Edward L. Rowny
Paderewski's remains with full military honors. Lech Walesa wassubsequently
elected president of Poland and paid a state visit to Washington in April 1991. I
thought he would put the finishing touches on the plan to return Paderewski's body
on June 29, 1991. However, Walesa stunned us by telling reporters that he did not
feel Poland was ready to receive Paderewski. He wanted to wait until after the
parliamentary elections, scheduled for the fall of 1991. After those elections, he
said, the last vestiges of the Communist Party would be out of the Polish
government. I had to abandon my plans to return the body on June 29, 1991, and
instead planned and executed a memorial service at Arlington Cemetery on that
date. I am now [August 1991] planning to have the body returned on June 29,
1992.
The fifth plan, to do consulting work, turned out quite well. In fact, in view of the
rapid events in Eastern Europe, then the Gulf War, and subsequently the coup in
August 1991, I have been quite busy. I continued to give advice to Eastern
European countries, especially Poland and Czechoslovakia, on how to privatize and
improve their economy. During the Gulf War I opposed the idea that sanctions
alone could force Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. I also opposed the idea, held by
many in the U.S., that air strikes could do the job alone. I predicted that the Gulf
War be a short one with moderate casualties, lasting only a month. In retrospect,
I was too conservative, since the war lasted only 100 hours. I did, however, advise
against stopping the war so soon. I felt that we should have completely destroyed,
or caused the surrender of, the Iraqi forces.
With respect to the Soviet Union, I predicted that a crisis would occur before the
end of 1991. I did not, however, anticipate the coup by the "Gang of Eight" on
August 19, 1991. Nor did I think Gorbachev would resign from the Communist
Party. While I was shocked, I was not surprised when Marshal Akhromeyev
committed suicide. Although he was a military professional who wanted to reform
the Soviet military, he was-as he told me on several occasions-a believer in the
Communist system. He felt, like his patron Gorbachev, that the system could be
reformed. Nor was I surprised that Gorbachev would relieve his foreign minister,
Alexander Bessmertnykh. It was predictable that Gorbachev, badly shaken by the
perfidy of his former colleagues, would not like to keep anyone on who did not
openly and immediately denounce the plotters of the coup.
Q ..
What do you think will be the future of arms control?
A
Arms control will, of course, be affected by what happens in the former Soviet
Union. I have always thought that the Soviet Union would be replaced by a loose
confederation of the center with six or more republics, including Russia,
Khazakstan Byelorussia, and Ukraine. I believe, as Akhromeyev told me in 1989,
Previous Page
