FEARS FOR EL SALVADOR'S FATE SAID BEHIND REAGAN GAMBLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390074-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 74
• Publication Date: August 16, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09: CIA-RDP90-00552R000505390074-0
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE___JA,
WASHINGTON TIMES
16 August 1984
Fears for El Salvador 3rauc
said behind Reagan gamble.
By Roger Fontaine
THE WASHINGTON T1k4ES
The Reagan administration, by
making Central American policy a
"prime issue.' in a battle to win
more aid, gambled against the
political wisdom that it should
avoid controversial policy debate in
an election year.
Behind the gamble, according to
administration sources, was the
widespread fear that the leftist
guerrillas in El Salvador would
start a Tet-style offensive soon, in
an attempt to convince the
American public that the war there
was unwinnable.
The immediate danger in El Sal-
vador reinforced the broader con-
viction in the administration that
the effort there is vital to American
security and must be pursued with-
out letup.
The decision on a high-visibility
effort was taken by President Rea-
gan last month, officials said, with
overall direction of the effort, par-
ticularly as it related to the Con-
gress, given to national security
adviserRobert C. McFarlane.
The State Department, accord-
ing to White House officials. ini-
tially opposed a strategy it deemed
high-risk and likely to fail.
Administration sources reported
that the strategy was worked out in
an informal but high-level White
House situation room meeting
headed by Mr. McFarlane July 20 -
the day after the closing of the
Democratic convention.
NEWS ANALYSIS
Those attending, including
Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick,
CIA Director William Casey and
Gen. o n essey, c airman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, are all known
for their belief that Central
America must be a high priority
concern of the administration.
The first hint of a new strategy
came three days later, when Vice
President George Bush announced
in a published interview that Cen-
tral America would he made into a
Republican campaign "prime
issue."
"The Democrats have been work-
ing on an erroneous premise about
what has been going on in Central
America," Mr. Bush said at the time,
indicating the Democrats were
oblivious to the nature of the threat.
White House sources now say Mr.
Bush's interview was a "trial bal-
loon" which worked and served as
the opening salvo of a public cam-
paign to win support for the
president's policies in an election
year.
Officials have long expressed
concern about an autumn guerrilla
offensive, and most remain con-
vinced it is coming. most likely next
month." Everybody expects it,-said
.one official.
In light of that immediate threat,
the first stage of the administra-
tion's go-for-broke strategy tar-
geted additional military aid for El
Salvador, and led to the following
actions being taken:
? A stepped-up effort at releas-
ing information supporting the
administration's case on Central
America. Within a period of two
weeks, an official Green Book was
released giving the most compre-
hensive details to date of the Nica-
raguan military buildup and
subversion of its neighbors.
That was followed by the disclo-
sure of information linking the San-
dinistas to drug running, which in
turn was amplified by orchestrated
Senate hearings on the same sub-
ject.
At the same time, the administra-
tion made available Gen. Paul
Gorman. head of the U.S. Southern
Command, and Thomas Pickering.
U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, for
top-secret "Codeword" congres-
sional bnefings.
It then released 95 percent of the
material to the public - material
including films of arms smuggling
into El Salvador from Nicaraguan
shrimp boats.
According to one White House
source, "Gorman did a remarkably
good job,- a view shared by a num-
ber of other administration offi-
cials.
? A high-intensity lobbying
effort by the administration, led by
Mr. McFarlane, resulted in key leg-
islative victories for President Rea-
gan's funding requests for El
Salvador for fiscal years 1984 and
1985. even though the current fiscal
year ends in less than two months.
That effort has produced a total
$186 million in military assistance
!or that country this year - a
record. This came when a S70 mil-
lion supplemental appropriation
was added to the $126 million that
had already been appropriated.
According to administration offi-
cials. the new money above all buys
mobility in the form of more heli-
copters and trucks, which are
expected to keep the guerrillas on
the run for the rest of the summer
and fall.
It also relieves the concerns of
Salvadoran field commanders
about ammunition shortages. Such
worries, officials point out,
resulted in the past in a passive
defense.
Now, with the return of Congress
after the Republican convention,
the administration will turn to win-
ning full funding of the $8 billion,
multi-year economic-development
program recommended by the Kis-
singer Commission - known as the
Jackson Plan for the late Sen.
Henry Jackson, D-Wash. White
House officials have promised
another all-out effort.
In Central America, the adminis-
tration is also conducting high-
visibility operations, despite
concern that they may spur contro-
versy in a election year.
Recent decisions include:
? Resumption of regular recon-
naissance flights over El Salvador
in anticipation of the fall offensive.
Eleven Mohawk OV-1 aircraft,
whose radar can pinpoint troop
movements in the dark and relay
details to Salvadoran field com-
I manders, will fly for the next six
months as they did last February
through April.
? Continuation of a policy of
pressuring the Sandinista govern-
ment by naval shows of strength.
This month, the recently commis-
sioned battleship Iowa is heading a
five-vessel task force that will
patrol 50 miles off the Honduran
STAT
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