European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 18, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes tuesday August 18.1987 William saf1re blundering led to sellout of our notional interest after a couple of years trying to run foreign policy without the Congress the Reagan administration then swung to the other extreme it sought to wheedle continued Aid to the contras by abdicating foreign policy leadership 10 the speaker of the House. That too was Folly. Nobody will go to jail for he latest collapse of the Reagan will no Public hearings will expose the blundering that led to the unconscionable sellout of our National interest in preventing further communist penetration of this hemisphere. No venality or corrupt secrecy this time Only the defeatism and confusion among the Carei akm corps. Howard Baker the former Senate majority Leader who took Over As White House chief of staff counted noses and found that Contra Aid was 35 Voles Short in the House and a couple Short in the Senate. He decided that the president did not have the stamina or pub Lic support to make a fight on principle. So the amiable tennessean sent a Texas emissary to speaker James Wright in effect offering to make him Secretary of slate in matters Central american. Wright drove a hard bargain with the Baker while House. No Extension of Contra Aid during the 60 Days in which at cease fire would be sought. No role for the Contra leaders in determining their own Fate let them complain through the red Cross. And not a Peep out of the Anli Sandi Islas in the . Not one privately financed television and not one Reagan remark thai would in any Way irritate Managua an unprecedented gag Rule on the executive Branch perhaps in con Gressional retribution for the undue secrecy practice in the Regan Poindexter White House. But Wright s peace plan had one saving Grace in conjunction with a cease fire and an end of military Aid to the resistance the nicaraguan communist gov emment would have to commit to some of the elements of democracy it promised when it took Over in 1979. Although the Reagan Cave in treated the contras As badly As Nixon treated the kurd at least it did not adopt the ills not meddle internally theory of negotiator Philip Habib. While the while House was concentrating on Nego Duve head of Wilbur amp Orville libations Wilh the Congress Howard Baker gave Little consideration to the effect of a drastic weakening of Reagan s support for the contras with the cd neral american presidents about to Eccl in Guatemala with Daniel Ortega the nicaraguan dictator. Our stale department sent up no urgent red flags thai a Surprise Reagan Compromise might trigger a major appease ment move. That was Why Baker focused on making a political Deal on the Hill and president Reagan preparing an Iran Centra speech to avoid the rigor of a news Confer ence were Blind sided by the sudden adoption of the Arias plan in Guatemala. That was not in i hair scenario. Improvising in what it had inadvertently made a dangerous situation the White House did not Knock Down speculation that its Deal with Wright had been designed to push the Central american presidents into action. The stunned Baker Shultz crowd welcomed the unwelcome development and took undeserved pats on the Back for anticipating the reaction in Guate Mala icy did not expect and therefore speeding the peace then the House speaker willed under the heal from democratic doves for having to suggest that withdrawal of Contra Aid be linked to political free Dom within Nicaragua. Wright removed the sole element of Backbone in the Deal he worked out Wilh Baker by hastily announcing it s the Guatemala plan that has to Baker s Folly of a preemptive Compromise with Congress thus failed spectacularly. The surrender in Guatemala Calls for a cutoff of . Contra Aid now but guarantees that dictator Ortega remains in Power through 1990 the sandinista will continue to gel arms from Moscow during which time the resistance we abandoned will be ruthlessly crushed. At that Point the Managua sustained subversion of Al Salvador will be renewed but no nicaraguans would be crazy enough to Trust us in applying pressure to the sandinista expansionist regime. Rea Gan will then be Chipping Wood in Santa Barbara no wonder so Many candidates arc dissociating them selves from the policy Likely to bedevil the next presi Dent. Belatedly Cap Weinberger and Frank 1 was absent Carlucci explained the extent of our perfidy to Reagan who then told state to restrain envoy Habib from administering the coup de Grace 10 the contras that was Why Habib quit in a Huff. What a tragedy of errors. As the saying jobs none of this would have happened if Ronald Reagan were alive
