European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes columns . Apple or. Edge goes to Bush in intriguing Duel with Noriega i res he it Himl i,., , h Obj. Of " t a ,.a or. Of nitric i n Iho Hist 11 noun los to a u t Nind of the preside by ing the Liri cd univ nip Ous , in dui Alit. Whom a has known for 13 wars. T Ai Hugh s Jukes As of Oiler jungs Ham ciciiu1 during his time in the while House. Noriega has often seemed to Delight in taunting the president like a schoolyard Tough daring a teacher to put up his Dukes and fight. To use the image favored by another Bush counsel or the panamanian has behaved like a dog snarling at the mailman through the Fence. Noriega held the upper hand for years As first the Reagan administration and then the Bush administration tried negotiations threats elections sanctions third party pressures and indirect assistance to coup plotters All without driving him from Power. The general outfoxed Bush then the vice president who at the Lime had special responsibility for combat ing drugs and More recently As president Bush. All the while. American officials say Noriega was growing Richer on the profits from illicit drug Traffick ing. I be been frustrated that he s been in Power Solon extraordinarily frustrated Bush said last week. He briefly dropped inc veil to reveal the passions that Lay behind the Bland bureaucratic language used forthe official explanation of the invasion last week. I won t be satisfied until he s been brought to jus the president seized the initiative when he sent in the troops then lost it when the attack seemed to falter amid unbridled looting in Panama City and the difficulty in finding Noriega. With the panamanian s Surprise decision sunday to seek Asylum in inc Vatican embassy Bush again gained the advantage Over his resourceful Nemesis. Like another president from Texas Lyndon b. Johnson who used to exhort his commanders in Viet Nam to get him a Coonskin on the Wall Bush would no doubt have liked a neater More Clear Cut Victory. Noting Bush s difficulties in projecting himself As Slough decisive Leader. Kevin Phillips the political analyst said this weekend you be got to wonder to what extent Bush s Texas psychology figures into this and to what extent he needs a Hunting from that personal Point of View the end game now under Way must seem unsatisfactory and indecisive. And in fact the state department is reported to depressing the Vatican to release Noriega to the United states. But it can also be argued that Short of his death inc shelving of Noriega As a Long term resident of a papal Walter r. Mears 60tcha/ Nuncio s Mission is about As Good an outcome for the United states As any. Extradition of inc deposed dicta Tor to face trial in this country is constitutionally for Bidden according to president Guillermo Endara. Who says he will follow the Law strictly. If the United states were to Kidnap the general inthe face of Endara s stated views that would undercut the new president s credibility to say nothing of Amer ican policy in recognizing him. Quite beyond that there Are those who think that a Noriega on trial in the United states demanding documents and revealing secrets might prove to be More trouble than a court conviction was Worth. A similar calculation after All led half a dozen american administrations and dozens of officials including Bush As director of Central intelligence in 1976, to play along with Noriega rather than denounce him. Bush who met Noriega in 1976 and again in 1983, is a competitive Man who relies on instinct More than detailed strategic planning. But he is also highly disciplined. After Noriega tried to suggest that he had been involved in the Iran Contra affair crowds chanted what about Noriega during Bush s 1988 rival gov. Michael s. Dukakis brought the matter up in a televised debate. Bush kept his counsel then and did so again in octo Ber when he was attacked for not More vigorously backing an anti Noriega coup hat failed. A close aide concedes that the personal vendetta the personal Factor was always with the president but at least he always fought it Down until deciding to make his strike last week. Perhaps with Noriega a Semi permanent guest of the Vatican like Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty in the . Embassy in Budapest a generation ago Bush will be Santisi cd. Or perhaps he will still not feel that the general has paid his debts. In either Case it has been an absorbing Contes Between these two men both former intelligence chiefs one a patrician born to command the other the Street fighter risen to Power. Further surprises Mere twists and turns would come As no Surprise to anyone. C the new York to not with stalemate Noriega should fade to oblivion Manuel Antonio Noriega is the perfect villain. But there Are draw backs in a policy heavily hinged on the capture of one Man whatever his crimes. One nagging administration problem was resolved on Christmas eve when Noriega turned himself in to Vatican diplomats in Panama City seeking Asylum. In Power and in hiding the panamanian strongman had been taunting the United Stales for nearly three years. That dilemma was resolved sunday night after a five Day . Manhunt in Panama Complete with a million Dollar Bounty. The . Commander in Panama then the White House announced that Noriega had turned up and turned himself in not to . Forces but to envoys of the roman Catholic Church. The White House said the demise of general Noriega was a signal that the forces of democracy and Freedom in pan Ama were on the Rise. Noriega apologists Are certain to note that he was not captured and did no surrender to the american troops sent to Panama. They la Call it Sanctuary not surrender. It also leaves open the question of whether Noriega Ever will stand trial on . Drug indictments. But those arc technicalities the administration already had indicated willingness to spare him prosecution if he would yield Power and get out of pan Ama. And it hardly seems Likely that a Man like Noriega would have surrendered himself even to the Sanctuary of the Church had his position not become impotent and impossible. Noriega had slipped away when the . Intervened Early last wednesday and had eluded am incan forces for five Days As the most wanted of men. The plot in the Panama Story has taken bizarre turns before and the Crafty elusive target of a manhunt ordered by the White House could have gained a son of a perverse popularity among some latin americans had he remained at Large evading the Yankees. The United states posted a is million Bounty for information leading to his arrest. President Bush said he would t be satisfied until Noriega was brought to Justice. Noriega s capture was a major objective from the moment the american troops moved in at 1 . Last wednes Day. His picture will be in every Post of fice in town Bush said thursday. That s the Way it works. He is a fugitive drug dealer and we want to see him brought to Noriega s pockmarked face bran dished Machete and Defiance of his own countrymen when they voted for his opponents All add to the image of the Proto Type dictator. . Officials say there is evidence he meant to attack unarmed american civilians that he was involved in voodoo or satanism that he admired Adolf Hitler that he plotted a terrorist takeover of the Panama canal. Overall hardly a sympathetic figure. But there was a risk in a superpower policy entered on one Man even a Man such As Noriega. The while House Bounty had made him a million Dollar Man. American troops by the thousands could t take him although the likelihood is that unless they had been closing in Noriega would not have turned in his hand. One Man against All that might was one Man who could become a latin leg end As outlaws sometimes do. Noriega s decision to seek Refuge with Vatican authorities should Case the crisis in Panama he and his henchmen pro longed the agony with sniping raids looting Urban guerrilla warfare. Had he escaped to Sanctuary with his Nicara Guan allies it could have pointed to a War of words even raids against the new government in that danger has eased. Stripped of Power and confined to an embassy Sanctuary Noriega should fade to insignificance. In the first Pentagon briefing on the Panama operation. Gen. Colin Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said Noriega had been decapitated As the Leader of Panama. Yesterday s Maxi mum Leader is today s fugitive Secre tary of slate James a. Baker i said later. Bush said thursday that Noriega controls no forces and he s All of that is so and Noriega is pow Erless his arrest would seem a Side Issue one that could capture of that one elusive Fugi Tive had remained a major declared objective in the biggest military operation since the United states withdrew from South was t captured by the Ameri cans who sought him but he is no longer at Large. And that is a major break for the Bush administration c to Auoe Lam pm
