American Notes DIPLOMACY

An outspoken hard-liner on arms control, Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle has long been scornful of those who would seek accommodation with the Soviet Union at any cost. Last week Perle aimed his criticism at the foreign and defense ministers of the NATO alliance. Speaking at a defense symposium in Munich, Perle complained that the ministers usually meet to produce bland communiques that "paper over differences, avoid controversy ((and)) placate public opinion . . . rather than declaring our most fundamental convictions."

Perle then said that Soviet proposals to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000 were "dangerous nonsense." Verifying a no-nukes agreement, he insisted, "is not difficult, or very difficult; it is impossible." What Western leader, Perle asked, "would turn in his country's last remaining nuclear weapon on the strength of assurances -- mere words -- that the Soviets had done the same?" Asked about this blunt talk, White House Spokesman Marlin Fitzwater took a diplomatic out. Perle, he said, "was not speaking for the President."