CONGRESS MOVING TO TIGHTEN CONTROLS ON U.S. MILITARY AID TO INSURGENTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90B00017R000500140024-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 13, 2013
• Sequence Number: 24
• Publication Date: April 2, 1987
• Content Type: MEMO

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/13: CIA-RDP90B00017R000500140024-9
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/13: CIA-RDP90B00017R000500140024-9
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/13 : CIA-RDP90B00017R000500140024-9
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Tuesday, March 31, 1987/Part 1 7
Congress Moviiig to Tighten Controls on U.S. Military Aid to Insurgent
By SA RA FRITZ, Tittles Staff Writrr
WASHINGTON?As a direct re-
sult of the Iran-contra scandal,
Congress is moving to put strict
new controls on the clandestine
? military assistance that President
Reagan has been giving to anti-
Communist insurgencies around
the globe.
Under the policy known as the
Reagan Doctrine, the Administra-
tion funnels millions of dollars
through the CIA each year to rebel
groups in Afghanistan, Angola and
Cambodia as well as to the anti-
Sandinista forces in Nicaragua. De-
tails of the program are secret, in
keeping with the CIA tradition of
covert operations.
Although the aid program has
congressional support, members of
Congress frequently have criti-
cized the way it is operated, and
their complaints have escalated
since the Iran-contra scandal ex-
posed the curious web of private
and government-supported opera-
tions involved in the diversion of
Iranian arms funds to the Nicara-
guan rebels.
Revamping Considered
"I think obviously the worst
enemy of the Reagan Doctrine has
been the way that the Reagan
Administration has implemented
the Reagan Doctrine," declared
Sen. David L. Boren ( D-Okla? ),
chairman of the Senate Intelli-
gence Committee. "It will be im-
periled if they don't change the
way that it is administered."
In an effor to bolster the policy,
members of ti congressional com-
mittees that bversee CIA opera-
tions are con4dering a variety of
proposals to revamp the Adminis-
tration's covert, military assistance
program to mak b it more accounta-
ble to Congress and the American
public.
The biggest legislative test of the
Reagan Doctrine In the wake of the
Iran-contra affair will come later
this year when Congress decides
whether to continue funding the
Nicaraguan rebels. The contras
have long been the most contro-
versial recipients of covert U.S.
military assistance, and opponents
hope that the current scandal will
cause Congress to reject the Ad-
ministration's request of $105 mil-
lion for them in fiscal 1988, which
begins Oct. 1.
But even if the contra aid pro-
gram survives, Reagan Doctrine
supporters are prepared to defend
it against an onslaught of legisla-
tive attacks during the coming
year.
"There will be people who will
use elements of the Iran-contra
affair to marshal opposition to the
Reagan Doctrine," predicted Rep.
Dick Cheney (R-Wyo., vice
chairman of the House committee
investigating the Iran-contra af-
fair.
liberal Democrats to halt aid to the
UNITA rebels, headed by Jonas
Savimbi, who are battling the Sovi-
et- and Cuban-backed government
of Angola. UNITA?the National
Union for the Total Independence
of Angola?received an estimated
$15 million in direct U.S. assistance
in the current fiscal year, including
shoulder-fired Stinger missiles.
Perhaps the only covert military
assistance program that appears
entirely safe from a congressional
assault this year is the one that
funds forces fighting the Soviet
occupation in Afghanistan. Con-
gress regularly increases military
assistance to the Afghan guerrillas,
who received more than $600 mil-
lion in fiscal 1987.
Want ,Dramatic Changes
iven leading defenders of the
Reagan Doctrine such as Boren and
Sen. William S. Cohen ( R
who is vice chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee, are advo-
cating dramatic changes in the
assistance program for insurgen-
cies. Their ideas are expected to
come up during confirmation hear-
ings for William H. Webster as
director of central intelligence.
Boren, a critic of aid to UNITA,
said the Reagan Administration has
overextended itself by supporting
anti-Communist rebels in too many
countries.
world in supporting insurgencies,
you have to hold to a minimum the
number of involvements you
have," Boren said. "It's like being
on a family budget: You have only
so much money to spend, and you
better spend it effectively. If you
spread yourself t90 thin by being
involved in too many places, it
won't work."
BAssuistufd" Cohen- Criticize the
Administration's heavy reliance on
the CIA to administer the program,
arguing that much of the assistance
should be . provided without the
cloak of secrecy since support for
the rebel groups is well known.
"It is hard for me to accept the
proposition that this is a covert
action program when you see the
President or the vice president
embracing Savimbi," Cohen said,
referring to a visit that the UNITA
leader made to the White House
last year.
Says Secrecy Backfires
Cohen argued that the Adminis-
tration's emphasis on secrecy has
undermined efforts to build wider
support for the program in the
Congress. He noted that covert
programs are reviewed in secret by
the House and Senate intelligence
committees instead of being debat-
ed along with other foreign policy
and military initiatives in open
congressional hearings.
"You end up having a covert
the American people," he said.
"The people who receive the mon-
ey know it. You want the enemy to
know it. You want the Soviet Union
to know it. You want the Cubans to
know it. But we take the position
that we can't tell the American
people, and that gives us deniabili-
ty."
But even if these programs are
not shifted from the CIA to the
control of the Defense or State
departments, as some have sug-
gested, congressional leaders are
determined to get a better account-
ing of how the funds are spent than
they normally receive from the
CIA.
At present, CIA accounts cannot
be audited by Congress' General
Accounting Office, which reviews
the books of all other agencies. CIA
officials, who conduct their own
internal audit, argue that the se-
crecy of their operations might be
Jeopardized by GAO reviews.
The issue of CIA accounts came
to light recently when Rep. Wil-
liam H. Gray III (D-Pa.), chairman
of the House Budget Committee,
asked the GAO to look into persis-
tent reports that a high percentage
of the funds that Congress has
appropriated for the Afghan guer-
rillas is going into the pockets of
intermediaries in Pakistan. GAO
officials replied that they have no
power to force the CIA to cooperate
with the review requested by Gray.
would also be an effort led by effectively in various areas of the
Cheney predicted that there "If you are going to be involved
nrouram whirh ic rid6666.66%. 6,661.6 6? " n, Sen.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/02/13 : CIA-RDP90B00017R0005001 40024-9
161iif Glerficr(D":0hBY`;iliiiiiiittitis06
the Senate Governmental Aff
Committee, is preparing legislation
that would give the GAO explicit
authority to audit the accounts of
the CIA.
At the mune ??natitieiiirbr -
the Senate Intelligence Comnittlee
are considering a proposal by Bor-
en to create their own :WWI:,
Independent auditing unit tori-
view covert aid. Boren said lhe
committee, which is responsibl.for
overseeing CIA operations. 'how
has no way of knowing whether
rebel groups receive the aid 'in-
tended for them.
Spot Cheeks Planned
Boren'said the Would...War
duct only "spot checks", andrfibt109
complete review of CIA sPeOitig.
"It's a deterrent to wrongdoinglf
they know that we have the ability
to go in and 'zap' in some uttpre-
dictable, totally unexpected Wee,
put the microscope on I% Of kvKat
they are doing," he said. 1'
While these steps are expected to
give Congress more control
covert aid programs, Cheney. em-
phasized that there is still?no
legislative way to guarantee 'that
U.S. money will not fall intoihe
hands of people who might diveirr it
to other purposes.
"When you are dealing lk the
area of covert action," he said,'"*m
are going to deal with some 'pretty
strange characters."
"