More Kirkpatrick Woes

Secretary of State Alexander Haig and U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick long feuded over the basic question of whether and when to side with the British in the Falklands dispute. The quarrel not only is a personality clash between two stubborn, prideful antagonists, but it reflects deep ideological splits within the Administration.

Kirkpatrick, who wrote her Ph.D. dissertation at Columbia University on Argentina during the Peron years, considers herself the Administration's premier expert on Latin America. Conservative and staunchly antiCommunist, she repaired the U.S.'s ties with Buenos Aires last year and fervently hoped to build a strategic barricade against leftist infiltration in the Western Hemisphere by forging closer links with authoritarian regimes like the military junta in Argentina. Though Haig shares Kirkpatrick's fears about Communist advances in Latin America, he is a political pragmatist who is generally more flexible on foreign policy issues. Having been Supreme Commander of NATO from 1974 to 1979, he tends to be more sympathetic to European interests.

After Argentina invaded the Falklands last April, Kirkpatrick cautioned that the U.S. should remain neutral lest Washington force Buenos Aires into the orbit of the Soviet Union. When the Administration eventually accepted Haig's argument and took Britain's side, Kirkpatrick spoke against providing London with military intelligence and equipment. Alexander Haig

Haig exploded when he learned that Kirkpatrick had met in New York with Air Force Brigadier Jose Miret, a political-military strategist in the Argentine government, to discuss U.N. peace initiatives. Haig tracked her down by telephone at an aide's apartment where, TIME has learned, she was conferring with Enrique Ros, the Deputy Argentine Foreign Minister. Haig, understandably angry at Kirkpatrick's apparent disagreement with U.S. support for Britain, blasted her for undermining U.S. foreign policy and blindly supporting Latin interests. Kirkpatrick, in turn, charged Haig with being ignorant of Latin American affairs and suffering from an acute case of Anglophilia. After the 45-minute snarling match, Haig pushed for Kirkpatrick's resignation. She then further enraged Haig last week by taking her case directly to the President. The pair met for 40 minutes in the Oval Office on Memorial Day. The upshot: Haig and Kirkpatrick were told to stop bickering and get back to serious business.

Their personal animus aside, Haig and Kirkpatrick disagree frequently on substantive policy matters. Kirkpatrick, for example, threatened to resign last January after Haig refused to push for stronger sanctions by America's European allies following the military crackdown in Poland. In addition, critics claim, she has not been a particularly adept U.N. Ambassador. Yet, as the only woman in the Cabinet and as the most prominent neo-Conservative in the Administration, Kirkpatrick remains politically valuable. Unfortunately, the spat between her and Haig not only diminishes the effectiveness of both officials but raises substantial questions about the direction and intent of U.S. foreign policy.

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