Get your own Free Home PageLet me reiterate a few facts about my 1978 work with the Carter Administration and Dr. Waldheim, Mr. Maksoud, so the "open letter" contains the truth--presumably the "best" first step towards mutual understanding, i would presume we will agree.
The original work i was doing with the Carter Administration had nothing to do with either the Camp David Peace Process or the Middle East in general.
The "concerns" addressed by my work at that time related to bettering East-West relations and measures to encourage the increment of respect of human rights in the Communist bloc. Chiefly in 1978, i was following up on work done beforehand (documented for the U.N. Secretary-General and Holy See in 1977) that involved a number of popular Western entertainers making special goodwill concert tours of the U.S.S.R. to enhance the initial detente and improve the prospects for better human understanding, relations, and world peace.
One of the ones i had recommended in 1977 (documented as aforementioned) was cancelled by the Soviets in 1978. In the same time-frame, there was the human rights trial of Anatoly Shcharansky in the Soviet Union and final preparations were being made for the Camp David Summit involving Jimmy Carter, Anwar el-Sadat, and Menachem Begin. And in other spheres at that time, certain members of your alliance were offering bounties for the murders of the aforementioned and the first stages of the Iranian revolution were becoming apparent--which subsequently resulted in the overthrow of the late shah.
Mr. Maksoud, we carefully considered that these were not circumstances that the popular entertainers contacted beforehand should be held responsible for or have to deal with without adequate and competent partisanship on their behalf in the international diplomatic field.
As i was not a politician with political goals or practices, had done work in regards to the goodwill concert tours undertaking in past, counted some of those involved as among my personal friends, and had working relations with both American political parties and the three Canadian federal parties and the United Nations--i agree(d) to do that work on behalf of the popular entertainers.
Arrangements were made for two special authorities for this purpose--one on behalf of the American Government (both parties' "best" interests being represented) and one on behalf of the United Nations.
I won't comment here on the agreement for financial compensation to me for the work because it still remains unsettled--with no fault, to my knowledge, being attributable to Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford--and this will be dealt with in that forthcoming submission of document copies beyond what is explained in the documents now being submitted to the U.N. Secretariat.
I mention it only to cast some light on those remarks in the statements i request you be given copies of at this time.
I've always been honest with the Arabs and Moslems i've dealt with in the course of these past eight years of "hard work" (a George Schultz term that sounds appropriate here). I see no reason to change that practice.
I expect this "problem" to be resolved shortly, with the two authorities upheld as having been in effect for some period of time between when i did the original groundwork and the present.
As i don't regard you or the Arabs and Moslems i've dealt with in the same category as the Botha regime or even the Soviets, i add this note about my statements to them.
I wouldn't mention even what i do about this if it had been settled before now.
We decided in 1978, Mr. Maksoud, that actions should be taken to provide those popular entertainers and others we had contacted or in mind for other tours with a means to contribute legitimately to our understanding of and commitment to world peace.
We considered true peace to be more than deterrence against war preserved by force of arms, the threat of aggression, or the actual resort to military confrontation.
In fact, it was our fundamental understanding that peace would not be possible and durable unless genuine efforts were made to progress beyond such past and historic practices and towards means to "end the arms race."
And we felt that the "best" way to make these goals achievable was to make it possible for each one of us to play a role in the process--the significance of which would be determined by what each was able to contribute from his or her station in life.
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