ACCESSION NUMBER:214112
FILE ID:PO-202
DATE:02/11/92
TITLE:NO LINKAGE BETWEEN GATT TALKS AND NATO, QUAYLE SAYS (02/11/92)
TEXT:*92021102.POL
NO LINKAGE BETWEEN GATT TALKS AND NATO, QUAYLE SAYS
(But both are essential to global security)  (830)
By Berta Gomez
USIA Staff Correspondent
London -- Stressing the importance of reaching a successful conclusion to
the GATT talks in order to avoid an "ultimately disastrous" trade war, Vice
President Quayle nonetheless strongly denied February 11 that there is any
linkage between a GATT agreement and the U.S. commitment to NATO.

NATO, the vice president told American reporters in London, is an "insurance
policy" against uncertainty and instability, and an institution "for which
there is no substitute."

Reports that Washington had threatened to withdraw its troops from Europe in
the absence of an international trade agreement surfaced following Quayle's
remarks February 9 at a Munich security conference, during which he called
the talks on GATT -- the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade --
"absolutely critical" to world security.

"There was never any linkage (between the GATT talks and NATO)...and the
1ecord will reflect that," Quayle told the journalists during a round table
discussion.

"What I did say, and I'll stand by it, is that there is an interrelationship
between a strong economy and a strong national defense."

Specifically, he said, the industrial world must understand that unless the
GATT talks conclude successfully, "we run the risk of seeing the Cold War
being replaced by a trade war."  Such an outcome, Quayle added, would be
"ultimately disastrous."  He said "the big losers in this would be the
underdeveloped countries."

Quayle described U.S. trade goals as "free and fair competition and open
markets for all," but he also stressed that the negotiating process
"absolutely" includes the possibility of concessions from the United
States.

"Everybody's going to have to make concessions," he said.
The vice president said he hoped the extensive publicity given to his
remarks in Munich highlights the importance the United States attaches to
the Uruguay Round of the GATT talks.

"Quite frankly, there is a lot more sensitivity to GATT today, and the
importance of it, than there was a few days ago," he said.

Quayle suggested that the confusion over the U.S. position may have resulted
from statements made by U.S. legislators who addressed the Munich
conference prior to his own appearance.

But he noted that in matters of substantive foreign policy, "the president
of the United States is still the principal creator of the policy."

Moreover, Quayle added, most Americans and most American legislators do not
support isolationism or protectionism.

"The fact of the matter is that America wants to be here and should be here.
 Europe want us here...and feels that we should be here," Quayle said.

During his talk with reporters, Quayle gave an overview of his week-long
trip to Europe, which included visits to the Baltic countries, Finland,
France, Germany and Switzerland, and will conclude this evening after a
meeting with British Prime Minister John Major.

Quayle noted that his address to the United Nations Human Rights Commission
in Geneva focused on the fact that the post-Cold War era offers a "great
opportunity" for human rights to assume a more prominent role in
international affairs.  "Quite frankly," he said, East-West tensions had
sometimes forced the United States "to compromise a little bit on
sensitivity to human rights."

The vice president also outlined the "very serious problems" being faced by
the Baltic countries -- Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania -- particularly their
difficulty in receiving energy resources from Russia.

All three are also quite concerned over the continued presence of Russian
troops, but Quayle said he believed the negotiations between the Baltics
and the Russians would finally succeed.  "The Russian troops will
eventually go back to Russia," he said.

In other comments, Quayle expressed "sharp disagreement" with the suggestion
that the new U.S. airlift of food aid to Russia was "grandstanding."

He noted that the United States has provided over 5,000 million dollars in
aid to Russia and the other former Soviet republics and that the Bush
administration has requested an additional $649 million in aid from
Congress.
1
Quayle told questioners he expected to discuss Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
during his talks with Prime Minister Major.  The Iraqi dictator, he said,
"is a much weaker individual today than he was before the war."  About
Saddam Hussein's possible ouster from power, Quayle said "I can't give a
time certain...but it will happen."

The vice president also rejected any comparison between the British
government's forced repatriation of Vietnamese refugees and the current
U.S. policy of returning to Haiti a large number of would-be immigrants who
came to the United Stats following the latest wave of political instability
in Haiti.

Vietnam "has a definite ideology, and a definite persecution campaign and
expansionary tendencies," Quayle said in distinguishing between the two.
"Haiti has never been a threat to anyone but itself.  Vietnam has been," he
added.

NNNN

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