Word: bonneli
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...Year of the Missile is barely a month gone, yet already the sense of urgency is intense, the diplomatic activity frenzied. French President François Mitterrand and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko were on missions to Bonn last week, and Vice President George Bush will arrive in the West German capital next week. In Britain, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher set forth her position in the House of Commons; in Rome, the Pope outlined his in an address to the Vatican diplomatic corps. With pressure building on all sides, President Reagan defended his record on arms control at an impromptu press...
...held on March 6 (see box), and the arms-control issue may swing the outcome. The election results, in turn, could determine whether the American missile deployment proceeds on schedule, not only in West Germany but in the other NATO countries as well. Gromyko strove to be dovish in Bonn, though he did drop an occasional note of menace. "We cannot ignore the fact," he warned, "that the Federal Republic is the only state due for deployment of Pershing II rockets, which can reach strategic targets deep in the Soviet Union in a few minutes...
...reaction to that reasoning in Bonn: nonsense. Said one of Kohl's closest aides last week: "The Chancellor would be delighted if the Americans shifted to a more flexible approach in Geneva, especially if it brought the two sides close to an agreement...
...Geneva. The Soviets have deployed some 340 SS-20s in the past six years-a rate of more than one a week-scattered over 38 sites. Two-thirds are west of the Ural Mountains, pointing westward with at most a 20-min. flight to West Germany. Sums up a Bonn defense official: "There is no Soviet weapons system in its class that comes close to matching the SS-20." A compatriot in the Foreign Ministry agrees. "The SS-20," he says, "is a unique threat...
...West Germany, in particular, is involved in an emotional debate over nuclear arms. While the Soviet negotiations could stall, NATO leaders would find it hard to risk the political heat of accepting the American missiles. "What the Americans need is more skill in presenting their case," one diplomat in Bonn observed bluntly last week. "Let's face it, we're not in a security argument, we're in a political debate...