciprocate the Soviets moratorium on space-weapons testing, or
to make any new offers of arms control.  Nor has he suggested sending
any of the 5 arms control treaties already negotiated to the Senate
for ratification.  Nor has he brought any charges that the Soviets are
violating past agreements to the Standing Consultative Committee--instead
his administration is about to issue another report accusing the Soviets
of violating arms agreements without doing anything about such violations,
if they have, in fact, occurred. I think we can tell therefore the
basic nature of Reagan's approach to arms control, as usual-none.
Tim Sevener
Bell Labs, Whippany
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