European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes sunday. November 30,1966 columns William f. Buckley loyalty to Reagan is. Loyalty to Constitution attorney general Edwin Meuse had a Little problem when asked by the today show s Bryant Gumbel whether he was qualified to oversee the investigation into the iranian affair Given his position on loyalty Meese had the Day before said to the press i will say this 1 think every member of the administration owes it to the president to stand shoulder to Shoul Der with him and support the policies that he has. Made As Well As to stand by him when something has the alternative As has been tirelessly re pealed is to resign. But the question is complicated and immediately complicated for Meese. Obviously his primary loyalty needs u be to the Constitution that he is sworn to defend and the Laws of the land that he is sworn to uphold. These Laws make a provision for a special prosecutor should it develop that a potential defendant is himself a member of the administration. No one knows More about that situation than Meese Given that in 1984 a special prosecutor was appointed to look into the question whether Meese had been guilty of any wrongdoing at the time he was appointed attorney general he survived that investigation with flying colors. But much of what the attorney general will need to Ponder in the Days ahead will be the meaning of existing statutes. For instance the president did or did not give timely notification to the intelligence committees of the iranian operation. How exactly is Loy Alty transacted in such a situation assume that there is a private conversation Between the president and Anthony Lewis me Csc the president arguing that timely is flex cite enough id shelter him the attorney general arguing that it in t. What does a Loyal attorney general proceed to do in great Britain the civil service it a much respected institution. The ardent socialist May find himself in charge of operation privatization and the libertarian May find himself drawing up socialist regulations on How often National health patients May Brush their Teeth. Our own civil service emulates the British idea but us os3y to a certain level of govern Merit from higher than which it is generally supposed the major decisions tic made. And the National Secu Rity Council staff assembled by the assistant to the president for National Security affaire is composed or men and women free from congressional scrutiny who Are agents of the will of the president which will they seek to advise by stuffing it with sophisticated analysis. What is the Loyal thing Tor vice adm. John poin Dexler to do when he is questioned by a congressional committee or by the Justice department in the fim instance he could plead that As an unconfirmed civil servant he has the option of remaining quiet de Clining to answer questions of congressmen. But if accosted by the Justice department on the question whether a Law was broken in the Transfer of funds to the contras. Poindexter s Security May hang entirely on the question whether he received instructions from a Superior. Which Superior the president we Rule that out for the simple Rea son that Reagan has told us he did not know of the fund Transfer. Did he take orders from chief of staff Donald Regan but if he did so should be be influenced by his loyalty to the president might he Rea son that by pointing the Finger at Regan he Besnyi the president who appointed Regan and who proceeds either ignorant of Regan s complicity or acquiescent in his silence there is then the moment at which loyalty must be considered finite not merely to a president but also to a regime they Call that the Nuernberg principle. The loyally question in Washington ii Many leagues on the comfortable Side of Nuernberg but still questions will be put of the kind that cast the Shadow of t jail cell. These questions May be avoided by nimble pleading and of course there is the fifth amendment escape Hatch. But if the president s men begin to plead the fifth amendment they May As Well forget about conventional loyalty the damage to their president will have been done. George Reedy wrote a Tine Book after Servinia press Secretary for president Lyndon thesis of the Twilight of the presidency it that the president suffers most from the presumptive acquiescence even the sycophancy of those who tur round him. The thesis was compelling when applied to Lyndon Johnson. But Ronald Reagan has never been imperious in manner nor arrogant to his dealings with subordinates. His fault appears to have been Overin. Fulgence. How can those he overindulge erase Loy Alty under the circumstances e Uriv mul pm synd Kil roofs of reagans disaster lie in Nicaragua in the political turmoil of thelast 20 years the press has often been accused of destroying the president. The truth in every Case has been what we Sec so clearly now the president destroyed himself. In each Case the fall has come the same Way. A president gripped by the sense of his own tightness and Power brushed the rules aside to have his Way. Lyndon Johnson sent 500,000 men Loviet Nam after campaigning against a wider War on the pretext of a Tonkin Gulf incident that did not happen. Rich Ard Nixon ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia and to cover his tracks went Down the Road of lies and lawlessness. The roots of Ronald Reagan s disaster lie in Nicaragua. He was obsessed by the desire to overthrow the sandinista government. To that end he aided terrorists. He mocked International Law and the constraints Laid Down by Congress. The end justified the Means. All that makes in laughable a suggest thai responsibility for the Tunnel ing of iranian Money to the Nicaragua contras stopped with it. Col. Oliver a North. The president Laid Down the policy of aiding the contras by any Means at any Price. If a subordinate took the policy seriously the president is responsible whether or not he knew the details. If subordinate showed contempt for the checks and balances of american govern ment he was Only following the presi Dent s Lead. Of course it would be interesting to know More about North. For be must be one of the most aiming performers to hit Washington in Yean a regular Superman. This Marine lieutenant colonel All on his own made the intricate financial a Range Genii to get millions of dollars Worth of weapons from United suits stocks and hive the Money repaid. He went to the armoires and Naff cd at those weapons into crates 1,008 an i Taok missiles Ait 235 anti aircraft mis tiles. He arranged the shipping and the i do Mot Ssu. Bom6 amp across to ii i Mot go mgr to do it a6au-j Security. He did All that without anyone in the defense department knowing a thing about it or anyone in the White House except vaguely vice adm. John poin Dexter. That is what we Are supposed to believe. The new while House strategy for dealing with the crisis is reminiscent of that watergate coinage the modified limited hangout we get a degree of Candor but still by All signs with the essential aim of keeping the Cap on the bottle. The appointment of a i View commit Clou to study the operations of the National Security Council staff a a serious item. Especially with Brent scow Craft t respected former National Security adviser As a member the commission could do much to plumb the corruption of that no one can believe that the facts of All the underhanded dealings with the Contra and Iran Are going to be brought out by attorney general de Meese. The very reason we have a statute calling forthe appointment of a special prosecutor is that there May be a conflict betwee the political attachments of High Justice department official and their duly to enforce the Law. Few have had closer attachment to a president than can be no Confidence that the Law is being enforced in this matter until special prosecutor ii appointed. If Meese tries to Stonewall about that Newill be making a fatal mistake. Watergate surely taught everyone that damage Luni Tattoo tactics Only intensify Public scepticism. The unravelling process will up and the press will be dim Taf. It is better for the umm m once the pain of special Propec Attr the administration my worry 1 am convinced it the Nicaragua Story. For there president Rafaa a Rob Tae die. He i the Man who Iii Dihe pm tras were the moral equal of our of Uimer in Falhen. He ignored Strong evidence of illegal links Between officiate us 10 called private Aid to the Cotant after Congress Cut off . Funds. North was named Long ago Man Ager of supposedly unofficial nip Tor the co Tiu. Since Ine Supply plane i shutdown in Nicaragua and Eugene one Oft captured there Baa been much other Evi Dence of connections and of terrorist involvement Haseni i Ide lifted As nil Boss a Man named Luis Poona who we convicted a Venezuela of Lowitt of cuban Airliner with 73 people about the truth or much of it. If to into come out eventually. Thai Fatte w thit country works. And As it Benei will Hurt. Presidents who Consort with ten Omli and ignore the Law of tiler own ate. E. .v.tl-. To
