Our Duty To Poland

THE PEOPLE OF POLAND have won the hearts of Americans in the past year, proving their courage, good humor and willingness to sacrifice while they challenged the repressively rigid bureacuracy that rules their nation. We read of their strikes and speeches, their ultimatums and small triumphs, with the giddy sense that this is a moral drama of the highest order. And indeed it is, the heroes and the villains separate and distinct.

It appears all too likely now that the villains may win out, at least for the time being. Soviet tanks are poised on the country's frontiers, Russian propaganda is increasingly critical of the independent Polish union Solidarity, and almost every other sign points to the possibility of an invasion or a quieter "police action" to repress dissent in Poland. And that presents a difficult problem for those in the West who have watched the Poles with such hope.

Though it is not an easy decision, we oppose direct U.S. response to possible intervention. A military "solution" is unlikely to be effective and likely to open the way for global conflict. Economic sanctions will hurt the Russian people, not their leaders, and though they may be necessary they are ironic in the extreme. And the proposals to end diplomatic relations with Russia, or to cease arms negotiations, are the most foolhardy of all. They will only drive each side further into its paranoid shell.

We can as a nation do little for Poland. But that doesn't mean we should do nothing at all. Where we can affect change is closer to home, in our own domestic and foreign policy. The lesson of Poland in the last year is not just that the Polish people should be free--it is that all people should be free. And out government, if it is to criticize the Soviets in Poland, must cease our strong arm tactics in El Salvador, where 10,000 people died at the hands of the government. We must cease out "invasions"--with military or other aid or indirectly through American corporations--aimed at repressing other nations.

Poland faces a crisis, and, most likely, a tragedy. To honor the brave workers of that country, we must follow their example and end the tragedies we have created and can bring to an end.