Foreign Relations: A Triumph for Brandt

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Since his election last year as Chancellor of West Germany, ruggedly handsome Willy Brandt has been hailed as one of Western Europe's most charismatic and skillful statesmen. Last week he lived up to his reputation. The longtime Socialist mayor of West Berlin flew into Washington for two days of talks with President Nixon and made a persuasive case for continued U.S. support of his efforts to ease cold-war tensions. He also assured himself of a role in any further discussions about the future of the Continent.

Brandt spent the early part of the week inspecting West German troops training with U.S. forces in Texas. Tanned by the Texas sun and rested after 2½ days in the seclusion of Camp David, Brandt alighted from a blue Mercedes with his attractive Norwegian wife Rut, to be greeted on the White House lawn by President Nixon. Cannons boomed out a 16-gun salute, and the red-jacketed Marine band struck up the traditional Deutschlandlied. The Brandts were also feted at a gala White House dinner and entertained by the redoubtable Pearl Bailey. To the tune of Hello, Dolly, Miss Bailey belted out "Hello, Richard" in honor of the evening's host, added a chorus of "Hello, Willy" in honor of the guest.

But Brandt's visit was more than pomp and ceremony. Pressure has been building in the budget-conscious Senate for further reductions in the present 310,000-man level of U.S. troops in Europe. Brandt was concerned that premature troop cuts might undermine his efforts to negotiate a mutual force reduction with the Warsaw Pact nations. Speaking before the National Press Club, he argued that the efficiency of the NATO alliance depended upon a continued U.S. military presence on the European Continent. Said Brandt, in his excellent, lightly accented English: "There is no security for Europe without the United States."

On this question, Nixon and Brandt see eye to eye. Despite the pressure for reductions, the President has already agreed to maintain existing troop levels in Europe at least through mid-1971. Last week he took special pains to lay to rest Brandt's chief worry about his U.S. visit—that he would return home with, in his words, "less G.I.s and more money to pay." At Camp David, Nixon's adviser for national-security affairs, Dr. Henry Kissinger, assured the Chancellor that the U.S. would make no further reductions until after a review of NATO strategy, due to be completed in May, established what troops were needed.