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16
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, DECEMBER
16,
1986
with a few admissions of lack-of-best-judgment and the dismissal of
personnel directly involved. Looking back, it
is
ironic how often the
media criticized the President for not turning over every stone to free
American hostages in the Middle East, some of whom had undergone
torture.
Mr.
Reagan listened to the impassioned pleas from family
members of the hostages and acted, perhaps more out of personal concern
(proving he's not the "heartless" individual his critics maintain) than
the long-term unemotional national interest.
What really has turned the incident into a juicy scandal is the
revelation that funds from the arms sales were funneled to contra rebels
fighting to unseat the Marxist regime in Nicaragua. That
is
what upsets
liberal members of the House of Representatives who have battled the
President over contra support for the past four years. They simply do
not believe the situation in Nicaragua represents a long-term threat to
American security in the manner the President and members of his
National Security Council staff do.
The President was finally able to arm-twist a reluctant Congress
,to
appropriate
$100
million in unrestricted aid to the struggling contras
last October. But for two years previously Congress had shut off
funding for military aid entirely and prohibited any "direct or
indirect" help by government officials. This
is
what led administration
officials to probe every available legal or not-sp-legal means to keep
the contra effort alive. They even "privatized" the war, tapping the
resources
of
wealthy citizens and organizations at home and welcoming
donations from individuals and governments abroad concerned about the
spread of communism, such as the wealthy Sultan of Brunei. It was
during this two-year prohibition period that the opportunity arose to
channel proceeds from the Iranian arms sales to the contra effort,
violating a law passed by Congressional liberals specifically for the
political purpose of opposing the foreign policy initiative of the
executive branch of government. The current affair differs from
Watergate in the nature of the laws broken. Watergate involved clear-
cut criminal acts of breaking and entering, burglary and resultant
attempts to cover up the facts.
Meanwhile, as Congress diddles with the dangling contras, alternately
turning on and off the money tap--angry liberals vow they will close the
continue to ship weapons unimpeded to their allies in Managua. The
December
9
WALL STREET JOURNAL editorialized:
I-
valve again, even on money -they authorized in October--the Soviets
Reports say that the Sandinistas now have three battalions
specially trained in counterinsurgency warfare. According to
the latest Pentagon numbers, they have
35
Soviet Mi-17 armed,
troop-carrying helicopters,
12
advanced Mi-24 helicopter
gunships, a quantity of modern Soviet SAM-14 antiaircraft
missiles, and some 150 tanks of various descriptions. By one
estimate, the Sandinista army now has
35,000
to 40,000
regulars, and total military forces number some
120,000....
Fraternal countries of the Soviet bloc--Cuba, Bulgaria and
East Germany--are supplementing the Soviet arms with
training, military construction and field advice. In a few
more years, with two large, new military airfields to receive
equipment and supplies directly from Cuba and other Soviet
satellite states, the Sandinista army will be better yet.