Falling Short

(7 of 8)

The danger in advocating a moralist stance against South Africa is that it can slight the very real complexities of the situation. As Shultz has pointed out, the transition to majority rule must be accompanied by guarantees of the rights of minority groups, namely the whites. Yet continued U.S. reluctance to take a moral stance against the Pretoria government, one that is backed by tangible actions rather than righteous rhetoric, prompts some fundamental questions: If not now, when? If not sanctions, what?

Reagan and Shultz are concerned, and rightly so, about finding the best way to achieve a transition to a postapartheid leadership in South Africa and how that will affect southern Africa as a whole. As Shultz points out, the economy of South Africa, the largest and healthiest on the continent, may collapse if it is put under sustained pressure by the West. That would have catastrophic consequences for not only the whites but also the blacks of South Africa and the entire region.

The Administration's goal is to find measures that will selectively increase pressure on Pretoria. In his testimony last week, Shultz attempted to make a distinction between "punitive" sanctions, which would perhaps worsen the situation for all South Africans, and "other measures," which could be targeted at the ruling whites in a position to bring about change. The distinction is a somewhat tortured one: What is the point, after all, of sanctions that are not punitive? The real purpose of the semantic difference may be to allow the Administration to impose sanctions under a slightly more benign name.

The vehemence of the reaction to the standstill policies contained in Reagan's speech caused some hasty attempts by Administration officials to emphasize that they are still considering ways of toughening their South African policy. As Reagan hopped through the South on a series of political fund-raising appearances, his advisers huddled in conferences in the middle cabin of Air Force One, searching for ways to placate critics and find some middle ground for the President. Presidential Spokesman Larry Speakes told reporters that everything was "under review."

Speakes suggested that one example of "nonpunitive" sanctions would be the closing of consular services, which is currently included in the bill that Lugar is drafting. The Administration hopes to work with Lugar in refining other possible measures with the aim of putting together a package acceptable to both Capitol Hill and the White House. Since it is al- most certain that Congress will pass some sanctions bill by the end of the summer, the only other option the President has is his veto. That would make last week's political brouhaha seem like a picnic by comparison.

In addition, the White House is hoping to defuse the issue with the same gesture it had originally intended to make as part of the President's speech: the appointment of a black Ambassador to Pretoria. One contender is Terence Todman, a career Foreign Service officer with high credentials who is now Ambassador to Denmark; another is Edward J. Perkins, the current U.S. Ambassador to Liberia. The clumsy stumble over the planned appointment of Robert Brown has taken away some of the impact that would come from such a choice and make it even more transparently symbolic. But it will be a signal nevertheless.