Nation: Carter Defuses a Crisis

Getting rid of the issue, if not the Soviet brigade, but at some cost

It was like trying to fly a 747 through Washington's Rock Creek Park." So observed a top White House adviser of the way in which Jimmy Carter last week tried to extricate himself from a predicament mostly of his own making: the inflated fuss over the Soviet combat brigade in Cuba. In a straightforward speech to the nation, he largely defused the diplomatic issue, but by no means satisfied all his critics. Nor did he add any much needed decisiveness to his image as a leader. The net result may, in fact, be the loss of some Senate votes for the SALT II treaty.

The speech was one of the most important of his career, and he showed the strain. He looked pale, drawn and more nervous than usual, and with good reason. He knew he had to put the best possible face on what amounted to retreat. Because the Soviets had refused to back down, Carter was forced to rely on Communist Party Chief Leonid Brezhnev's private assurances that the troops would be used only for training purposes.

In a diplomatic sleight of hand, Carter converted this protestation of innocence into a Soviet pledge. Said he: "Although we have persuasive evidence that the unit has been a combat brigade, the Soviet statements about the future noncombat status of the unit are significant." He admitted that Moscow has been building up its military presence in Cuba, contributing to "tensions in the Caribbean and the Central American region" and adding to the "fears of some countries that they may come under Soviet or Cuban pressure." But he concluded that the issue is "certainly no reason for a return to the cold war ... The greatest danger to all the nations of the world is a breakdown of a common effort to preserve the peace, and the ultimate threat of a nuclear war." At the same time, Carter ordered a series of limited diplomatic and military moves that are designed to keep closer watch on Cuba and to deter the Soviets from further adventurism in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

After the speech, a vastly relieved President walked from the Oval Office to the Roosevelt Room, where 50 friends and aides toasted him with champagne in celebration of his 55th birthday. He still had enough breath left to blow out the eight candles on his birthday cake. "Eight years!" the celebrators shouted. "All right!" replied an obviously pleased President. (He will formally announce his candidacy for re-election on Dec. 4.)