Muskie's Caution

If George McGovern's hope is that Edmund Muskie will have to take positions on controversial issues as soon as possible, Muskie managed to finesse one such challenge last week. While traveling through the Middle East, the Soviet Union and Germany, Muskie faced the usual problem of the political tourist: pleasing both foreign host and domestic constituents. In Egypt he hewed to strict neutrality.

Since he was in the region on a fact-finding tour, he had "no opinion at this moment" about touchy questions like arms for Israel. His talks with President Anwar Sadat were "cordial" (so were his discussions with Israeli leaders). "The competing claims that come out of the conflict in this area are each understandable," he told a press conference. "The desire for secure borders, the desire to find a home that has been lost, and the desire to find a place with a future are all understandable human and national aspirations." It was, in Cairo, a reasonably skillful walk down the middle, sympathetic to the hopes of Palestinian refugee and Israeli alike. But his caution is likely to require stronger translation when presented to American Jewry during the next two years.

After Cairo, Muskie flew to Moscow. He discussed the problems of public transportation and automobiles with Moscow's mayor, Vladimir Promyslov, then started off for an evening at the Bolshoi Ballet. As it turned out, the Senator saw just ten minutes of the ballet, for word came that Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko would receive him. Muskie and Gromyko talked for nearly three hours over a "wide range" of subjects. The next day came the coup of the trip for a presidential candidate seeking to strengthen his foreign policy credentials: a 3-hr. 45-min. interview on "bilateral interests" with Aleksei Kosygin. It was the longest discussion that the Soviet Premier has held with an American visitor since coming to power. Once again came word that the talks had been "cordial." Muskie would not elaborate beyond that stock description, insisting that he needed "time to digest." After all, he said, "I am known as a cautious sort of fellow."

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