European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes sunday. November 2. 19b6 columns William f. Buckley a few observations concerning Nicaragua concerning the endless problems in Nicaragua a few observations although in is Correct to charge Hal the Sandinia tas Are conducting a show trial of or. Eugene Hascon us inc surviving Crew member in the crash of Anai plane flying Over nicaraguan territory in is not therefore Correct 10 conclude that Hasenfus is being framed. It s True Fie was not permitted the counsel of ii Choice True that or Griffin Bell s proffer of expert Legal help was turned Down on phony grounds True thai Here is no free press 10 report on the proceedings True therefore that by american standards inc trial of Hasenfus would have been tossed Oul on reversible error a dozen times by now. All very Well giving us fuel for juicing and crying Over nicaraguan Justice. But Between us girls we know the salient facts and they arc thai Hasenfus was Hying ammunition designed to be used against inc Sandinia tas. In other words he was under nicaraguan Law. Just As guilty As if he Hod been tried by a jury composed of Oliver Wendell Holmes 12 sons. The american people have every reason to be disturbed by the stones thai have issued Oul of Washington. We had lit president himself saying Hal Hasenfus flight wis not a Dover Mcm operation. Of. Bui not no Rosether of if credibility Here is the major question at stake. Because Day after tiny Llic contacts Between Hasenfus and his dead colleagues with government people became Public knowledge and it was increasingly Clear that although we must assume Thater. Reagan correctly told us that thai particular flight was not a Cia operation it is logical also to assume that the flight would not have taken place without Covert operation of a critical nature. We know that the aircraft once belonged 10 a company thai fronted for the Cia we i now that re tired generals were indirectly involved in this or thai feature of the operation. And so we know what most sophisticated observers Are prepared to say. Whatever the technical ivies. In fact we have Here an air plane full of amm Umidon flying Over Nicaragua which nigh would almost curia Iolj nol have been possible Wilhour american cooperation however oblique. Now As a matter of Liming it is True thai con Gress has once again declared de Facto War on the nicaraguan government once again because in tie fall of 1984. Congress moved to suspend All military Aid to inc contras this in reaction to a ruling of the world court about our surreptitious mining of the Nicara Guan harbours. And in is True that the Day the aircraft was shot Down was several weeks before inc new offi Cial congressional Altitude toward military Aid. In other words a Strong Case can be made for it that inc Flora Lewis the National Security Council sure to flight expressly violated a congressional ban on Mili tary activity against the sandinista the Law at that Lime even though in is not the Law today. Alt of which reminds us of the preposterous confusions we have inflicted on ourselves Over inc past few years in dealing with Nicaragua. Although it is progressively Clear thai the sandinista arc engaged in drawing Nicaragua to the International communist movement and although visitor after visitor to Nicaragua returns despondent Over the progressive of life there still the government of the United slates declines 10 take that decisive step that is so important if we would reorder the prevailing shambles. Ideally the Congress of the uni cd Stales at the request of the president should declare War on the government of Nicaragua citing ils violations of the territorial integ Rity of neighbouring Stales 10 whose Independence we Are pledged under the terms of the Rio pact. Bui it is Loo Laic for this and Congress in refusing 10 declare War would weaken the president s position. But surely if England can sever diplomatic relations with Syria Over one terrorist episode the United states can sever relations with inc nicaraguan government in response to countless ads of aggression against latin american slates Wilh which we have treaty relations. To what end to the end of regularizing our help to the contras. Our diplomacy is nol noted for Obser Vance of niceties of protocol but surely we could do better by limply terminating our recognition of a government we seek to depose. A recent account of the liberties taken by Franklin Delano Roosevell during 1939-1941 reminds us that at several Points j. Edgar Hoover then running inc Fri threw up his hands in despair. For was Vio lating neutrality Laws right and left in his efforts to help France and great Britain during their hours of need. Retroactive history justifies what or. Roosevelt did. Reminding us thai in All our history we have declared War five times and involved ourselves in 200 military ventures. Reagan is supporting the right people in Cen trial America but he is making it unnecessarily difficult to defend our conduct of that policy. A unt Vetrul pm Syndicate France strikes foolish bargain with terrorists despite an endless series of Mutual pledges against terrorism the european Community has now openly Dis played ils split. Britain broke relations with Syria after hard evidence of involvement by dam ascus in an attempted airline bombing. This was a personal decision by prime minister Margaret Thatcher against the advice of senior foreign office staff members who would have preferred a mushier reaction. European Community ministers Are Domeet again nov. 10, and British officials Are saying that they Cape More support then from their partners. But that a combination of wish excuse and at tempted persuasion. The British Public is growing understandably angry. Top level Bulish French cooperation against president Reagan s Reykjavik proposals is weak ened by he emotional Issue. And it is recognized that the europeans can t put up much of an argument about washing ton s failure to take their views into account when they have just blatantly demonstrated that they can t even gel together in their own defense against such an immediate and direct threat As terrorism. Now the French have come along and confirmed the position they basically took All along that they prefer trying to negotiate immunity from terrorism on their own rather than cooperate with Al lies. That was Why France refused a Sharp common stand on terrorism at the seven nation Tokyo Summit meeting last Spring. The new Deal was made and revealed by be Monde after the dramatic wave of Paris bombings in sell Ember. Although there Are evident links Between Syria and the lebanese group deemed responsible France carefully avoided implicating the Damascus government. Instead in obtained what in called a truce from Damascus promising nol 10 let the lebanese group operate in France anymore. This has ostensibly been guaranteed by a Promise from the pro syrian lebanese Christian Leader Elie Hobeika to take reprisals on the perpetrators if the Trace is broken. In like asking the mafia to guarantee your padlocks. Be Monde itself commented that French Middle East policy has definitely become illegible and incomprehensible for Ordinary it quoted an eminent member of the govern ment describing air policy with Blunt scat ology Hal the paper would otherwise never print. That is the least to be said. Little has been mentioned about what France has promised in return. The first bit however seems to be an interview by Interior minister Charles Pasqua in a saudi newspaper last week sympathizing with Lily linked to terrorists and praising their willingness to help the second Promise seems to be Clem ency for the jailed lebanese Georges Abdallah whose Brothers mounted the bombings in an attempt to free him. Abdallah faces trial not Only for minor charges of Possession of explosives but also for participation in the murder of an american and an israeli Diplomat in Paris. Foreseeing a Deal the unite states joined the suit As a civil Corn Plain ant months ago so that Hanky Panky with the French judiciary won t be so easy if the French government does try. Even More important to friends and neighbors is a possible third unspoken arrangement that Paris has made quietly in the past. That was not to act against terrorists who use France As a base or a passageway for attacks in other coun tries. But this is what bilateral ism implies. It is cooperation All right but with perpetrators and their mentors and not with victims it would be a flagrant Vio lation of France s International commit ments. There Are Many quibbles about How clearly Syria s president Hafez Assad and his government aides can be pin pointed legally As responsible for Many incidents in Many countries. What is accepted As certain by Western Sules including France and the United states however in thai he could Stop much of the terrorism if he wanted to. He is Ahard Man. He is nol squeamish about who gels squashed when he chooses to put his foot Down. Syria can emerge from the Shadow of world reprehension if it wishes to behave As a responsible state instead of a protector of terrorists and so can ill soviet apologists. Certainly the Deal with France and the French illusion that safety can be bought this Way should put paid to the misty arguments that terror ism must be addressed by resolving it so called political cause of palestinian grievances. Meanwhile the ugly bargain has to be seen As a political Victory for terrorists perhaps their first. France should reconsider whom it really wants for friends. C a few vex a Taitl
