European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 3, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes Page 10 columns James Kilpatrick Reagan should Pardon North and Pondexter Ronald Reagan s Days As president dwindle Down. He has made i last recess appointments he has signed or vetoed All the Bills that remained from the 100th Congress the preparation of his last budget is tar along. One important piece of business remains this is a Pardon for Ollic North. A Pardon for Ollic of course. A is impossible to imagine Ronald Reagan pursuing any other course. Oliver North John Poindexter Richard sword and Albert Hakim arc not criminals. They were jointly engaged in a Covert operation which they Ortity believed was an Effort to carry out the wishes of the commander in chief to such circumstances commanders do not abandon their men. They Slick by them. As talk of pardons swirls through inc capital we Are hearing a great Deal about inc we arc reminded that no Man is above he Law thai ours is a Rule of Law. That the Law must be enforced. All of that. Bui my Liberal friends who am screaming for Pollic s Scalp forget another piece of Law. It is the constitutional provision thai says the president shall Hove Power to Grant reprieves and pardons for offences against inc United states thai Power is absolute. With a stroke of his pen Reagan could end inc Long Nightmare these Loyal subordinates have endured let me pursue this business of the Law North and his co defendants Are charged among other things with violating the prohibitions of Fth Boland which Boland amendment which prohibitions in he period covered by the indictment three Boland Amend ments came and went. Their purpose was to forbid cer Tain Federal agencies involved in intelligence activities from providing Aid to the nicaraguan contras. The Amend men named 10 such agencies specifically. But in did not name the National Security Council or the executive office of the president. This particular charge against the defendants is technically worthless in another count in the indictment North and poin Dix tar land accused of exploiting for their own Pur poses the proceeds of Fth arms Sale to Iran. This charge in the polite word is Hogwash. They sincerely believed they were pursuing the president s purposes. All North and got from inc affair was grief pure grief plus loss of their jobs and a million dollars in Bills for Legal counsel. Consider another charge the defendants made false fictitious fraudulent and misleading statements to Congress. They thus demonstrated contempt for con Gress. The charge is frivolous. The whole country has contempt for Congress. Every Day in every. Session members themselves make false fictitious fraudulent and misleading statements. Read the congressional re Cord surely it would be a Gross injustice to convict Anthony Lewis North and the others of lying to this Gaggle of influence paddlers who arc daily on the Lake from the lobbies. We hear comparisons of Iran Gale to watergate but the comparisons won t Wash. Beyond question the watch Gale scandals of 1972-74 involved outright Crimi Nal activity. Thai sad Story began with an and of breaking and entering. This was a felony in any Man s eyes. It was followed by demonstrable obstruction of Justice by the infamous cover up thai led to Nixon s abdication. Noth ing of the sort occurred in inc Sale of arms to Iran and the subsequent diversion of proceeds Loaid the contras. Wholly apart from the honorable obligation Hal Reagan owes the defendants is another reason for presidential action. The trials if they arc held would require he disclosure of hundreds perhaps thousand of the most confidential documents in White House files. Al some Point the National interest has to be weighed against a vindictive desire to crucify Good men. But in is Honor that counts. Reagan is certainly capable of doing mistaken things it was his Gross failure to Monitor North and Poindexter that led to their indictment. Bui 1 have known Reagan for a Long Lime and t believe him incapable of doing a dishonourable thing. In is simply not the president s Way. Yes pardons would set off a terrible caterwauling from the Liberal press. So whal my thought is Lei pm howl. Una Bill or Arafat shot a res of tempt the outcomes Fth Palestine National Council session in Algiers produced signs thai there Are palestinians who Are trying to move the Plo in a cons Euclive Way. That is encouraging and should continue Those words come from the state do Parma no statement explaining Secretary George Shulti s decision to bar Yasser Arafat from the . General Assembly ses Sion in new York. Seldom docs an official document con Tain such convincing self refutation. By denying the visa Shultz acted decisively to discourage to punish the palestinians who worked at the Algiers meeting to move he Plo in a constructive direction. He rewarded them with humiliation o. He helped their opponents in the Plo the maximalist who want no Compromise with Israel and who argue that moderation will gel them nowhere. At Algiers Algeria the Plo for the first Lime endorsed negotiations on the basis of in. Resolution 241, which called on Israel to withdraw from occupied Terri tory in return for Security and recognition. Everyone knows who led the Plo in that direction. Arafat did and no one else could have done in. The Algiers Resolution was not As Clear As we would like. But logo even that far Arafat had to make a highly significant change in the Way the Palestine National Council works. -., until now the pc has always operated on inc basis of consensus. That gave extremist wings virtual veto Power. In Al Giers the delegates voted and the vote was announced 253 for the Resolution 46 against. So it is now a majority Rule system which will make further movement easier. V Shultz denied the visa the Szalc department said because Arafat has condoned and supported acts of terrorism. Against americans As an example in mentioned the Hijack ing of the cruise ship Achille Lauro and inc murder of the disabled american Pas Senger Leon Klinghoffer one of the most horrifying acts of terrorism in recent years. ,. Mohammed Abu Abbas who was convicted in Italy of the killing is a member of the Plo executive committee he was at inc Algiers meeting and made mocking remarks to the press about inc murder of Klinghoffer. The slate department said his presence was the most recent sign of or. Arafat s association with Abu Abbas is indeed an embodiment of evil. But did the Algiers meeting embrace him or his views. To the contrary he was one of the were overwhelmingly out voted. He ended up isolated and rejected. Plo policy still does allow inside is Rael what it Calls military action whal we Call terrorism ". " ". The attack on a civilian bus near dimona in Israel last Winter was an example a brutal one and a stupid one from the View Point of the palestinian cause. The United slates says correctly that the Plo must renounce All terrorism be fore it can Lake part in negotiations. But it does not follow Hal Arafat should be de Nied a visa re. Even pulling to one Side us. Undertakings to the United nations not to hinder Access our own interest lies in letting him speak to the general Assembly trial Foni vat the Lime might. Lead him to Lak further Steps Loward recognition of Israel and renunciation of terror ism. /.,. Silliest of All was Shulti s suggestion that other palestinian leaders would be Welcome awhile Arafat is barred. We can not decide who is to Lead the palestinian movement and no one on double thai most palestinians wan Arafat. The Folly of the decision was made evident by the. Reaction of our closest Al lies. It was deplored by among others the British government and Margaret Thatcher is Noi soft on terror Isle. What concerns our friends is that a . Role is essential in Middle East diplomacy. In a Lime of Cooling hostilities around the world the israeli palestinian conflict stands out As extremely dangerous. But How can the United Stales play a serious part in ending it if we Are not even willing to listen Loone Side in acting against Arafat we May have excluded ourselves at least for some Lime. The next move is evidently going to be Arafat sat a , session in Geneva. The temptation to bristle will be Strong. He should resist in. This american mistake does nol change the palestinian reality the Only Way to Independence is fort rightly to accept Israel and work to live alongside in in Mutual peace and Security
