HAIG CAUTIONS HILL AGAINST ENDING AID TO EL SALVADOR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450034-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 26, 2012
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: March 11, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/26: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450034-4
011 PAC:.
11 March 1982
Haig Cautions ill
amst Endin
-
By John 1\4: Goshko
washington fost staff writer '
Secretary of State' Alexander M.
Haig Jr., speaking against a back-
ground of , mounting controversy.
about U.S. policy in Central Airier-
lea, told Congress yesterday that cut-
ting off military aid would be "a fatal
blow" to the government of El Sal-
vador in its struggle against leftist
guerrillas. ? A
"I think it would bele catastro-
phe," Haig said. "In practical.terms,
the guerrillas are not about to over-
whelm the country. But', American
arms are a crucial factor, even more
in political and -psychological terms
than in actual material terms."
The secretary's testimony before a
Senate subcommittee came on a day
that saw a rapid-fire series of devel-
opments continue to push the de-
bate over El Salvador and Nicaragua
to the forefront of congressional and
executive branch attention. Among.
ev( sp.,stotlay and kist night were
_ ? Twenty-six prominent `officials
of past Republican and Democratic
administrations emergedfrom a clas-
sified intelligence briefing at the
. State Department tothey ha
been given convineingeyidence; that-
the Salvadoran- guerrillEi.s'ari being
aided, supplied and guided from out-,
side. by Cuba and Nicaragua. How
'ever; the former. officials alsogagreed,
that the evidence is 'sO "sensitive"
that it cannot be made public with-
out causing serious damage
ability to collect intelligence in the,
future.
#
STAT
a va
- ? Haig; Defense Secretary ,Caspar?
W. Weinberget and some other. sen-
ior administration officials reftised to
comment on a report yesterday in
TheMashington Post that President
Reagan has apprOlied a $19 million
program to destabilize the revolu-
tionary Sandinista-dominated gov-
ernment in Nicaragua. Instead, they
took the position, described by. Haig,
as "consistent. and longstanding pol,
icy," that the government does not
comment publicly On Covert activ-
ities, but they added that their si-
lence should not be " interpreted as
confirmation of the report.
However, White House counselor
Edwin Meese III told a journalism;
seminar here last night that The;
Post report placed the administra-
tion in a "totally untenable position."
Meese said: "Here is a situation' in.
whichthe security of the country is
seriously affected, whether the arti-
cle be true or false. If it is true, then
very important secrets vital to Our
natiunal interest and vital to the stic.
cess Of any such mission have been.
revealed. If it is false, then you have
given, an adversary a great opportu-
nity for propaganda'. "
r...111aig said the administration has
-not-rejected Mexican President Jose
Lopez Portillo's offer to act as a me-
diator in trying to end the Salvador-
041 war and ease the tensions
leen the United States and Nic-
a4gua. The secretary said he would
continue discussing the idea with
Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Cas-,
taneda in New York this weekend; in
another hint that Washington wants
to: keep alive the possibility of even-
tual negotiations, Haig expressed
hope that after the March 28 elec
tions for a constituent assembly ?
P&lvador, the guerrillas might
lanced to lay down their arms an
negotiate "in the context of a ple
is-cite that would express the will o
thtaalvadoran
4-Weinberger and Gen. David C
Elope, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
olStaff, reiterated, in testimony be-
fore the House Foreign Affairs Com-
?miitie, that the administration has
plans or intentions to send U.S.
'troops to El Salvador and will con-
its support of the military-,
clyilitm government there to in-
creased military and economic aid.
The administration, obviously
-
,concerned that its policy toward
Central America could be derailed
by:Persistent questions about wheth-
er the United States is heading for a
new Vietnam-type involvement, this
week mounted a campaign to swing
/itblic opinion behind its approach.
- The effort began Tuesday when
nio7r intelligence officials gave re-
porters a detailed briefing, including
the. display of blowups of aerial re-
connaissance photographs, designed
to show that Nicaragua is building a
10- able military establishment with
Cuban and Soviet help. The second
-stage came yesterday with the brief-
aimed at at enlisting the support of
krmer officials and with Haig's ap-
-Pearance before a Senate Appropri-
ations subcommittee that oversees
foreign aid. ,
...Under heavy questioning from
Republican and Democratic mem
bers, Haig reiterated. his past charg
that the Salvadoran guerrillas are
'"largely controlled" from the
Nicaraguan capital of Managua. He
said the principal flaw in the Mex-
ican peace initiative,, which he as-
serted is basically the same plan pro-
posed by the United States and re-
jected by Nicaragua last year, is the
lack of a requirement that Nicaragua
"commit itself to ceaseand desist" in
involvement with its neighbors.
"We are exploring every, feasible
means possible to. bring about a
peaceful solution,".. he said. 'But this
is a two-Way street, and it requires
reciprocal obligations ,by those who
'brought about thiii crisis in the' first
',place ? `;'"2.n.!?;t1trt,.ie.),!..ate-4.,
?
STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/26: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450034-4
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/26: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450034-4
The U.S. position has been to
back the Salvadoran junta's call for
the guerrillas to stop fighting and
take part in elections designed to de-
termine the country's future. How-
ever, Haig and other administration
officials have emphasized. repeatedly
that they are firmly opposed to ne-
gotiations that would mean a divi-
sion of power allowing the guerrillas
to "win at the negotiating table what
they have failed to win on the bat-
tlefield." '
? When viewed in that. context,
Haig's comments yesterday about
the possibility of future negotiations
did not depart openly from stated
policy. But, there was a hint in his
remarks that 'the administration,
aware of the possibility that the up-
coming Salvadoran elections might
produce a victory for the extreme
right or some other unacceptable re-
sult, wants to keep alive the option
of a new try at negotiations through
Lopez Portillo or some other means.
He conceded that the March 28
elections "are not likely to solve the
problems of El Salvador and that it,
will be necessary to move, as fast as
possible, to the next stage of writing
a constitution and arranging for the
election of a president."
? Haig noted that "there are many
genuinely democratic elements" in
the leftist front opposing the gover-
Aent, but warneck. that "it is the
* hard-core, ,_ armed:* professionally
trained guerrillas who will ultimately
take over if all things remain equal."
? Should the left, including its guer-
rilla elements, rid itself of outside in-
fluence, agree to a cease-fire and join
in negotiations on the next electoral
,stage, he emphasized, "we would be
very much in favor of it." '
The administration's other main
effort yesterday involved the brief-
ing, presided over by Haig and Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency Director.
William J. Casey, for former officials
and members of the president's For-
eign Intelligence Advisory Board.
Following the meeting, Anne Arm-
strong, chairman of the advisory
board, denied that the group con-
sisted solely of people already com-
mitted to support of the administra-
tion's policy. ? *
She characterized them as "a bi-
partisan group of patriotic Ameri-
cans" and said she believed all
present had found the administra-
tion's evidence convincing. Asserting
that the information is too sensitive
'to be made public, she added: "I
wish it were not so because it's a
story that desperately needs to be
told to the American people."
Her comments were echoed by
several of the others including for-
mer secretary of state William P.
Rogers, former national security af-
fairs advisers Brent Scowcroft and
Zbigniew Brzezinski and former
Democratic special ambassadors Sol
Linowitz and Robert Strauss. All de-
scribed what they had heard with
such terms as "convincing" and "dis-
turbing" and said they felt it had to
be kept secret if the United States is
to continue receiving accurate intel-
ligence on Central America.
The administration's refusal to
discuss The Washington Post report
on alleged covert action plans did
,00t draw much immediate reaction
on Capitol Hill. However, Rep. Mi-
chael D. Barnes (D-Md.), chairman
of the House inter-American affairs
subcommittee and a critic of admin-
istration policy, said the plan, if true,
amounts to "a virtual declaration of
war."
Staff writer Lou Cannon contrib-
uted to this report.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/26: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302450034-4