STUPID HYPOCRISY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505400053-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 53
• Publication Date: May 5, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505400053-1
ARTICLE AP E-;~cC
Oh PAS ' ~ '~
THE BALTIMORE SUN
5 May 1983
Stupid Hypocrisy
As Opposed to the 1V~ore Useful Kind
an end in itself but sa a shield foi r
democratization, economic level=>~
opment and diplomacy." ~ . ~_
Lyndon Johnson Deed the same=;
language, more or leas, in promising='.!
to build TVAs in the Mekong Val-
ley, to enhance the prosperity of a ; ~.
s+ountry ewe were bombing to pieces ?b
.And now we just :have the Central,,.
Americans' own good at 'heart? So :;
President Reagan .fella us. Yet this
is the man who has .been .against
foreign aid for merely social -par- `~
poses - and why not? He is
against social aid to his own -poor -.
citizens. How can he be taken Seri- ~ .
ously as worrying about fhe health `~~
of poor children in other countries?
This is the man who .fought, in -~
blatant] '
y imperialistic language, to :;;
keep the Panama Canal we had;:
"bought;" who defends secret wars -
conducted in defiance of agree-.y
meats made by the Organization of
American States; who rejects the _'~~
friend}y offices of other govern-
ments in the region. Yet he just ~,
wants Central American nations to'"
,be strong and independent? ~ s
This ib the man who appoints as
a procurator for El Salvador the
friend of Guatemala's past and
present military rulers; who praises
authoritarians so long as they are
not Marziats; who gauges all his
politics, foreign and domestic, by
the single teat of anti-communism.
Does be ezpect gullible foreigners.
to think he is offering gifts out of ;.
Chicago.
RESIDENT. REAGAN ac-
cased Nicaragua of "hypocr+i?
sy" in denouncing interference with
its regime while it helps rebels in El
Salvador.
He was right,.~ofcourse. Most
countries practice such hypocrisy.
We have for yearstlenouaosd tez-
roriam while oonductiag it, plotting
to assassinate foreign leaders, top-
ple governments, Sabotage crops
and installations. We have made
By Garry wills
_ This is the man who, in the very
speech where he made his hypocrit-
ical claims, tried to alarm America?
into thinking our entire safety de-
pends on propping up a cnrmbIiag
governanent in little EI Salvadoi. _-
Yet he affects diSinterested_'
benevolence. This should do any= `
thing but reassure the ordinary-
people -of Central American who
are supposed to be the beneficiaries.
of Mr. Reagan's policies. _
and unmade governments when it
suited us, as in Iran or Guatemala.
,And the president who spoke to us
was himself restoring such covert
powers to the CIA even as he tak-
tsked piously.
What kind of hypocrisy Domes, I
am afraid, to anyone playing the
game of power politics. It may be
deplorable, but it is -yes, hypo-
critical - to pretend that Nicara-
gua's conduct ib unique sad
heinous in this respect
But there is another kind of hy-
pocrisy, one that tries to ingratiate
transparently. This is wrong simply
because it is dumb. And that is the
kind of hypocrisy President Reagan
indulged in while teAing Central
American countries we are just ia-
tereated in their prosperity. Only
incidentally, or as a corollary, do we
care whether they remain anti-
communist. Here are the presi-
dent's hypocritical words:
"Our goal moat be to focus our
immense and growing technology
to enhance health care, agriculture,
industry, to ensure that we who in-
habit this interdependent region
come to know and understand each
other better, retaining our diverse
identities, respecting our diverse
traditions and institutions ... We
do not view security assistance as
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/09 :CIA-RDP90-005528000505400053-1