European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 29, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday december 29, 1992 commentary the stars and stripes Page 13 patriots of Iran Contra committed crimes Leslie h. Gelb my problem with president Bush a self described act of a Honor decency and fairness is not that he pardoned a clutch of sex officials involved in the Iran Contra affair but that he pardoned their crimes. I might Well have pardoned former defense Secretary Caspar w. Weinberger and the others myself. And if i were Bill Clinton i would Pardon George Bush in Advance of any charges and quickly just to put this unseemly mess behind us and get on with the task of reconstructing America. But first our leaders republicans and democrats alike must make Clear to americans that the crimes committed were crimes a and not As Bush called them acts of a Patriot Quot nor were the prosecutions based merely on a policy differences Between Congress and the executive. Unless this distinction is vivid for us All we cast aside at our peril the Core Issue of democratic government a the accountability of Public officials to the Law. 1 done to want to reduce what Reagan Bush officials did during the Iran Contra episode to Fine Points of Law. The Issue is a common sense one of right and wrong and Public Trust. In its simplest form the Deal was this the Reagan Bush team helped sell arms to Iran in return for the release of americans held hostage by Iran a allies in Lebanon. The team used proceeds from the sales and a a donations solicited from third countries to Arm nicaraguan rebels or contras in their fight against the communist government of Nicaragua. The Iran half of this melodrama violated the spirit and or letter of Laws Banning the trafficking in arms with a terrorist state. And Iran had been designated As a terrorist state under the Law. The Deal also broke the spirit and or letter of a Law that requires congressional approval of arms sales to any state. The administration never notified Congress of the transaction so Congress never approved it. President Reagan a approval of these acts in no Way substituted for congressional authorization. Quot theve car Guan part of the scheme violated a Law exp sly forbidding the Transfer of arms to the contras. The administration contended that the ban applied Only to government a departments or agencies a and not specifically to the presidents National Quot Security Council staff. Huh huh the Reagan Bush team also clearly circumvented the Laws intent by soliciting Money from other countries to buy arms for the contras. After All these acts were publicly exposed the Reagan Bush team committed other crimes such As lying under oath and obstruction of Justice. Marine it. Col. Oliver l. North of the National Security Council staff lied under oath to Congress and destroyed evidence. Remember his Secretary Fawn Hall who put secret documents in her boots and underwear to get them out of the White House before Fri investigators closed in several Cia opera Tives also lied under oath to congressional committees about what they knew and what had been going on. Weinberger denied under oath having notes pertaining to the Iran Contra transactions. He lied. These acts were All committed with obvious intent to deny evidence to and impede the investigations of lawfully constituted bodies. If the criminality is not Clear then we might As Well abandon All efforts at human communication and return to prehistoric grunting. Bush in his Pardon proclamation resorted to Post modernistic ethical manure. For All intents and purposes he decriminalized acts committed in the name of patriotism so Long As the patriots sought no financial gain for themselves. No kidding. Here s How he justified pardoning five of his fellow officials a first the common denominator of their motivation a whether their actions were right or wrong a was patriotism. Second they did not profit or seek to profit from their catch that a whether their actions were right or then without so much As wagging a Finger at these a patriots a Bush went on to attack the prosecutors a for the criminalization of policy breaking Laws on arms sales and dealing with terrorists Are Mere a policy differences Quot what that really Means is a Mere Laws Quot and a Mere democracy to the self proclaimed patriots who think they Are above the Peoples Laws. C Tho now York Timo Baird right Choice to restore Faith in Justice Anthony Lewis the Choice of Zoe Baird to be attorney general is the most inspired stroke of Bill Clinton a Cabinet selections. She is the first woman in the office which matters. But it matters More that she has the Wisdom the professional respect and the determination needed to take on what May be the most daunting Job in government. The department of Justice once so revered has become a Symbol of americans loss of Faith in government. In the Nixon years it harboured criminality at the top. After a revival in the Ford and Carter administrations it has sunk into a mire of politicking and malfeasance. It is a Large department with responsibilities of management As Well As Law. It includes the immigration and. Naturalization service and the Federal Bureau of prisons. It has much to say about the enforcement of environmental protections. The appalling crime problems of our society Are on its Agenda. It has the duty of protecting civil rights and liberties. It plays a Large part in the selection of Federal judges. To list those responsibilities is to recognize one thing that has gone wrong in the department. In one area after another it has put politics above the interest of Justice yielding to partisan and ideological pressure. Thus we have the present attorney general William p. Barr doing his Best to cover up Ira Gate the scandal of How the Reagan and Bush administrations financed Saddam Hussein a military buildup until the very eve of his attack on Kuwait. Thus we have the prison service breaking its own rules to punish a prisoner Brett Kimber Lin because he wanted to Tell the world that Dan Quayle had bought marijuana. And still is punishing him. A first step that Baird will doubtless take to restore morale in that disheartened Agency is to make Clear that politics will Stop at the departments door. That and a commitment to end justices obsession with secrecy of recent years a unnecessary secrecy in its own affairs and in government generally. Right now the supreme court has before it a Case in which Justice successfully prosecuted two corporate officers for receiving unclassified government information that no Law or regulation restricted. The Case Mccausland is. The United states is one in which Baird and her solicitor general could make an important Point by confessing error. The present Justice Hierarchy went Back on an undertaking to the courts by refusing to let haitians whom its own officers had identified As probable political refugees consult lawyers about their Asylum applications. The immigration and naturalization service is also still barring political radicals from the country subverting Congress repeal of that notorious provision of the Mccarran Walter act. Crime legislation is another problem that Baird will have to confront. A crime Bill foundered in the last Congress Over the Bush administrations resistance to gun control and its wish to gut the ancient remedy of Hareas Corpus. For the last 12 years judicial appointments have been largely controlled by right Wing zealots in Justice and the White House counsels office. The democrats naturally want their turn but Baird could do the courts a great service by reducing the level of ideological relentlessness in the search. One More burning question on which Baird will quickly have to advise is renewal of the Independent counsel statute. President Bush a wholesale pardons of men prosecuted by Independent counsel Lawrence l. Walsh in the Iran Contra affair will make the politics of the Issue even Prickier. Many regretted the impending trial of former Secretary of defense Caspar w. Weinberger who after All opposed the Folly of trading arms to Iran for american hostages. But pardoning men who were guilty of lying to cover up the affair is another matter. The pardons really present in acute form the larger Challenge facing Baird to restore Faith in constitutional government. Bush said the men he pardoned had made no profit and acted out of patriotism. But they violated the Constitution. Until the Gravity of that offence is recognized our system will be in trouble. It is a great set of challenges for Baird. But if anyone can meet it i believe she can. C the new York times
