Word: polish
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...never came. In his 2½-hr. meeting with Reagan, Schmidt blunted the sharply critical approach that the President had planned with some disarming observations. He admitted that his first reaction to the Polish crisis was soft, but said he had not been fully briefed. Then, veering off the subject, he apologized for a West German vote on a United Nations resolution in December attacking U.S. policy in El Salvador. Most important, Schmidt readily agreed to endorse a formal joint statement that stressed his support for the American position on Poland...
...session was not without tensions. Chain-smoking throughout the meeting, Schmidt appeared on the defensive. He claimed that the American press had misrepresented the West German view of the Soviet role in the Polish crackdown, and noted that a letter he had sent to Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev last month was proof that Bonn believed in Moscow's involvement. "If one read only American newspapers," he told Reagan, "you would think the U.S.-German alliance was dead." But Schmidt also made clear that he did not think the sanctions against Moscow would work, and thus he did not plan...
...roundly denounced by Candidate Reagan. At the time, Reagan insisted that registration saved only a few days in mobilizing draftees in case of war. But last week he said that new studies had shown registration could shave off as much as six weeks. Though officials denied that the Polish situation figured in Reagan's decision, White House advisers privately conceded that it would have been the wrong time to revoke draft registration, lest misleading signals be sent to Moscow and the allies...
Despite the show of support by Schmidt and the ministers of the European Community, the allies still had ample complaints and questions about the conduct and direction of U.S. foreign policy in the Polish crisis. The most common protest was that Washington once again had failed to consult with the allies on sanctions, and then had insisted that Europe come up with a strong response too. As one West German diplomat summed up his view of Washington's attitude: " 'We'll tell you what we are going to do, we do it, and we expect...
Some European officials are openly concerned about the quality of advice that Reagan receives from the men around him. They fear that the President's most hawkish advisers, notably Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and White House Counsellor Edwin Meese, may look upon the Polish crisis as a chance to loosen the Soviet grasp on Eastern Europe. Such a policy, in turn, might force Moscow to crack down even harder. Others claim to hear too many voices coming from the Administration. Says a peeved British diplomat: "No sooner does one U.S. official announce an attitude than within 24 hours another...