Lithuania Suspends Its Independence

Wait a minute--does anyone still feel sorry for the Lithuanians and their quest for “independence”? In 1776 a “unilateral declaration of independence” was a demand for the right of self-determination, and the people that made it would put their lives on the line to guarantee that right. Today in Lithuania it seems to mean “we demand the right to self-determination”--until it hurts.

The Lithuanian Supreme Council’s bluff, it seems, has been called. Economic sanctions have pressured that government into suspending its so-called “declaration” and its threatened secession from Mother Russia for five years. The declaration was simply an attack against Gorbachev during a perceived period of vulnerability. His democratic reform policies have been difficult for his people to understand and accept.

The Lithuanians statement was a calculated attempt to bring pressure from the free world to bear upon Gorbachev. I believe that Gorbachev has successfully handled the situation with a little forceful diplomacy; he had every right to do so. I wonder how patient our own government might have been had one of its states come up with the same bright idea.

Freedom and independence are ingrained in the American psyche. We can accept nothing less. The people of the Eastern Bloc nations have an unparalleled opportunity to move peacefully toward democracy and freedom. Communism does not work in the real world; people must accept sacrifice and hard work in order to change the existing system. If the oppressed people of the world choose democracy, they will learn what we already know--that the cost of freedom may be high, but the result is priceless.

JACK McCAULEY

Walnut