European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 4, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes wednesday. March 4,1987 columns James j. Kilpatrick Tower report puts Iran affair in perspective since mid november we have heard the ghouls of the press speculating about Reagan s doomed presi he has been crippled it is said by the scandal the new Republic Lait week equated Iran amok Wilh the watergate revelation thai led to Rich Ard Nixon s resignation in 1974. On Capitol Hill the merry mortician of the Liberal left have drowned the president in Crocodile tears. The report of the special review Board headed by former sen. John Tower of Texas putt the affair in perspective. In fascinating detail the report chronicle Alt that the three member of the Board were Able to team about the tangled attempt to Swap arms to Iran i Exchange for Iran s help in freeing the american hos tages held in Lebanon. Many questions remain unanswered but these Are peripheral questions. We now have a Clear picture of what happened. Plainly the president himself it most to blame for what happened. Reagan let i heart Rule his head. He wanted the hostages treed he communicated that passionate desire to hit subordinates they proceeded to charge off in All directions and everything got out offhand. The failure was primarily inescapably Rea Gan s failure. He did not seek the cod headed advice he should have sought he did not take fully into account the contradictions and inconsistencies Between his Public pronouncements and his Covert action this was an operation of great sensitivity. Reagan had a duty to Monitor it closely and constantly and this duty he sadly neglected. True his subordinates let him Down. They share the blame and they must accept that fact. But when the record is examined Ilia evident that the iranian Deal cannot fairly be compared Wilh watergate. The similarities ate As superficial As the differences Are material. Watergate was a sneaky criminal Enterprise carried on from the most shameful political motives. Nixon s Campaign committee undertook a break and enter Bur Glary of democratic National Headquarters when Nixon teamed the ugly truth he embarked upon cover up that lasted for months. By contrast the iranian operation was launched with the Best of motives. Reagan s Aims were sound to free the hostages and to Lay a groundwork for improved relations with Iran. The Means that were employed toward those ends May have been unwise but they were not criminal Means. Far from covering up the failure Reagan from the beginning sought to get the Story out. He appointed the Tower Board lie turned Over his personal notes on relevant conversations he promptly acknowledged responsibility for the Anthony Lewis mistakes that were made. Given the situation As a whole it is hard to Sec Whatmore he might have done Short of ordering a court martial for vice attn. John Poindexter and it North what would that have gained no presi Dent can compel an officer to waive a constitutional right in the Wake of the Tower report the presidents negatives doubled in the Public opinion polls. His popularity now stands at its lowest Point to say that he has a hard Row to Hoe is to put the matter mildly. The question that everywhere is asked is can he come i am confident hat he can and will regain his Posi Tion of effective leadership both at Home and abroad. We ought to keep in mind that Howard Baker new chief of the while House staff is no prime minister serving a ceremonial Monarch. Baker was a superlative Choice for the important tasks ahead but in is Reagan alone who holds All the Powers of his powerful office. He has the Power of veto the Power of appointment the Power or a commander in chief the Power to Issue executive orders the Power to speak to a National audience. None of these Powers has been diminished he a input them All to , Loo should be kept in mind the Aims that were served so disastrously remain valid Aims Reagan must continue to work for the hostages Freedom. Common sense dictates that he keep searching forays to normalize relations with Iran. The cause of the nicaraguan centres should not be affected by the Dis closure that profits from the Sale of arms to Iran were diverted. Every consideration of National Security sup ports an Effort to prevent the sandinista government from establishing an effective soviet base at president s immediate task is to convince the country that he is physically mentally and emotionally up to the Job of rebuilding Confidence in Hii leadership. This won t be easy but it surely is not in Nicast ble 1 have known Reagan a Long time. The Guy is a lighter. He s been knocked Down but he Ain t sundew North s interpretation of Constitution a novel one the president. By and with Lite a if and consent of the Senate shall appoint ambassadors other Public mint sirs and consuls. Judges of the supreme court and All other officers of the United states but the con Gress May by Law Vest if appoint Mica of such inferior officers As they think proper in the pm Idem clone in the courts of Law or in the Heads of do Pari Arntt. . Constitution Arti Cle ii. Section 2. We have had Many theories on How to interpret the Constitution. Now we have a Ovel one ignore the actual words of a constitutional provision and look instead to what the framers had generally in mind when they planned our government. That is the real Gisi of the argument made by lawyers for la. Col. Oliver North and others against the Law thai has judges appoint Independent counsel to investigate wrongdoing in the executive Branch. It is a strange argument. Far removed from precedent and Rea son. The text of the Constitution quoted above explicitly author us Congress to have Federal couns appoint inferior offi cers of government. That is exactly shul Congress did after watergate when i wrote the Independent counsel statute. How can the statute be unconstitutional North s lawyers and the res claim that the Law violates the separa Tion of Powers. The prosecution of crime is an executive function they say so prosecutors have to be appointed bythe president. The separation of Powers is a Vita doctrine in our system but it is not so mechanical. The framers did not put the three branches of government in separate airtight boxes. To the contrary they often overlapped Powers if there is something untidy about courts Mak ing appointments the Short answer is that the framers made that Choice. Moreover the supreme court Long ago rejected an attack on the constitutionality of appointments by courts Thiol was in 1879, in. The Case of sex pane sic bold. Congress had created the office of election supervisors and directed the Federal couns to pick them. The la was challenged on the ground that the supervisors were too executive in their duties to be named by judges. But j us lice Bradley for the supreme article ii authored Congress to follow just that course. A Fallback argument by opponents of the Independent counsel act is that prosecutors Are Loo important to be inferior but the Constitution confides that decision to Congress. I says Congress May Vest the appoint ment of such inferior officers As the think proper they meaning con Gress. It would be hard to phrase a discretion Marc Complete finally it is said that however sweeping the language of article 11, it cannot have been meant to let judge appoint officials Remote from the courts to appoint say. Slate depart ment officials. Bat even if one reads such a constraint into the text prosecutors Are hardly Remote from the Busi Ness of the courts. In fact Federal Conns have been appointing prosecutors for nearly 100 years. A statute gives the courts Power to name interim . Attorneys when there Are vacancies in any of the districts around the country1. The Power is often used there is 3 . Attorney in Boston now. Beyond those considerations there Isa powerful affirmative argument in sup port of the Independent counsel act again one recognized in supreme court decisions. That is the need for this of fice to have substantial Independence from the president. In 1933, the supreme court unanimously upheld against Franklin Roose velt a Law protecting Federal Trade com missioners from dismissal at will by the president the court said there could Beno doubt of Congress right to create administrative agencies and require them tract independently of executive if the Independent counsel act is in valid then very Likely our administrative agencies Are unconstitutional. An that is what important figures in the Reagan Justice department would like to bring about. They have been looking for a Chance to argue that the president must control All administrative functions in government thai there can Beno Independent agencies. In Shon the argument Over special prosecutors is really an argument about Power. An executive already inflated beyond the imagination of the framers wants More Power. We Are even told Inan age of executive abuses that investigations of the president must be subject to the president s control. But the cram ers in j7s7 did nol write a charter for self destruction. My to
