European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 23, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 the stars and stripes thursday july 23.1987 cd Lutkins James Reston what the country needs now is an election one thing the in Comra hear Ings have demonstrated is Ihal his coun try needs a presidential election. It is agreed on All sides thai there has been a constitutional breakdown. The country is deeply divided on who is to blame and it s fairly Clear that his can filet is nol Likely to be resolved without a new beginning fortunately this spectacular clash Over the conduct and misconduct of for eign policy has dramatized what has been lacking and what needs to be re stored. What has been lacking and is still lacking is a sense of Trust by twin the White House and Congress. Thai is the essential ingredient of democratic government. This it what needs to be restored and it has not been restored by these hear Ings. The president and Congress arc still in fundamental disagreement about the policy in Iran and Nicaragua and about the secret methods employed by the administration to effect Tiai policy. So for the time being there is a dead lock and our form of government pro Vides no Way other than impeachment or a general election to change an administration that has lost the Confidence of Congress and the people. The specific facts that were debated so strenuously on Capitol Hill last week Are nol the heart of the matter. Whether the president knew or did l know about the diversion of funds to the contras is a scandal either Way and Al this late Date is nol All that important but upon the ability of the executive and legislative branches to have Confidence in one another to be accountable to one another and to Tell the truth to one another much depends because no body can govern effectively in any other Way. It is not what we Don t know that matters now but what we do know. And we have to be grateful to it. Col Oliver North and to Congress for bringing this crisis to the attention of the nation. This subversive warfare with All its deception and dirty tricks has been going on underground for years but it was t until now that the country As a whole has had any inkling of what was happening. The colonel was the perfect lending Man for this drama handsome impassioned and almost recklessly sincere. But what a script and what a cast of charac ters if you had put them ail in a novel no sensible publisher would have risked such a collection of liars and cheats. The colonel by his own testimony did l want to Tell Congress anything repeat any thing about in activities. He was so sure he was right that he predicted we would have to build a Berlin Wall the length of the Rio Grande to keep out inc refugees if Congress did l finance the Contois. He said he had authority for every thing he did and assumed this meant authority from the president but when the president told him personally that he did t know anything about inc diver Sion of funds to the contras he thought it was All right to carry out his adventures on the word of William Casey at the Cia and John  Robert Mcfarlane at the National Security Council. How the president could be briefed for half an hour every workday on foreign policy without knowing that this elaborate scheme was going on North left the committees to imagine. He insisted that the president could do anything he liked with his Persona staff and that his activities were Legal As Long As he was t using government funds. Thai the arms for hostage Deal with Iran broke the president s Promise not to Deal with terrorists or Ihal diverting funds to the contras involved lying and profiteering and taking sides in the Iran Iraq War where presumably our arms killed a Iol of people none of this seemed to trouble North s obvious sense of personal morality. But nobody can say these hearings were not useful. The committees finally got tired of his patriotic posturing not because in questioned his patriotism bul because he doubted not Only the judgment but the patriotism of those who disagreed with him. Oddly however inc government system he condemned finally caught up with him. La s catching up too with the twisters in Wall Street and even with the backsliding preachers. This is some Consolation but we still need an election and these hearings have Given us a clue what o took for. It is above everything somebody who will fight the decay of decency and restore he Trust and bipartisan cooperation that have been missing for so Long k4w fort Tofu nil Wal str Rcv Martin Gottlieb hearings held with restraint Courtesy fairness Congress deserves a medal. In the face of a relentless barrage of criticism. Con Gress has persevered in the necessary task of studying the Iran Centra debacle acting almost always with professional restraint Courtesy fairness and thorough Ness. Congress bashing is among the cheapest of All Politi Cal games. The very word Congress ii a synonym for the politicians mho constitute the most haled Polit ical grouping in America. Liberals conservatives and the Broad majority of apolitical americans can All agree that the politicians arc awful. It s always been that Way and always will be. So even members of Congress talk about the con  when they really mean the democrats and the insufficiently Loyal republicans. To say the democrats is to put oneself in a minority. To lambaste the Congress is to join inc greatest of All majorities the i Ople. Of All the oddities of con Gale. Future students of in a hatching videotapes May conclude that the oddest in this the congressional committees handling the investigation were widely accused of unfairness lot. Col. Oliver North. Contemporaneous viewers of pcs is programs might indeed get the impression there was some unfairness because news snippets show North s cry baby lawyer Brendan Sullivan objecting Over the most trivial Mai lers and some members of the committee joining in. But anyone watching uncut tapes will see a witness who is allowed to go on and on and on sometimes in non response. North s lawyer had the nerve to com pare the rules of questioning used Al the hearing unfavourably with those at trials bul if Nonh had been on trial he would t have had nearly the leeway to do his rhetorical thing. And it is his rhetorical thing that has won him his great popularity. North like witnesses before him but More so and with great Talent lambasted Congress hour after hour for Days on end for inconsistency fuss new Nai Vete and insufficient Devotion to the cause of Freedom. And for picking on him through in Al. The members of the committees had to just Sil there listening politely knowing they were Laking a verbal beating. The lawyers for the Fon Imil a i whose thoroughly legitimate questions were elicit ing these Little Campaign speeches by North did nol respond either bul confined themselves to asking questions their Job. Some complain thai at time the lawyers seemed almost Prasco tutorial which is la say they demonstrated a certain scepticism Phoui North s first responses to their questions. Good grief let s Hope they were sceptical this Guy North has after All been known to lie upon occasion. Months ago. When it became Clear that an investigation was in order Clear let s face in to everybody each House of Congress was responsible enough to reorganise is of so that competing committees would t be running simultaneous hearings. Then the two houses took the extraordinary Slop of combining their investigations into one. They formed committees weigh cd with supporter of Contra Aid nol with Reagan washers on the Issue. The committees organized quickly hired competent staff got moving quickly and Laid out the Dory Well. It s a Story of hubris and incompetence and deceit an Ama ing talc in which financially motivated private cili7it i were bundling foreign a Lions and included officials were l my to Congress and were or so it seems failing to involve. The president in matters of great importance. And somehow they the members of the commit tees come under Mark. They Are attacked for of All things in this remarkable world failing to serve the cause of de and Tkv respond la i in Ihus Wajih Grace and restrain this is service above and be Ond the Call. If they Are nol i Ard u. Thev will give the politicians a Good name and american culture will be fucked. Cot to that 5l a