WHY MUSKIE MAY HAVE TO RESIGN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404480007-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 21, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: May 7, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404480007-6
0.4 ri GE
Edm uid.' Muskie is?. an
optical illusion, another rab-,
bit. pulled out of :?resident
Carter's hat. Carter may not...
know. what he's doing..as a.
president, but he.has a sure.
-touch as a candidate. He
needs a Brzeziaski-, to keep
the hawks happy but he also
needed a_CyrustVance-or a
doves, especially on the eve;., .,:
which he.will try to treat .
"Ronald Reagan as .tohnsoa:
did Goldwater, and with per-}
baps the. same aftermath.
Johnson campaigned as the
responsible man of peace,
and then took_us'deep into
an Asian quagmire:
Carter, notoriously. runs..
a tight ship. The course on-
merely serves as a lightning..
rod: Muskieis on the record
for a peaceable-solution of
the hostage crisis. Sanctions
are not "peaceable;",And,
when they fail, as everybody,
believes they will,'.Carter
may have to choose between--
' humiliating backdotvr%
and militarymeasures..' '
Military measures in-.the':
Persian Gulf will make Viet-
the periphery of world poll-"
THE WASHINGTON STAR
7 May 1980
hostages'aud their families"
and: added as if in after
thought, that it".would meet
"contract and other com-
mercial'claims..of American
.firms. ".
No Teporter asked. him
about the effect this might
have. on .hostage negotia-
tions.:Nor.has it. been no-
ticed that-most of the 58 bil-
lion is not in.this country at
all,: but in branches of U.S.
banks abroad: Those depos-
its abroad =could. not be
seized unless, allied coun-
tries legislate such action as
sanctions.
Here we come to a revela-
tion which has drawn too
little attention. Some of
these loans are tainted. On
March 28, The Wall Street
Journal published a sensa-
tional expose. showing that
in the closing years of the
shah's reign a.banking con-
sortium, headed by Chase
Manhattan loaned the shah.
Tehran warned on three
occasions that these loans
were. invalid under the
shah's own constitution.
Should the'.hostages 'be
released' and - diplomatic-
relations"be restored, Iran
might attack these loans in
.~_ our courts as invalid and
then have to abandon either''Feb>t7 Muskie said that to ` would trigger release of Ira, the ht u'
his conscience or his office'- =" a it~Fw at the A a nniiaapp~assets here. h e event of loss might sue
one in, an wo note a-''m' it Chase Manhattan and the directors forignori from
A peaceable = solution these warnings- from
would require :a price,. and; . mean - cu e - us ie s some of the largest banks in Chase's:owa Iranian attor-
term = ut would merely ac- '-this country want to. use . f ....
Carterisnotprepared to pay ; knowledge--- an . "historical, thzassets to "offset" their keys: ?
it. The price.involves-two When --Carter's ; claims
trn $: ' " " ; . l r to the shah, and some
concessions to Iran. One is .:Now we come to the hid- apt ay have done so, albeit legislation .comes before
well known. The other. has' that it Congress.'it shbuld realize
been _den.-of the price. The. illegally. that
kept?in the shadows. maybe choosing be
.The well-known concession U.S. too holds. hostages in Carter is preparing legis- tween the fate of the hos:
is the "apology." which Car the Iranian dispute. When lation for Congress enabling tares and the convenience
Carter froze Iranian assets h to disburse this $8 bil- ?
ter over and.overagain has ? Wit: % of the banks: This too might
n assets. to
refused to make. in II S banks last November, 2. lf6Aan. Ir..ania
well figure some. day in.a
At his Iusl figure some day in.a
he took some S8 billion as An rirati claimants: biusk
Here- the g _ gulf.., between "his,owa hostsge..Jn any resignation.
y prq*,,.Gonference April 27,
Carter and Muskie-is clear..,. peaceable?solution. the re-: he presented this as a means :iMr Sronetinasedtroran put}
an wide.As* recently as 'lease of.thehostages in Iran. _" reparations to the lisherot LP. Stone's weekly::..'
4
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/21 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404480007-6