Closing The Gap

The transatlantic telephone call came shortly after 9 a.m. last Tuesday, just as National Security Adviser Frank Carlucci was leaving Santa Barbara, Calif., to join Ronald Reagan for a trip to Los Angeles. The caller, Horst Teltschik, had news that would please the President. The West German National Security Adviser told Carlucci that Chancellor Helmut Kohl was about to announce plans to retire 72 aging Pershing IA missiles tipped with American nuclear warheads. At a stroke, one of the chief obstacles to a long-awaited Soviet-American agreement on intermediate-range nuclear forces seemed to dissolve, and a Washington summit between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev again loomed likely for this fall. Despite a flurry of official denials, reports from Moscow claimed ; that the Soviet leader was freeing up the last week in October for such a trip.

Earlier in the week U.S. negotiators in Geneva had taken an equally important step to sweep away the other stubborn sticking point in the INF talks: they eased their demands for stiff on-site inspection checks to ensure compliance with a treaty. The turnaround was extraordinary for Reagan. It has long been an article of faith for conservatives, the President foremost among them, that any agreement should include the strictest possible verification procedures. Before entering the White House, Reagan attacked Jimmy Carter's unratified 1979 SALT II treaty for lacking adequate verification guarantees.

Yet Reagan was clearly delighted last week by the prospect of a deal. In a speech in Los Angeles, the President welcomed the Bonn proposal. "We can wrap up an agreement on intermediate-range nuclear missiles promptly," he said. "We ask ourselves, Are we entering a truly new phase in East-West relations? Is far-reaching, enduring change in the postwar standoff now possible? Surely, these are our hopes."

Reagan walked a fine line between showing enthusiasm for an arms deal and reassuring right-wing supporters who fret that he may be going soft in his quest to sign a treaty before the end of his term. The need to shore his right flank was particularly acute, because his retreat on verification came on the heels of his support for a Central American peace plan that conservatives fear could undermine the U.S.-backed contra rebels in Nicaragua. Though the President stopped short of repeating his earlier harsh depictions of the Soviet Union, he made clear that he still deeply distrusts Moscow. "While talking about reforms at home," he said, "the Soviet Union has stepped up its efforts to impose a failed system on others." He charged Moscow with "indiscriminate bombing and civilian massacre" in Afghanistan and challenged the Soviets to tear down the Berlin Wall and "show some glasnost in your military affairs" by publishing an accurate defense budget.

After attacking Reagan's speech for dumping a "heavy cold downpour" on East-West relations, Soviet Spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov praised the softened U.S. stance on inspections. "Taking into account that the U.S. has changed its position on verification," Gerasimov said, "we think that all these problems can be solved by our diplomats in Geneva." He also acknowledged that "the situation has changed for the better after this statement by Chancellor Kohl."