DE AMERIKAANSE VISIE
Op 12 januari 1982, na de vergadering van de Noorclatlantische Raad, legde de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Haig een verklaring af over de situatie in Polen en de toekomst van Europa. De tekst hiervan, een afspiegeling van het Amerikaanse denken over wal in Polen gebeurde, hebben wij hier afgedrukt, aansluitend op de Russische visie, verwoord door Novosti -correspondent Katio. An ancient scholar once wrote that "history is philosophy drawn from examples". The philosophy of freedom that unites the Western community of nalions is an enduring theme of European hiSlory. Already in this decade, Poland , a nalian steeped in a thousand years of European culture, has given us aD example of the link between liberty and creativity. The Polish people sought the dignity of the workplace through free association in their union Solidarity in order to resolve their mouming economie problems. Such dignity meant above all respect for the individual, his talents and his right to a just reward for his work. The Polish search for reform was a peaceful movement. Solidarity respected both Poland's geographic situation and the imperatives for sodal progress. This example of peaceful change in the world's most heavily armed continent would surely have contributed to a more legitimate and secure international order. After cighteen months of achievemem, Solidarity is now being violently suppressed. In a grotesque parody of their own propaganda , the communist authorities are employing the police power of the state to oppress the very workers they are pledged to protect. Fear is widespread . Thousands remain in jail . Tens of thousands are being forced to violate their consciences, a praClice described by His Holiness the Pope as "the most painful blow inflicted on human dignity". Once again, a knock at the door heraids the arrival of the secret police. Po land today exemplifies the historie failure of Soviet-sryle communism to produce either bread or freedom. Poland's future now hangs in the balance, Wil! there be refonn or reaction, a renewal of hope or a deepening of despair ? This is not a question for Poland alone. The poet Schiller wrOle that "world history is the world's Court of judgment ". The historie events in Poland with their farreaching implications demand a judgment by the West. We must not let our judgment be confused by four myths about Poland : first, that Solidarity brought about its own suppression through excessive ambition; second, that th e Soviel-Union did nOl intervene in Po land and is therefore not accountabie; third, that Poland's rulers are aCling out of laudable national considerations ; and fourth, that the West can and should do nothing because what happened in Po land is strictly an internal affair. Each of these myths is belied by reality.
The fint myth is that the brutality which began on December IS was provoked by the excesses of Solidarity itselr. The reality was different. For months prior to the sudden imposition of martial law, Solidarity worked strenuously
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to halt strikes and prevent chaos . Lech Walesa traveled from city to city, from factory to factory, calling for people to return to work. His call was heard. After March 198 I, strikes in Poland never exceeded a small fraction of the work force. After August 1981 , the Po lish government's own statisties recorded increas ing production. Solidariry's search for stability was not reciprocated. The Jaruzelski government had planned a different co urse. lts only contribution to the call for national dialogue was the introduction of a law to forbid strikes, making co nfrontation inevitabie. The co ntrast could not be greater between the vi ctims and the conspirators. On the one side, the Solidarity leaders, representing a free assoCĂŽation of workers, were caught virtually intact in a single building. On the other side, a government claiming to protect the workers prepared so weil to impose martial law that its plans have been accurately described in the Soviet- Union as "brillantly conspired". The juond myth is that the Soviet- Union did not intervene in Poland and therefore should no t be held accountabie. After August 1980, Pola~d was subjected to a co ntinuous ca mpaign of Moscow's pressures, threats and intimidation, including military maneuvers. All of these aClions were intended explicitly to halt the process of refo rm. The serret preparations were more ominous. lt is known thar as early as last March the Soviets were arguing for the imposition of manial law . In September the martia! law decree itself was printed in the Soviet- Union. And the commander of the Warsaw Pact forces, a Soviet marshal, was positioned in Poland both prior 10 marcia I law and during its execution. Can anyone seriously be surprised by the Soviet role? Have we forgotten earlier episodes in Poland, East-Gennany, Hungary and Czechoslowakia? The use of force on a nation-wide scale against the Polish people today takes place only because the Soviet-Union instigated it, supports il and encourages it. The third mylh is that we are wimessing a Po lish attempt 10 establish law and order in the hope of forestalling an otherwise inevĂŽtable Soviet military intervention. In a crue I paradox, we are asked to believe (hat martiallaw, like SoIidarity itself, is a purely national phenomenon, inspired by a high national purpose. It follows therefore that we must somehow be prepared to accept what is happening in Poland LOday because it is alesser evil. Regardless of motivation, a Soviet- trained military man is suppressing his own people under the pressure of the Soviet-Union . As the Polish bishops put it : "Our suffering is thai of the entire nation, terrorized by military force".