European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday november 20,1936 columns William Buckley Iran Deal reveals risks of Covert operations piece of cake Here is the equally crystallizing consensus on the iranian Mailer. There is a question As to he legality or the Enterprise. The relevant Laws the arms Export control act of 1976, the Export administration act of 1979, the omnibus diplomatic Security and anti terrorism Art of 19b6 Are subject to ambiguous read ing but operation Iran greatly strains the Clear intent of Congress. The overriding purpose of operation Iran was 10 encourage the moderates within the country. Hashemi a Sfanjani was the Point Man in the secret dealings with presidential adviser Robert Mcfear Iane and in the past few Days a Sfanjani Billery denounced the United states hav ing before that leaked the entire affair in a speech to the iranian parliament full of distortions. On the other hand Mcfarian raid on to in answer to a question thai everyone he had talked o in Tehran was now in danger of hanging. Perhaps a Nisan Jani s denunciations Are to distract the Hangman. Either Way we certainly have not encouraged the moderates. Nor if Secretary of slate George Shultz is to be believed have we discouraged Iran from terrorist act Yily. Shultz said on to thai 1 ran is going at it As before. We did gel Back three hostages. Bui then if Iran wants to Bank up on ils hos Tage Supply All in has to do is to get on of ils gangs in Lebanon to whisk away three More americans. We could Reta Liate with an air strike against Iran bulge d have to Dodge anti aircraft missiles we delivered to Iran a few months ago. Pur allies Are spilling mad. A part of this is hypocrisy because with the exception of great Britain our allies have not behaved endearingly in the War against terrorism. But there is no question that the anti terrorist crusade insofar As Europe i concerned is now in shambles. The moderate Arab slates Are dumb founded by what we did. Kuwait the United Arab emirates and saudi Arabia Don t particularly like Iraq s Hussein but they greatly dislike and fear Iran. A Victory by Iran Over Iraq could mean Sattl ligation of the persian Gulf by Iran and aggression against the moderate Stales. They cannot James Reston understand the United Stales sending arms to Iran even though the Quantity 100 tons is not deemed critical to the outcome of the War. Or. Mcfarian or. Shutlz while House chief of staff Donald Regan and Cia director William Casey have All said things or not said things the a Fleck of which is to convey a sense of anarchy in the West Wing of the while House thai severely undermines the prestige of the president. In Short operation Iran was unsuccessful. It was called by sen. Barry cold water a dreadful mistake probably one of the major mistakes the United Salt Cuthas Ever nude in foreign and by sen. Daniel p. Moynihan. The won handling of an intelligence problem in our reached these conclusions we arc entitled to ask is there a role for Covert operations to answer to that question a few years ago George Kennat gave a Lucid if fatalistic answer. He said if a Covert operation stands any Chance of being blown then in should note undertaken and All coven opera lion nowadays run thai risk. Therefore Well therefore if or. Kennan s Rule is to be observed we should put an end to nil Covert operations. But this is the counsel of despair. We live in a world in which secrecy in quite simply essential to the execution of important missions. Moreover secrecy i not impossible. While National Security adviser Henry Kissinger managed about 20 secret meetings in Paris to Haggle with the North vietnamese negotiator. Not one of these meetings though the Logis tics were infinitely complicated was pen the kind of polish shown by the Kissinger operations in Paris and be fore that in Pakistan negotiating with communist China presupposes congressional cooperation. The various War Powers acts together with he intensive congressional supervision of the Cia that followed the Rockefeller panel hear Ings of 1975, have subverted the capacity of the president to bring off Covert opera that the idea behind opera lion Iran was under baked there have been much harm done if no one knew about in. Whether this could have been possible Given the need for iranian cooperation one can t Tell. But we have an object lesson Here that ought to sex lend beyond merely the criticism of the apparatchiks within the while House. It is quite limply this you cannot Hope to conduct an extensive coven operation without relying on senior skills and under the Law ibis is increasingly Dipti cull. Koniw us pm syndic Reagan adding to crisis of Public Confidence during the Bay of pigs disaster president Kennedy irritated by the opposition of the state depart ment turned on ambassador Charles e. Chip Boh Len and demanded to know what s wrong with your department Bohlen s reply was firm you Are or. President Secretary of stale George Shuitz caught Between his personal honesty and his loyally to president Reagan was less candid during the recent Flap Over arms deals with Iran but was getting at much the same Point. Bohlen was saying with the utmost respect that foreign policy was Loo complicated and too dangerous to be left to the whims of presidents. Nobody questioned the president s authority As commander in chief Bohlen thought but everything depended on How he exercised thai authority and where he sought advice in making his decisions. Kennedy Reed on the Central intelligence Agency at the Bay of pigs and failed. Later he took the entire government foreign policy establishment into his Confidence during the cuban missile crisis and succeeded. La s not always so bul president Johnson on Viet Nam president Nixon on watergate and president Carter in the first iranian crisis All brushed aside the doubts of the professionals and All to their eventual Reg Rel. Likewise president Reagan went Back to Iran with military Ami without the knowledge of the joint chiefs of Stan against the advice of the secretaries of state and defense and without consulting with Mem Ben of Congress in Advance. The president has Deall with this latest Blunder after his fashion. He has denied that he has done anything wrong and says he won t do it again. He ignored Shilz s advice and is now taking in. He vilified the democrats during the congressional elections and evaded them on Iran and is now calling for their sup port and cooperation. One can Only Hope thai he gets it for nothing could be worse than leaving the conduct of foreign policy in the next two years to the collective judgment of a divided democratic party running wild toward the elections of 1988. The president will however have to pay More respect to the responsibilities of the Secretary of state unless he is willing to lose him. And he must Reinin the Cia and the subversive operations of the National Security Council unless he wants a running bal Lle with Congress Over the next 24 months. He is now on his fourth National Security adviser in six years and adm. John Poindexter his latest is not the Pride of the ship of slate. He s he one who misled he press on the invasion of Grenada and authored the disinformation program on Libya. There is no evidence that the National Security act which established the Csc gave thai body any author Ity to engage in Covert operations in Iran or anywhere else. It started with a staff of 10 and now has More than 100 All beyond the Call of Congress. It was authorized to assess and appraise the objectives commitments and risks of the United states in relation to our actual and political military Power and to consider policies o matters of common interest to the departments and agencies of the government concerned with the National Security and to make recommendations 10 the president in connection there s nothing in thai to justify administration in siders carrying gifts or bribes of weapons to Iran armed with false passports and official lies. This private government within the while House however is the president s personal responsibility. If the Cia mines the harbours of Nicaragua and the United states refuses to explain this to the world court that can be done Only with a Wink and a nod from the president. It May be therefore that something useful will come out of the iranian embarrassment. For Yean now the Cia and the National Security Council have been skirting the Law trying to achieve by Covert a. Lion what they cannot justify or explain to Congress. The result of All this is that there is now a crisis of Public Confidence in the government precisely at a Lime of critical negotiations Over the control of dear weapons and control of the budget now in alarming deficit. This has been a topic of private anxiety for Yean. In has poisoned relations Between the while House and Capitol kill and even personal relations Between Mem Bers of the Cabinet but the facts Are beginning to come out and despite All the official arts of television propaganda even the people Are beginning 10 notice. Urn fan Tut unit Stive
