European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns James Reston the stars and stripes monday november 17,1986 iranian fiasco shows Reagan s poor judgment its easy to understand the uproar in washing Ion Over president Reagan s swapping spree in Iran but it1 hard to understand Why anyone is surprised. He has been playing these Covert games for almost six years the Only difference now is that he s getting caught. The Democrat profess to Lee All sorts of dark motives behind Thi latest Effort to Deal with the tangles in Tenn. The president they charge i evading the Congre corrupting the National Secu Rity Council and encouraging terrorism by trading guns for hostages. Or course he is. But the problem is More serious than Ihal. For what he Calls his latest strategic diplomatic initiative at if one ski was t bad enough dramatizes the greatest weakness in hit misconduct of foreign policy namely that he simply will not think through in Advance the consequences of h is words and actions. There s nothing wrong with trying to get in touch with moderate elements in Iran assuming that such exist but to ship arms to Tehran in order to show our Good Faith to a nation that has mocked and humiliated the United slates is almost obscene. And to insist that this had nothing to do with the hostages or the Iran Iraq War is an insult to Normal intelligence. The Issue is not the president s motives but his judgment. Obviously Iraq is not consoled by the president s statement that the arms were merely defensive since defensive weapons Are precisely what Iran needs to Deal with the iraqi air raids. Also one official explanation is that the Avatole Lah Khomeini is old and therefore it s reasonable to Trade with politicians who May soon replace him. But Reagan who in t Young presumably would like it if Iraq or any other government sent secret agents into the United states to negotiate with potential successors to the Oval office. The iranian fiasco has created a stir be cause it follows several other examples of presiden tial misjudgment. Perhaps the most serious was Reagan s offer at the Reykjavik Summit with Mik Hail Gorbachev to eliminate All nuclear missiles meaning All nuclear ballistic missiles without Reali zing the vast difference Between the two. That one sent a Hiccup through the Senate and a shudder through the Alliance. Earlier an american plane manned by former Cia employees and carrying weapons to the con tras was shot Down Over Nicaragua. The official explanation was that the . Government had no part in this Defiance of congressional legislation just a Bunch of american patriots helping the Nicaragua n Freedom fighters Reagan explained. As usual the cover were More damaging than the Covert deals As in the denials that the Cia had mined the harbours of Nicaragua. When in trouble the administration swaps an american reporter for Norman d. Sander a soviet spy and says it in t a Swap bul a humanitarian arrangement. Or it approves a disinformation memorandum written by the head of the National Security Council and says this was not intended to mislead the american press bul merely to worry the terrorists in Libya. Usually the president has gotten away with these terminological in exactitude by proclaiming worthy objectives and glowing visions of balanced budgets and nuclear Shields in a terror free world or by letting his aides assume the blame for his bloopers but this Lime on Iran he had to take per Sonal responsibility for the arms shipments and the consequences he did t foresee. In this Case he used members of the nation Al Security Council and former Csc officials to carry out the operations with fake passports against the advice of the Secretary of stale and the Secretary of defense. It is his View against the legislation and tradition of the past that the Csc staff can opera Ai his secret agents in the shipment of arms and he can protect them from congressional questioning by invoking executive too Many things have gone wrong in recent months however for this to continue. The democrats now control the committee of both the House and the Senate and have the Power of investigation which they intend to use and will probably abuse in the run up to the 1988 presidential elections. There is a growing feeling that the president has been trying to do too much in too big a hurry Ihal in the past elections and on foreign policy questions he has redoubled his efforts while losing his aim that he has succeeded by publicity and is now losing by it and perhaps Roost important he is running out of time and running out of Luck. He Yort Umi White House spin doctors go to work again up Mien in Upu a Mnnie Din Karo inv of Stair Oen Rae Schuliz. Military hardware to Iran since january cans held hostage in Lebanon. Poindexte the push is on. A month after turning the failure of the Iceland Summit into Triumph the while House Public relations machine is working to do the same with secret arms shipments to Iran. Hours before president Reagan went before the nation to admit to is months of Back Channel dealings with Iran a Media Blitz was under Way to dispel suggestions thai . Arms had been swapped for american hostages. The White House spin doctors senior officials charged with damage control paraded from one interview to another insisting Reagan bad a broader goal than the hostages in mind when he decided to deviate from official policy toward Iran. The Effort was spearheaded by while House chief of staff Donald Regan and National Security adviser John Poindeter. Poindexter and hit predecessor Rob Ert Mcfarline the mystery Man in Teh ran kept dates at television studios to drum Home the administration line As did Secretary of stale George Shults who was nevertheless kept in the Dart about some details of the Iran operation. The same High powered High expo sure Media strategy that turned around perceptions of last month s Summit had an Uncertain Impact in the immediate aftermath of Reagan s decision to go Public with his approaches to Iran. For almost 10 Days a succession of disclosures from abroad and news teams at Home had exposed perhaps the biggest foreign policy Surprise in years one that embarrassed the administration and threatened to damage its credibility. After All Reagan had breached an arms embargo imposed against Iran in 1979, after the takeover or the . Embassy in Tehran. The Legal questions were exacerbated by ones of credibility. As late u nov. 4,Poindexter and White House spokesman Larry Speaks said the Aims embargo remained in Force even though the United slates had made several shipments of Mili Larand condoned another delivery from is Rael last year. Reagan went on television thursday not to claim Victory As he had after the Summit but to ask patience an understanding saying his preference for continued secrecy had been overridden by a rash of false rumours and erroneous the technique that had been so effective for the great communicator did not work. An Abc news poll found that 72 per cent of those surveyed disapproved . Arms shipments to Iran. The White House earlier had reported that 72 per cent of the Colls received after Reagan s televised speech thursday were positive. For Reagan the situation was com pounded by a Lack of unanimity within the administration. Shults was said to have opposed the plan to use arms shipments to induce Les Radical farces in Iran to help free amen can or was said to have opposed advice from Regan that the president make a Public admission once the program s cover was blown. Democrats who held their fire after the Summit in Iceland seized on the secret dealings with Iran to unleash a Broad attack on the administration and jockey for position in the political Battles that lie ahead in the 100th Congress. The criticism did not come just from democrats. Sen. Barry Coldwater r aru., who is still or. Conservative to Reagan and his Brethren on the Republican right called the dealings with Iran a dreadful mistake probably one or the major mistakes the United slates hit Ever made in foreign Unju Pimp intr Nikon tin apr tack no Niue in m him we drum m Nehm Usu d he Mun Uri Himm a
