A Talk with Ambassador Walters
SAMUELS, GERTRUDE
AS THE UN STARTS ITS 43RD SESSION A Talk with Ambassador Walters By Gertrude Samuels United Nations General Vernon A. Walters, the United States'Ambassador to the United Nations, is...
...The Soviet Union is not named and Vietnam is not named, even though everyone knows very well who those foreign forces are...
...The White House spokesman, in announcing all this, said the President "has determined that the United Nations has reformed its operations"—as Ambassador Walters had indeed predicted.] Samuels: Where is the reform when the UN continues to ignore Senator Nancy Kassebaum's long-standing criticism about new conference halls being constructed, particularly one in Ethiopia costing up to $35 million...
...position has always been the same...
...Samuels: Looking back, how do you regard your tenure at the UN...
...They always had Soviet support and votes...
...Mission on First A venue—which faces the UN Secretariat Building across the street—Ambassador Walters was working in shirt-sleeves at his overflowing desk...
...I hope he'll be successful in that respect...
...Walters: Let me say, first, that although I am a strong advocate of the UN, I don't harbor the delusion that it's some kind of world government or will become one...
...Samuels: Mr...
...How do I feel about the nonpayment of our dues...
...Ask me that question in a couple of weeks...
...that is, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinians...
...For a long time, there were two standards—one applying to the United States and one applying to everyone else...
...Not of every single thing, of course, but because anti-U.S...
...We have to watch it...
...We' re also on the edge of a solution to the Western Sahara conflict...
...Obviously, we will watch them as they stumble toward that goal...
...And they seem to have totally forgotten that the U.S...
...Samuels: When Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was Ambassador to the UN in 1975-76, he called the World Organization "a dangerous place" for democracy, given the Soviet Union's influence and Third World hostility toward the United States...
...The Soviets sometimes excuse this by saying they' ve had 72 years of bad weather and it's all Nicholas IPs fault, but that really won't fly, not 70 years later...
...withholding its dues...
...I hope that we can move forward on the remaining major problems—move toward amore peaceful world...
...I want to be quite honest with you...
...In addition, theU.S...
...The heavy-set, towering (6'3") diplomat-soldier, whose no-nonsense, rapidfire eloquence has made him a formidable presence in the halls of the UN, was appointed to his current post on May 22, 1985...
...was the first anti-colonial power in the world...
...It's possible that a lot of people are waiting in line for my job...
...And with the evolution of the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States, the whole atmosphere is a great deal less confrontational than it was in his time...
...I'm very optimistic that we will soon arrive at some agreement that will get the Vietnamese out of Cambodia, and restore to the Cambodians the right to choose their own government...
...Would you comment on that characterization...
...Walters: I think that's changing very fast as we shut down the wars...
...help move it carefully toward the signing of a peace treaty that will provide for regional stability...
...Walters was born in New York City on January 3, 1917...
...Does the apparent cooperation between the U.S...
...It would have been politically almost impossible for Iran to give in to us under the conditions of 598 [Security Council Resolution 598, adopted last year, consists of a 10-point plan for a negotiated settlement of the Iran-Iraq War...
...Just one more word on this: The cost of the UN to the U.S...
...They want to see some major investment...
...I know of no major newspaper that criticized the appointment, even though I'd been a soldier for 36 years, and Deputy Director of CIA...
...I'd have to come to that decision if I were asked...
...I know he's been very supportive of our actions here...
...I reject that...
...is something like 80 cents per American per year...
...dues balance for fiscal 1988, indicated he would forward another $144 million to be appropriated by Congress for the next fiscal year starting October 1, and instructed the State Department to negotiate a "multi-year" schedule for paying some $520 million that would still be owed in past dues and funds to special programs...
...I wish him well in his efforts to open up the Soviet Union, and to give greater freedom of information to theSoviet people...
...Mikhail S.] Gorbachev is a very intelligent man...
...We continue to hold that position...
...Samuels: As a strong advocate of the UN, Mr...
...Oh, no," he said briskly, getting up for a warm handshake...
...Mission in Turtle Bay, a demanding job requiring a minimum 10-hour day...
...A former New York Times correspondent, she is also the author of many fiction and nonfiction books— including, most recently, the young adult documentary novel, Yours, Brett...
...They have voted consistently against us almost for the pleasure of voting against us...
...We passed that resolution on Colonel Higgins, whowasaUN official at the time he was taken, and we regard hostage-taking as a very, very evil practice...
...They haven't learned the lesson of Japan—where it's been possible for a small group of islands, with very few natural resources other than the Japanese people, to become the second largest economic power in the world...
...Walters: They don't need it...
...G m conscious of it day and night...
...Samuels: The Ayatollah Khomeini has said the cease-fire was like "swallowing poison...
...Many of their problems are of their own creation...
...The result is I'm the only member of the Cabinet who does not have a constituency...
...It also derives—and I must be partisan here—from President Reagan's taking us out of a state of provocative military weakness into a position of strength...
...Walters: In brief, anything that threatens peace...
...There's been a lot of bitterness in eight years of war, with nearly a million dead, and you have to negotiate against that kind of past...
...Walters: Optimistically...
...he also served in Korea and Vietnam...
...So far as I've had any part at all in that, I feel some pride...
...in fact, we sponsored it together...
...During World War II he served in NorthAfrica, Greece and Italy, wherehe was aide-de-camp to General Mark W. Clark, the Fifth Army Commander...
...I wish him well...
...We're giving the Third World more money, I believe, than we gave Europe after World War II under the Marshall Plan...
...I think it derives from a serious economic crisis within the Soviet Union...
...Let me be clear about that...
...And for the first time we achieved an agreement with the Soviet Union eliminating a whole class of nuclear weapons...
...Just the thing," I said, hoisting my camera, "for a candid shot of the diplomat at work...
...After all, we are in the process of shutting down the occupation of Afghanistan, of putting an end to the Gulf War, of ending the war in Angola, and of achieving Namibian independence...
...If we'd not had the UN, how would we have achieved this...
...did something that displeased the nonaligned states, who make up the majority of the UN, they would condemn us by name...
...The People's Republic of China, with its billion people, pays less than 1 per cent...
...In addition to his memoirs, Silent Missions (Doubleday, 1978), he has published other books and numerous articles...
...They perceive it as no longer in their interest to antagonize us...
...Samuels: With peace filling the airwaves these days, will attention now shift to Asia, where there does not appear to be any regional group taking the lead...
...Eleven days after this interview took place, on September 13, President Reagan authorized the payment of $44 million to the UN to meet theU.S...
...We have a long way to go...
...Samuels: Mr...
...At age 24, he enlisted in the Army as a private, and a year later he graduated from the Infantry Officers' Training School at Fort Benning, Georgia...
...Now, you must understand that the American contribution to the UN budget [25 per cent] is almost as large as that of the next three major contributors: the Soviet Union [10.2 per cent], Japan [10.8 per cent] and West Germany [8.3 per cent] put together...
...Whenyou'veseenthe bodies being put in the body-bags, you understand what war is about...
...A few weeks ago, you wouldn't have gotten 15 Senators to write the President saying go ahead and pay the money...
...Ambassador, when you were first appointed, there was some criticism because you were a military man...
...I think we' ve taken long steps to prevent killing throughout the world...
...That's less than the Sunday New York Times or Washington Posi—and sometimes it might even be better value...
...Walters: Well, I hope they will...
...Samuels: If George Bush should become President, would you want to stay on at the UN...
...Ambassador, how do you feel about the U.S...
...Senator Kassebaum, by the way, sent a letter to the President urging him to make payment on the UN dues...
...But such a conference cannot impose solutions on the various parties...
...Walters: Well, as you know, I've been to Damascus five times about the hostages...
...We did deploy them...
...Walters: With some satisfaction, especially since we've shut down a bunch of wars...
...foreign policy...
...So in the past, there has been discrimination against the U.S., which Americans found very unpleasant, and this led to the withholding of some of our funds...
...But I'm growing one...
...I had extraordinarily good Congressional relations...
...Gertrude Samuels reports regularly on the United Nations for The New Leader...
...Walters: I'm totally optimistic, yes...
...As the Chief Executive's troubleshooter from July 1981 to May 1985, Walters traveled to more than 100 countries...
...With the advent of glasnost and perestroïka, the Soviet Union seems to be more amenable to working with the U.S., more amenable to solutions like their withdrawal from Afghanistan...
...So these are positivesteps.We're not out of the woods yet...
...Walters: Of course...
...they were the dominant influence in the UN...
...They say it's all going to the big countries like the U. S., or to Geneva or Vienna, and none of it is going into the Third World...
...He was in charge of agriculture, which has performed the worst...
...Frankly, I would like to beg that question in order not to say something by mistake, or by a slip of the tongue, that would make the situation of the hostages worse...
...Now they would like to blame that on the developed world, on the so-called North against South...
...But I must say I've generally found the so-called Third World embarked on an anti-American tack...
...It'salot easier to give in to the UN, because there isn't the same kind of loss of face involved...
...Samuels: Is the UN still in small repute in Congress...
...So I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
...Walters: I think it's a cease-fire, which we hope will become permanent...
...Samuels: Nevertheless, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuéllar said recently that if theU.S...
...The nations are too jealous of their sovereignty to delegate real, serious portions of it...
...I do understand that they lack trained people and so forth...
...did not pay up, the UN "will have to close shop...
...There seems to be total nonrecognition in much of the Third World that we've been on their side, and they have not been on ours...
...President Ronald Reagan re-enlisted him in public service...
...They have voted in very large degree against us, except on key issues like Cambodia and Afghanistan...
...I think the progress in UN reform will enable the President to certify that the money should be paid...
...They haven't understood that progress comes with freedom...
...I think he understands the important role the UN can play in carrying out U.S...
...Samuels: Turning to the Middle East, Mr...
...Walters: Well, I don't know if it creates a problem for them...
...is a country that normally pays its debts...
...Walters: I don't know...
...There does seem to be a less confrontational situation than was the case even a year ago...
...and USSR create a problem for the Third World...
...Walters: Except that I remember my confirmation hearing in Congress lasted 33 minutes, and I was astounded at·the lack of opposition...
...rhetoric and namecalling has almost entirely been eliminated...
...Walters: Oh, yes there is: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which has taken the lead on Cambodia...
...IfGodso pleases...
...You see, so many of these countries have adopted one-party, one-man governments...
...Well, the U.S...
...When 'nonaligned' is applied to countries like Cuba and Nicaragua, it becomes a farce...
...When Taiwan held the Chinese seat, it paid 8 per cent of the budget...
...Not one to simply sit back and count the many honors and distinguished service medals he has received, Walters soon turned consultant, lecturer and author...
...After a recent, optimistic press briefing on a possible "truce " between Iraq and Iran, he added wryly inArabic, "Inshaa Allah...
...Samuels: Including the truce or ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war...
...Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon, before becoming Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1972 until 1976, when he retired from the Army with the rank of Lieutenant General...
...Inthepast, however, there have been some rather, uh, irrational positions taken in the UN...
...There were negotiations...
...The Soviets said that if we deployed them, there would be no negotiations...
...He put on his jacket for a very proper, formal pose as befits, he seemed to imply, a U.S...
...Samuels: If the people are starving to death in Ethiopia, as they are, who needs another conference center there...
...But the UN has an important role to play in resolving conflicts...
...Samuels: Do you feel we're in a new era with the Soviet Union...
...Then we began the interview he had agreed to give The New Leader on the eve of the 43rd General Assembly session...
...Is it your feeling that our hostages can be made part of this package...
...Another thing: We were finally able to bring Cuba before the Human Rights Commission, and got a committee to go into Cuba and investigate the violation of human rights there...
...Of course, the resolutions on both Afghanistan and Cambodia call only for the withdrawal of foreign forces...
...The situation is delicate now...
...And I think any attempt to say that all these wars have shut down by themselves and are not connected to the U.S...
...Walters: The U.S...
...If our hostages are not released soon, I will introduce in the UN a resolution calling for the release of all hostages, not only the Americans but also those of all other nationalities being held...
...Ambassador, what are your feelings about the Soviet posture today in the UN...
...The only solution for the Middle East will come through direct talks between Israel and its Arab neighbors...
...Walters: The Russians' new attitude derives from many factors...
...Gorbachev...
...government is simply fiction...
...Walters: Yes...
...Wallers: I think that's changed...
...And it will further call for the cooperation of all nations in stopping this wicked practice...
...The year I came here, there was a resolution on Namibia that included nine specific condemnations of the U.S...
...I don't say the UN should take the credit for all of this, but it has participated...
...Samuels: You're confident it's moving in that way...
...Ambassador, what is your assessment of King Hussein's move to end his legal and administrative ties to the Palestinians in the West Bank...
...I must say there are cases where other nations are not required to pay in the same degree...
...On the resolution calling for the release of Lieutenant Colonel William R. Higgins [a memberof the UN Truce Supervision Organization abducted in Lebanon last February], they voted for it and we voted for it...
...Samuels: You're seeing that inside the UN...
...On the resolution against chemical warfare, we voted for it and they voted for it...
...Walters: It was to be $73 million originally...
...Walters: Yes...
...Samuels: Do you foresee them changing in this General Assembly...
...Then the President named him to succeed Jeane Kirkpa trick in the Cabinet-level slot at the United Nations...
...The President firmly refused to accept the nondeployment of our missiles...
...The other day when I entered his spacious, flag-bedecked office in the U.S...
...But what concerns me is that so much of this depends on Mr...
...We have to give something and they have to give something...
...We will even agree to an international conference, if that's necessary, to bring the parties together...
...Walters: I think if you asked Senator Moynihan about that today, he might have a different answer...
...Samuels: Thank you, Mr...
...Samuels: What are the major issues that will confront this 43rd General Assembly...
...I find the word 'nonaligned' is just not attributable...
...Has this affected your having an impact here...
...Samuels: What will happen to the Third World's role now...
...Walters: I think the money will be forthcoming...
...Samuels: I don't mean to press you, but does that include doing something about the hostages...
...But the majority of people in the so-called nonaligned countries want it...
...As a matter of fact, as a result of those efforts Castro has freed some 800 prisoners who he claimed didn't exist...
...Just take a few recent things: On 598, we voted for it and they voted for it...
...Samuels: How do you approach this new Assembly, starting on September 20...
...This year, there were none in the resolution on Namibia...
...contributes huge sums to the UN's specialized agencies—to unesco, to unicef, to the development programs, etc...
...If you're a soldier like I am, and I've been to four wars in my lifetime, you know what war is...
...Samuels: Isn't it true, though, that the UN had become a symbol for impotence...
...Nearly every one of their economies has gone downhill since independence...
...What's your reaction...
...All of his earlier assignments seem to have been curtain-raisers for his heading the U.S...
...The diplomat-soldier impresses many an audience with his fluency in seven foreign langauges (French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Russian), and is not above taking an occasional dig at himself...
...Now that's a pretty considerable record of achievement...
...The system is not working the way the theory says it should work...
...AS THE UN STARTS ITS 43RD SESSION A Talk with Ambassador Walters By Gertrude Samuels United Nations General Vernon A. Walters, the United States'Ambassador to the United Nations, is living proof that some oldsoldiers, far from fadingaway, embark on new and challenging careers—in his case, nurturing peace in the world...
...I said the Palestinians...
...I think of it always...
...All the issues I've mentioned will take priority, and they each seem to be proceeding to a satisfactory solution...
...In the course of his military career Walters was a special aide to Presidents Harry S. Truman, DwightD...
...You see, the United Nations has never had a constituency in the U.S...
...I didn't say the PLO...
...Quite realistically, I think there isn't going to be any real movement in that area until after the Israeli and American elections in November...
...Whenever the U.S...
Vol. 71 • September 1988 • No. 16
