Old Soldier, New Policy

By Hugh Sidey

In the body of diplomatic legend that Alexander Haig encountered when he became Secretary of State was the story that France's ex-President Valery Giscard d'Estaing had twice asked Jimmy Carter whether he would use nuclear weapons if the Soviet Union invaded Western Europe. And twice, the story goes, Carter said no.

Haig is convinced that the report, true or not, long ago permeated the minds of our allies and, of course, found its way to the Kremlin. If he and his boss Ronald Reagan sometimes seem to be needlessly "poking the bear," the reason is rooted partly in that story. Nothing, Haig contends, is more dangerous than a confused bear, one that cannot accurately read U.S. intentions.

In any case, the Secretary believes, the Soviets do not place that much stock in pure talk. Only when we capitalists put our precious money where our mouths are do the Soviets get a message they understand and believe. Thus it is that Haig sees the imminent decisions and action on such issues as the B-1 bomber and the MX missile system as key statements of American foreign policy. After the decisions on military buildup have been firmly made, Haig believes, we may see a new willingness in both Washington and the Kremlin to talk about limiting nuclear weapons.

Haig's ideas of the world rise to the surface in bursts of singular intensity, punctuated by his high-pitched laughter. A few days ago, the Secretary devoured a filet with the gusto of a field commander and downed a good claret with the finesse of an ambassador; he concluded that his foreign policy was in pretty good shape but admitted that his Washington policy needed some repairs. He sees the Soviets as even more concerned than the U.S. about nuclear war. The creaking and groaning heard round the world (nowhere louder than in Washington) as the U.S. changes its attitude about the use of power were to be expected. Beneath the grumbling, Haig claims, there is solid respect, if not endorsement for American policy, particularly from China, which is a force to be used cautiously in our efforts to discourage more Soviet adventures.

In Peking, Haig found China's boss, Vice Chairman Deng Xiaoping, feeling let down, the victim of a Carter maneuver: the widely heralded normalization of relations was used for U.S. political gain, but the agreement for credits and technology was never pushed. Deng needed, and got from Haig, a new American response, one that implied action.

But Haig understands that any success with foreign leaders is only part of a total policy campaign, which, to be successful, must have the authority of the White House and the backing of Congress. He admits that he somehow got into unnecessary back-alley scraps over authority and who was supposed to do what, and how well they did it. Meantime, his relationship with the President on policy is beautiful, although Haig watchers still wonder how a man so schooled in staff work and the ways of the bureaucracy could at the same time be so clumsy. Without stating it, Haig supplies an answer. Having lived so much of his life on a staff, he overemphasized that aspect of his work when he took on a job in which he was supposed to soar above squabbles over turf. He is changing his ways, he says.

Haig sees better rapport with a restrained Soviet Union as the U.S. gets stronger, a closer working relationship with friendly Arab nations that will still allow for the special understanding with Israel and a new Latin American policy beginning to move forward. All of this, Haig believes, is dependent in one way or another on the renewed economic might of the U.S. He believes that Reagan's insistence on addressing that concern first is the genius of the new Administration's foreign policy.

That policy is yet in infancy, more a set of purposes and promises than fact. It cannot be defined now in a speech or handed down in a White Paper. Foreign policy must emerge from the minds of the many men and women involved, as they respond to events. If some day the old soldier can write in his memoirs that the U.S. achieved what he proposed during the week of the nation's 205th birthday, then Al Haig will have done his duty and more, once again.

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