THE BEWILDERING CASE OF DAVID MACMICHAEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100200008-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: June 28, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/09: CIA-RDP90-00806R000100200008-0
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE C-3 .4
WASHINGTON TIMES
28 June 1984
nj~j~ ~7
PIMIm NICQLAIDE+ s Philip Nicolaides is an editorial
writer for The Washington Times.
ThcJcwj1dering
%c%C#-1tSe of
David MacMichael
Tts amusing how people who
have been arguing that we
should cut off support to the
anti-communist contras in
Nicaragua are taking David Mac-
Michael seriously.
Their argument used to be that
the contras are a failure, that they
have not been able to check the flow
of weapons and support from the
Marxist-Leninist regime in Nicara-
gua to the Marxist-Leninist guerril-
las in El Salvador.
But Mr. MacMichael has been
making a media splash by denying
that there is any such flow. If his
story were true, it would suggest
that the contras are doing a bang-up
job.
Although Mr. MacMichael
claims to be an authority because
he worked for the CIA for a couple
of years as an outside contractor,
his credentials and his auspices
suggest that his testimony is both
worthless and mischievous. But
that hasn't stopped him from
achieving instant celebrity among
those who are seeking to discredit
President Reagan's Central
America policy.
No one had ever heard of David
MacMichael until he surfaced a few
weeks ago to announce that there is
no credible evidence that Nicara.
gua is acting as a support base and
arms-supplier for the communist
guerrillas in El Salvador. For those
eager to scuttle the contras, Mr.
MacMichael's timing could not
have been better. His highly publi-
cized charges that the U.S. govern-
ment has been lying are already
being cited by foes of the
-president's policy.
But just how credible is Mr. Mac-
Michael? Although he did work for
two years with the CIA as an outside
contractor, only about half his time
was spent on Central America. His
assignment was not arms supplies
or military action but political ana-
lysis of internal opposition to the
Sandinista regime.
work ????