TIME FOR PRAISE
IN RECENT years, most British Govern- ment commentaries on the latest foreign Policy Moves from Washington have been marked by a pervasive dampness: damp in criticism, damp in approbation, as if the Government does not quite dare to say what it thinks in either direction: in crit- icism, for fear fe of disrupting the 'special relationship', in approbation, for fear of offending our European partners and, perhaps, British public opinion. We should be more outspoken in criticism, where criticism is deserved, as in the case of Washington's Nicaraguan policy; but also in praise. Strong praise is in order for the latest moves in East-West relations. The Reagan administration was right to take a fierce stand of principle on the framing of Mr Daniloff. It has now negotiated a good diplomatic solution which does not accept the false equation of an American journal- ist with a Soviet spy, but, instead, secures the release of one of Russia's most courageous human rights campaigners. Could any European government have done better? At the same time, President Reagan has, rightly, accepted Mr Gor- bachev's proposal of a pre7summit meeting in Reykjavik. It appears that the two sides may be within grasping distance of an agreement on major cuts in intermediate nuclear forces. This would mean that Nato could withdraw most of its Cruise and Pershing missiles, in return for equal cuts in Soviet SS20s. At first glance, this might seem a bathetic ending to the six-year agony of INF deployment: but actually, it was the prime object of the exercise.
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