Henry's Last Hurrah?

Henry Kissinger planned his latest global foray with the care of a man who might not soon be making another. He had already decided that unless a crisis should intervene (over SALT or southern Africa, for instance), he would not be traveling outside the U.S. again until after the November elections. Thus for the eight-day trip he began last week, the Secretary was obliged to pick places to which he could safely go--not for reasons of security but of domestic politics. That ruled out China, the Soviet Union or the Middle East, where Kissinger's presence might inadvertently have an adverse effect on President Ford's cliff-hanging struggle for the Republican nomination. So, however reluctantly, the Secretary picked an itinerary where the sailing should have been smooth: Britain, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, France and The Netherlands.

Nonetheless, Kissinger found himself embroiled in controversy on the eve of his departure. The main problem was Iran, where the Secretary was to spend two full days talking with the Shah and co-chairing a meeting of the Joint U.S.Iranian Commission, which oversees bilateral trade and economic matters. Two days before Kissinger left Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Foreign Assistance released a study asserting that U.S. arms sales to Iran were "out of control." The report charged that the Nixon Administration, during Kissinger's days as the President's National Security Adviser, had entered into a secret commitment to sell Iran "virtually any conventional weapons it wanted." As a result, concluded the subcommittee, "the U.S. cannot abandon, substantially diminish or even redirect its arms programs without precipitating a major crisis in U.S.-Iranian relations." * Indeed, said the subcommittee, there were so many Americans --24,000 at last count--in Iran as a result of these sales that in a crisis, they could virtually be held hostage by the Iranian government.

The Administration's position on the heavy commitment to Iran, based on the 1969 Nixon Doctrine recommending that regional leaders assume greater responsibility for security in their areas, is that it suits U.S. interests to have a strong Iran capable of defending itself. "Being surrounded by Iraq, Afghanistan, India and the Soviet Union is no minor defense problem," argues one high U.S. official. "Selling Iranians arms so they can defend themselves is better than having to do it for them." As for the subcommittee's charge that American employees could be held "hostage" by Tehran, the Shah last week declared that in the event of war, the Americans "will not be forced to render any services to Iran."

The same night that the subcommittee report was released, Kissinger--despite his efforts to stay out of the domestic political limelight--made an unexpected gaffe. After addressing a National Urban League convention in Boston, he was asked by a member of the audience why there were not more black ambassadors and why black envoys were customarily sent to African nations. The Secretary was obviously unprepared for the question. "Look, when we hire an ambassador," he replied, "we don't stop to ask whether he is black or white." He added that personnel "must meet all the qualifications." Though his answer was reasonable enough, Kissinger had not realized that "qualifications" is a word blacks often take as a smokescreen for discrimination. The audience broke into boos and catcalls.

In fact, as Democratic Senator Hubert Humphrey pointed out, Kissinger has "got more blacks in the State Department than we [Democrats] had" --13% of the Department's employees today, v. 11% in November 1969. Privately, the Secretary knew he had mishandled the question. Just before taking off from Andrews Air Force Base en route to his first stop in London, Kissinger pointedly shook hands and chatted with a group of black youths from a nearby day-camp program while the television cameras rolled.

Another embarrassment for Kissinger was reports later in the week that the Soviet Union had violated the spirit of the new treaty on underground nuclear tests by detonating two devices last month that may have exceeded the 150-kiloton limit to which Moscow and Washington had agreed. The treaty had been initialed but not yet ratified by the U.S. Senate at the time of the Soviet tests. The White House, well aware that reports of Soviet "cheating" could prove damaging to President Ford in his campaign against Challenger Ronald Reagan, launched an investigation to determine the size of the Soviet devices.

Meanwhile, Kissinger had arrived in London with his wife Nancy and son David, spent the night at Claridge's, then breakfasted for 2 1/2 hours with British Prime Minister James Callaghan at 10 Downing Street. Main topic: southern Africa. Soon he was in the air again, dressed in black and white striped shirt, pink pants, Sulka socks and no shoes, bound for Tehran.

Next day at the Shah's summer palace at Now Shahr on the Caspian Sea, the Iranian leader and the Secretary met for 5 1/2 hours. They discussed Middle East strategy and African policy, particularly as it relates to the Indian Ocean and Iranian security. They also concentrated on Iran's efforts--precipitated by a $3 billion cash shortage--to barter its crude oil for Western weapons. The Iranians are apparently interested in acquiring up to 300 General Dynamics F-16 fighter planes and 200 land-based versions of the Northrop F-18 fighter, plus several airborne-warning-and-control aircraft built by Boeing. Washington is generally favorable to the deal, but the actual agreement would be between Iran and the various U.S. companies.

Nuclear Power. Back in Tehran at week's end, Kissinger served as co-chairman of the Joint Commission. The main topic of this meeting was the efforts being made to conclude a U.S.-Iranian nuclear power plant agreement. The project would run for more than 20 years and would involve the sale of eight to ten nuclear power plants (valued at about $2 billion apiece). An American draft agreement was submitted to the Iranian atomic energy organization in June, but a few details remain to be worked out.

To round out the tour, Kissinger planned brief stopovers in Afghanistan, Pakistan, France and The Netherlands. He had wanted to go to Australia but had to cancel out when Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser asked to make a Bicentennial visit to the U.S. He had also hoped to stop in Manila to sign a new base agreement with the Philippines, but the talks bogged down, so that was out. In fact, he even had to do a little arm twisting to get himself invited to The Netherlands. Even though Kissinger had never paid the country a visit, the Dutch tried diplomatically to decline the honor this time, pointing out that several top officials were away on August vacations. But the Secretary replied gently that it was now or never, so the Dutch quickly agreed to serve as hosts for a six-hour call.

What appears to pain Kissinger most of all is that so many observers regard his current junket as a farewell tour. Is the Secretary still hoping that Jerry Ford can pull off the election and keep him on? "Why do you want eight more years?" a friend asked recently. "Only four, only four," replied Kissinger, not altogether in jest.

* Iran is the U.S.'s No. 1 arms customer, with $10.4 billion in purchases during 1972-75. Runners-up: Israel ($5.5 billion during the same period) and Saudi Arabia ($3.1 billion). Another Middle Eastern purchaser is Jordan, which for a while this year was considering buying an air-defense system from the Soviet Union. Instead, King Hussein decided to purchase an American Hawk antiaircraft missile system. The deal was reportedly put together after Iran joined Saudi Arabia in offering to help Jordan raise part of the $550 million required.

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