SUPPORT, SKEPTICISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000707350010-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 12, 2011
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: April 28, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Support,
C"IT
A
Democrats Fault
Focus on Military
By Patrick & Tyler
nPost Star;Writer
President Reagan ap-
peared initially to have failed
last night in his aim to create
bipartisan support in Con-
gress for his disputed policies
Central. America. While
.~.:~ b ans cheered his
forceful description of Soviet
and Cuban threats to stabil-
ity it the region. Democrats
faulted the administration's
reliance on military and co.
ve: t responses.
Instead of trying to :do
something about the factors
which. breed revolution, this
administration has turned to
.n- 've military buildups at
the cost of hundreds of mil-
lions of dollars," said Sen.
Christopher J. Dodd (D-
Corn.), who delivered the
official Democratic response
to the speech.
Dodd characterized Rea-
gans policy in Central Amer-
ica as "ever-increasing mil-
itary assistance, endless mil-
itary training, even hiring
our own paramilitary guer-
rilias ... - This is a formula
for failure."
Meanwhile, Sen. John G.
Tower (R-Tex.) said: "The
president made a compelling
case of our need to come to
terms with the critical situ-
ation in Central America.
Our own security interest is
clearly threatened by com-
munist expansion in the re-
gion.-
The common thread run-
ninlr through most reaction
to the president's speech to a
joint session of Congress was
that most members agreed
WA SHINGTCN PCS T
28 APRIL 1983
with. and enthusiastically
applauded in several in-
stances, Reagan's description
of Soviet and Cuban at-
tempts to win new allies and
potential bases in the Caribbean and
on the Central American isthmus,
which separates strategic waters in
this?emisphere.
But still-numerous critical. mem-
bers said Reagan's unabated de-
mands for higher levels of military
aid. d his failure to address covert
CIA operations in the region may
cost him support for his policies.
"We' are fully, prepared to defend
our security and the security of the
Americas, if necessary by military
means... ," Dodd said. "But many
of us fin Congress-Democrats and
Republicans alike-disagree with the
president because we believe the
means he has chosen will not fulfill
them."
"They [the administration] have
so rejected any effort for a bipartisan
consensus [in Central America) that
the president may be beyond the
11th hour for seeking one," said Sen.
, Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.).
A number of congressmen and
t Latin American experts said the
sometimes combative tones of the
president's speech offered little to
members who were hoping that Rea-
gan would strike a new chord in at-,
tempting to engender successful ne-
gotiations in the region.
Reagan called Nicaragua a "tyr-
anny," and asked, "Must we sit by
while"independent nations of this
hemisphere are., integrated into the
most aggressive empire .the modern.
world has ever seen?"
"He. kind of brought the Cold War
tb _ Latin America," said Robert
Ieikea, senior. Latin American fellow.
at the' Georgetown Center for Stra-
tegic and International Studies.
"It sounds to me like the same old
song," said Wayne Smith, former
ciiief of the U.S. interest section in
Cuba who quit last summer in pro-
test over U.S. policy toward Latin
America. "I see nothing in this
speeech
explore energetically the possibility
for a negotiated solution in Central
America."
Senior officials who briefed re-
porters before the speech said it was
intended to tell Congress that it will
have to take responsibility for any
setback in Central America if it does
not give the president the support he
is seeking. -
"The president's tone was just
right,".said Seri. "Robert J.' Dole (R-
Kan.).'"His speech gave' a clear state-
ment of our responsibilities."
Dodd said' Meagan could not
blame Congress if "things were not
going well in Central America. We
have given him what he asked," he
added, in reference to $700 million
in economic and military aid appro-
priated for Central America since
Reagan took office.
"One of every five Salvadoran sol-
diers fighting for its government was
trained right here in the United
States," Dodd continued. "Now the
president asks for an even greater
commitment. .. - American dollars,
alone cannot buy military victory."
Rep. C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.),
one of six Republican members of
the House Intelligence Committee
who are seeking to forestall a vote to
cut off covert CIA operations in Cen-
tral America by asking House lead-
ers for a secret session on the sub-
ject, agreed with Dole. "I think the
president gave an effective and ac-
curate description of the threatening
situation in the region," Young said.
Reagan did not specifically men- .
Lion covert support for several thou-
sand opponents of the leftist Sandi-
nista government of Nicaragua who
are mounting a guerrilla campaign
from bases along the Honduran bor-
der. He reiterated that it is not U.S.
policy to overthrow the Nicaraguan
government, but he said that "we
should, through diplomacy, offer an
alternative."
The House intelligence oversight
panel is scheduled to vote today on
legislation to cut off funding for the
CIA nrozram and replace it with an
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/12 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000707350010-0