Word: malta
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...crucial respect, the Malta meeting did not represent the inauguration of a new world order at all but a holding action on behalf of the old one. George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev have a shared interest in slowing down the rush of events, particularly the juggernaut of German reunification. Consummate Atlanticist that he is, Bush is sensitive to West European anxiety about the disproportionate strength of a single Germany...
Bush received word of the coup before departing for Malta, and was kept posted on events while he was aboard Air Force One. Just before 11 p.m. Thursday , Bush learned of Aquino's request that U.S. fighters place an "aggressive cap" over two airfields near Manila from which the rebels had launched attacks against government positions. Meanwhile, Vice President Dan Quayle chaired a crisis-management group in the White House Situation Room to review options. At 11:30 the Quayle group recommended granting Aquino's request, and Bush approved it an hour later. In addition, 100 U.S. Marines, part...
Ironically, they were shepherds of peace last week, anchored in Marsaxlokk Bay. Malta is a scarred limestone fortress fought over for centuries, the gashes of German and Italian bombs still visible from the battering it took in World War II. George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev searched for a way to dismantle their huge arsenals even while transported and comforted by their monstrous machines. Their task will not be easy. Everywhere one looked along this peculiar journey were reminders of how much the military structure girdles, orders and even calms the world. Anybody who tries to change it quickly had best...
When Bush climbed aboard his jet for this odyssey, he was in the hands of the U.S. Air Force. The President's three Marine helicopters had been ferried in the belly of an Air Force transport and were waiting for him on the Malta ramps. From there the machines whirled him 50 miles to the aircraft carrier Forrestal, then settled him back feather-like on the fantail of the Belknap. Rubber-suited Marine divers bounced in dinghies along the tops of the rising waves, patrolling for any suspicious movement in adjacent waters. A shabby little barge, old tires festooning...
...stage this informal "feet on the table" pageant of peace took the skillful services of thousands of soldiers, sailors and Marines. While gratified by their new mission, they and their Soviet counterparts retained some of their fighting spirit. Soviet sailors interviewed by the Malta press implied that the older Belknap was a bit of a clunker compared with their cruiser Slava. An American gob, eyeing the Slava's conical superstructure, sniffed, "It makes a good target." But that was about as hostile an environment as could be found until the weather struck, an adversity that may actually have encouraged deeper...