Sir: Your argument (30 August) that the eventual withdrawal of
Russian troops from eastern Europe, is most likely to come about if it is mirrored by the withdrawal of American troops from the West assumes that the Russians are there only to protect the Warsaw Pact countries from possible western attack. But the Czechoslovak crisis has surely confirmed that an equally important part of their task is to repress any movement towards freedom in the occupied states, no matter how devoted they are to the Warsaw Pact. The outlook for Russian acceptance of mutual withdrawal of troops from both halves of Europe, or of re- sponding to a unilateral withdrawal by the us, is therefore bleak. Only when the Soviet rulers no longer feel threatened by free dis- cussion are they likely to call their troops home; and there is little likelihood of their so changing their spots.
Needless to say, this is not an argument for the indefinite stationing of American troops in western Europe; it is high time European forces were built up to the level which would permit the Americans to go home. But to assume that their departure will somehow be associated with liberalisation in eastern Europe is to court disappointment.
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