The Azores
posted in General |THE AZORES
With the advent of TV, a favorite “catch-phrase” of the broadcasters has been “eye witness to history”. It has a nice sound to it. Nowadays, with 24 hour on-scene TV coverage, we all can be eye witnesses to history while dozing in our own family rooms. Who knows? Maybe the Azore Summit will command a lot of attention from historians. I think it should.
When you think about it, an awful lot of effort was put into a 1 1/2 hour meeting called at the last minute. Consider the distances, the entourages, the media people from all over the world, the security, the preparations and communications, etc etc. Bigtime logistical effort. For an hour and a half. The important feature of the Azores Summit wasn't what was said or done — or who was there. The really important matter was who was NOT there. None of the old Euros or the UN. George, Tony and their Iberian buddies took center stage. Viewed from either a diplomatic or tactical standpoint, I think it was a master stroke. Kudos to whoever came up with the idea. The message to the UN Security Council and Saddam is unmistakeable.
If I were in charge of the SAC base in Jefferson City, MO., I think I would be telling the B-52 pilots to start their engines.