Etje 5fi!Jugn BaIzut Eighty-Seven Years of E ditorial Freedom 420 Maynard St, Ann Arbor, MI .48109 State of 'high living' is now in for some, hard times: Gop. Carey I . Saturday, January 15, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students'at the University of Michigan . irir ~ ..r'rirrr* / r r\rr ni 1' Oft By STEPHEN KURSMAN GOOD TIMES ARE GONE for the State of New York. Once q state with a high standard of living, it is now in hard times, according to Governor Carey. Viewed in a larger frame- work, New York's difficulties seem to reflect the movement of economic opportunity away from the Northeast and towards the Sunbelt. The upcoming budget for the, state is re- portedly so bad that the Governor's aides are spending lots of time preparing legislators for the expected shock that its release will bring. The Governor himself even held an unprecedent- ed briefing for the lawmakers at which he dis- cussed long-term economic trends in the state. His basic message was that the Albany gov- ernment had been hindering the state's econo- my by increasing taxes and public spending in the absence of economic growth. The result has been a wall of high taxes and regulations that Steven Kursman is a regular contributor to The Daily's Editorial Page. discouraged investment by businesses. BUT THE LEGISLATORS are passing the blame to others. Being the governmental organ that wrote the tax laws and business regula- tions they are somewhat blameworthy. They are also somewhat reluctant to admit their mistakes. Mentioned by various legislators as culpable. are, ' federl pollution regulations, high, energy costs and a certain state law dealing with unemploy- ment insurance. But the admission of overspend- ing is not easy to come across. And while state politicians are squabbling amongst themselves, the investment dollars need- ed .for an economic stimulus are quietly slipping away to areas where economic opportunity is better. And most of these areas are within the Sunbelt. IF THE PRESENT TREND continues, and there is every likelihood that it will, then a city like Jacksonville or Houston may become the Big Apple of tomorrow and a state such as Texas may be the, nation's economic pow- erhouse. It could well be that New York's econom- ic vitality then will be in memory only. "r $\j," LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS: National Security used to 'justify total THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL OST.FIRELDNEWSPAPER SYNDICATE, 1977 we register it under a foreign flag and use it for shipping .. . like the US oil cam panies!' 'Why don't ,. By FRANK MAUROVICH Pacific News Service THE MILITARY RULERS who control eight of this con- tinent's 12 nations are engaged in total war. The enemy is international Marxism. The battleground is the minds of the people. And the remedy is Seguridad Nacion- al (national security), a unique- ly South American ideology that has replaced democracy and be- come the glue that binds the military governments here: Ar- gentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. This is a "hot" war. The body count in Argentina last year to- taled more than 1,400 - far more than that of Northern Ire- land. As many as 20,000 politi- cal prisoners are believed held in Argentine jails. In Chile, sources estimate 100,000 citizens have been jailed since the 1973 military coup and thousands have disappeared. One out of every 60 Uruguay- ans has been- in a prison or detention center, usually for po- litical crimes. In Paraguay, 2,000 persons' were arrested for political rea- sons last spring alone. Some prisoners have been held with- out charge for as long as 18 years. And in Bolivia and Brazil, as elsewhere, torture of political prisoners is common and wide- ly documented. But what is happening in La- tin America is not simply a matter of brutal military re- Letters should be typed and limited to 400 words. The Daily reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. pression or leftist revolution, says Jose Comblin, a highly re- garded theologian and political scientist who has taught in Bel- gium, the U.S. and Chile and has spent many years studying and writing on military govern- ments. THE IDEOLOGY of national security, says Comblin, is the key to understanding Latin Am- erica's dictators. It is the en- gine that drives the continent, the doctrine that steers the course of the "war" and shapes all facets of national life - eco- nomics and culture, as well -as politics. National security was even invoked to justify the new population *ontrol program an- nounced by Peru's military gov- ernment last month. According to Comblin, the strategy of national security as a measure for dealing with em- ergency situations has been transformed into the official ideology of the state. Its roots, he says, are deep in late 19th century pan - Germanism, a movement advocating the union of all German-speaking people in one state. After influencing Nazi Nation- al Socialism, the ideology died until it was resurrected by La- tin America's military schools after World War II. In these schools, principally in Brazil's Advanced War Col- lege in the 1950s, Latin Ameri- ca's military politicians devel- oped the doctrine that the state, or nation, is the supreme "or- ganism" that the people must serve - a radical break from the politics of the Western World. As expressed by Brazil's chief national security ideologue, Gen. Golbery de Couto e Silva: "The nation is absolute or it is noth- ing. A nation can accept no limi- tations of its absolute power." tOMBLIN SAYS the ideology of national security is based on three fundamental concepts: geopolitics, total strategy and the privileged role of the arm- ed forces. This version of geopolitics, un- like the traditional notion, is a former Nazi doctrin'e that re- gards the state as the vital o- ganism that has to grow, strug- gle, expand and defend itself. In relation to the state, the individual is a myth. People exist only as part of a state, to serve it and defend it, ex- plains Comblin. And every sta°, according to this notion of geopolitics, is in- volved in unremitting war. The present form of warfare is be- tween East and West, commu- nism and the Free World. In this battle, says Chile's ruler Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who for many years was a pro- fessor of geopolitics in Chilean military schools, "There is no room for comfortable neutral- ism." Chile's Col. Baciagalupo, writing in a recent issue of Chile's National Security maga- zine, concedes, "For many it war munisn," he says, "the arm- ed forces see no distinction be- tween civilian and soldier-all are involved. "Furthermore, in an ideologi- cal war ideas are weapons. Therefore, both citizens and ideas have to be controlled," he adds. The consequence of this total war in Latin America's military regimes has been massive ar- rests of not only the avowed leftist revolutionaries and poli- ticians, but all suspected sym- pathizers as well, including la- bor leaders, journalists, clergy- men, university students and professors. THE WAR HAS ALSO created legions of political refugees who, forced to flee their countries, are increasingly unable to find safe havens in neighboring countr-c that also are involved in thiv giggle. A central computerized data bank in Chile collects informa- tion on political refugees for six of the countries in the South- ern Cone, excluding only Peru and Ecuador. Control over these subversive forces can only be effected by the armed forces, according to the doctrine - hence their privileged role. "The Third World's armed forces are the only social or- ganization that is cohesive, cap- able and efficient enough to cope with the socio-economic problems of the underdeveloped countries," says Chile's Major Claudio Lopez Silva, a top ideo- logue of national security. His assessment echoes the recommendation of Nelson Rockefeller's 1969 Report on the Americas, in which he urged the U.S. to work - with the Latin American military. The "new type of military man," said Rockefeller, represents "the sin- gle most powerful political group in society," and could be- come "a' major force for con- structive social change in the American republics." TrHE MILITARY governments that have come to power, ex- plains Comblin, have adopted the tenets of national security to justify permanent authori- tarian government structures. Absolute power is vested in the Council of State or Supreme Cabinet (the name varies from country to country), composed of the heads of the military branches and perhaps a few civilians. This supreme body as repre- sentative of the state, oversees the entire political, social, eco- nomic and cultural process. When "irreconcilable differen- ces" erupted beteen the Uru- guayan Council of State and President Juan Bordaberry last June, for example, Bordaberry was simply repl'aced with 72- year-old Aparicio Mendez. Men- dez immediately stripped thou- sands of politicians of their right to vote, hold office or engage in political activity for 15 years. + MICHAEL BECKMAN rAHE FRENCH GOVERNMENT, in an act of supreme cowardice, capitulated to illusory Arab retaliations and let Abu Daoud, go free. Daoud is the number one sus- pect of plotting the massacre of the 11 Israeli athletes in the Munich Olympics. Daoud had been sitting in a French prison since Fri- day of last week, awaiting France's decision as to whether they would honor Israeli or West G -man requests that he be extradited to stand trial. In a tngaroo court hearing held this past Tuesday, the extradition appeals were de- nied, extrinsically on a technicality. They claimed that the West German request was not made through the "proper" channels, and that the Israeli government did not have the proper jurisdiction. Since when have the French become so concerned with protocol? This is the country that gave the world the XYZ affair, Napoleon, Talleyrand, Clemenceau and a whole legacy of shady dealings and dealers. And now they come off be being ethical enough to disclaim their humanitarian duty with limp moral justifications? It is an outrage. The French government let Daoud waltz off to Algeria for the simple reason that they are afraid of economic reprisals by the Arab nations and terrorist reprisals by the Palestinian Liberation Organization if they turned him over to be justly tried. Their formula for releasing him was simple: French people own many cars. French cars need gasoline anti oil. French factories and utilities are dependent upon oil as a fuel source. The Arab nations supply the majority of oil to France. Israel does not ex- port oil. Germany does not export oil. Therefore, France does not export Daoud. If Descartes were alive, he might compose a -new branch of philosophy based upon these tenets. Now Daoud is in Algeria, probably being given a ticker- tape parade in a Citroen, through downtown Algiers, laugh- ing to himself, smug in his knowledge that justice has tri- umphed once again. Meanwhile, Israel has recalled its French ambassador, West Germany has strongly denounced the action, and the PLO has praised France's sense of justice. In what can only be termed shocking, as of yet, the United' Nations has not passed a resolution condemning Israel for having the audacity to ask- that Daoud be extra- dited. How long is this kind of anti-Israeli action as pursued by France going to last? How long are the countries of the world going to allow narrow economic interests to warp their sense of justice? When is something constructive go- ing to be done to put a stop to terrorism? The French government has blown a big chance. They've blown the oppprtunity to make a small inroad towards redressing one of the most savage, brutal and odious epi- sodes in recent history. They had the opportunity to tell the Arabs that all of their oil and wealth can't buy jus- tice and dictate policy, and that if they tried any more pressure politics, they could take their oil and shove it up their collective keisters. But the French sold out, as they've done before, and as they'll do again. And what is the saddest part of the story is that after a few days of mock outrage, nobody will give a damn. Abu Daoud will go down in PalestiniAn history books as a folk-hero, West Germany will begin searching for some other way of erasing their collective guilt over Auschwitz, while the new wave of Naziism slow- ly infiltrates into the new generations minds. The color and pageantry of the Olympics, as Jim Mckay would say, will go on as usual, like this past summer, with nary a remembrance of what happened at Munich in 1972. Franch will go on claiming neutrality in the Arab- Israeli dispute, while making final preparations to sell another SO Mirages to Libya, for transfer to Syria. The United States will continue to press Israel to make further land concessions, to re-establish theit reputation as the arbiter of peace throughout the world. And somewhere on this planet, a man will set off a bomb, or hijack a plane in t-he name of a cause. l 'Why don't we call it King Kongsky!' Letters: ......M.: .. ci-i {~-r More Shahin N. To The Daily: I AM WRITING in response to Jim Shahin's Dec. 11 editor- ial about the Meg Christian con- cert, and to The Michigan Daily's front - page lead-in to\that story ("The Meg Chris- tian concert .. . was No Man's Land . . .). As the person from Oasis who talked to Mr. Sha- hin at least three time before and at the concert, I hardly re- cognized the story as Shahin reported it. The factual errors and deliberately misleading language presented as editorial reporting lead me to question the personal, political, and journalistic integrity of Mr. Shahin. To cite just one exam- ple, Mr. Shahin stated, "By this time (Wed. night at the concert) it was too late to even buy a ticket because the con- cert as sold' out." False. After Elain Fletcher agreed to re- view the concert (Meg had re- concert that evening, and a number of men attended. Fin- ally, Mr. Shahin was awer of Meg's preference for a female reviewer two days before the concert. From that time until he walked out the door the eve- ning of the concert, he expres- sed nothing but complete "un- derstanding" of that request. The five wome of Oasis came together out of a desire to bring more women's music to Ann Arbor, as well as other cultural events that speak to the experiences and politics of being a woman in this society and elsewhere. We well under- stand the political issues in having such a focus. We would like our events to reach as many people as possible, wo- men and men - but our first priority is the women of this area. There is no way to undertake the task of production of wom- en - oriented events without stirring political convictions from all directions: we wel-