During the European fact-finding tour, sponsored by the World Media Association, that is the subject of the following speech, President Reagan acted boldly to prevent a communist takeover of the island nation of Grenada off the coast of Venezuela, which would prone to be the beginning of a roll-back of communism all over the world, which underscores Dr. Pak's theme of the failure of communism. An extreme pro-Cuban faction within the government of Grenada overthrew elected leader Maurice Bishop on October 13, 1983, put him under house arrest, and executed him on October 19. A new Revolutionary Military Council, headed by Gen. Hudson Austin, took over the island. In conjunction with other island governments in the area, the United States sent in an invasion force of ground and air troops on October 25. The rebels were arrested and held for trial, Cubans on the island were sent home, and Governor-General Paul Scoon was placed in charge of the government until new elections could be held. The troops were withdrawn in mid-December, and a Caribbean peacekeeping force was brought into preserve security. The following closing remarks were given at the end of the European fact-finding tour in Paris, France, on October 28, 1983. Other countries visited included Germany and Great Britain.

My fellow participants, ladies and gentlemen. This will be my last opportunity to say farewell to you. It seems like such a long time since we gathered together in Paris on October 14. Our time was so intensely spent and our experiences so extraordinary that our emotions seemed to be active all the time. Yet, when we actually count the days, only 10 have passed.

We have virtually lived together during the past 10 days. We have eaten meals together, heard speeches, stayed in the same hotels, and taken three flights on the same extraordinary airplanes. But if I were asked what I felt was the greatest accomplishment of this tour, I would have to say that it was the bond of friendship and the spirit of camaraderie that we created among ourselves. That is something priceless and surely the most endearing achievement of this world journalists' seminar and the European peace movement fact-finding tour. Knowing and understanding each other so deeply as participants during these 10 days has been an experience my wife and I will cherish for a long time to come. That, in itself, is the greatest reward. I am glad we did it, and did it well.

I thank God that this tour draws to a close without any casualties or major blunders. During these 10 days more U.S. marines died in Lebanon, Grenada experienced a serious and bloody power struggle, and President Reagan was threatened by another assassination attempt. That is the kind of world we live in, and yet we completed our schedule on time. With high spirits we celebrated a very great victory. I can only say, thank God we made it.

Let me take this opportunity to express my admiration and respect for every one of you as distinguished media specialists, journalists, and scholars who are dedicated to your profession. I greatly enjoyed the experience of being an eyewitness to your professionalism. I saw your intense interest in every aspect of the tour. It was an education. In fact, it was sometimes mind-boggling to see the extraordinary reality of the European situation and its historical roots. I hope you enjoyed and benefited from the tour as much as I did, and I pray that these experiences will remain in your hearts for many years.

When we stood at the Berlin Wall, it became abundantly clear to me who is winning and who is losing this war. As Professor Kiyoshi Nasu stated, the Berlin Wall symbolizes the failure of communism and proves that the communist system is not working. But I was astonished by something else as well. With such clear and indisputable evidence before us, why is our world still so confused? Why is that truth not immediately apparent to all? Why do so many millions still believe in the promises of communist utopia, and why do so many still dedicate their lives to achieve it? To me that is the most astonishing phenomenon. Somehow the ugly reality of the Berlin Wall has not been made known, or people just do not want to hear about it. This alone brought me to a great realization: We have a big job to do. We must bring this message to the world, and in a way the world can understand it. At that moment I felt happy that I had brought 150 journalists from 21 countries to Berlin, where we could all eyewitness this historic wall and, afterward, go watch the peace movement demonstrations.

I know this trip touched each of us in different ways-surprising, disturbing us, and moving us deeply. As a result, all of us could genuinely feel the sacred responsibility we have to tell the truth to the world through the eyes of the media in which we work. The World Media Association has no intention of controlling or molding anyone's opinion. I will not even ask what your opinion is. I will not ask whether you are for or against the peace movement. Whatever truth you have found must be told through radio, television, newspapers, magazines, columns, essays, and books; it must be told again and again so that the world can have the same experience we had in the last 10 days. That is the goal of this tour. That is our purpose. We are glad that we did it and did it in a superb manner. Remember the old saying, The pen is mightier than the sword. In our case, your pens, microphones, and cameras are mightier than any army. Now the ball is in your court.

As the sponsor of this tour, I tell you that we have done our level best to carry out this conference well. I know imperfections exist in our program, and please accept my apology for them. The staff, however, spared no time, energy, heart, or money to make this seminar and tour a success. That is my sincere report to you. Most important, there are no strings attached. You have no obligation to pay us back in any form. If you do things for the benefit of the world, to enlighten public opinion, and to preserve freedom and our values, then there is nothing more we can ask. Those are the fruits and the harvest for which we work.

Not too many people in the world do this sort of thing. The altruistic way of life is taught by Reverend Moon, and we simply try to live that way. You heard the CAUSA worldview in Paris, and we endeavor to make it a reality by initiating projects such as this fact-finding tour. This tour was conceived out of our sponsor's concern for the world, which today remains threatened by the menace of communism. A serious question presents itself: Will your children and mine live in freedom, or will they be forced to live under a communist totalitarian system? If our worst fears come true, then all of us in this generation will have failed in our historical task. We will bear the shame; we want to do something about it, and we will never give up without trying. No sacrifice is too great in fulfilling this noble task. That is the way we feel.

This tour was designed to give journalists an opportunity to get in touch with more and deeper truth about communism. Yet, in so doing, we want to be fair and open, even to the opposite point of view. Although still far from perfect in this area, we, as the sponsors, generally feel happy that in large measure we succeeded.

Naturally, we want our investment to produce the greatest impact possible since our goal is to benefit the whole of mankind. In the future, we will reserve the right to make an evaluation of who has made the greatest contribution toward this end. For that reason, whatever you do in terms of media work, I hope we hear about it. Please send us a clipping or a tape so that we can share in the fruits of these efforts. Send us your book when you write it. You can even ask us to publish it.

Larry Moffitt will be establishing the new World Media Association headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the newly built Washington Times building, so please contact him. Also, please try to recommend more distinguished journalists of your caliber so that we can extend this same opportunity to your colleagues, who can help provide the balanced opinion that the world desperately needs.

Personally, I am sorry to see this tour come to an end. But at the same time I know we cannot keep you here forever. You have a job to do. All in all, I am very proud to count each one of you as a friend. In CAUSA's language, you are more than friends, you are my brothers and sisters.

God bless you and your families, and God bless your work. Merci beaucoup, danke schoen, and thank you all very much.

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home