GLENN/INTERVIEW

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000202180001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 31, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202180001-9
THIS WEEK WITH DAVID B RIINKLEY
51 July 1983
STAT
GLENN/INTERVIEW DONALDSON: Thank you, Jim. Coming up next from St.
Petersburg, Fla., where he is campaigning, Sen. John Glenn.
Sen. Glenn, thank you for joining us today. GLENN: Thank
you. Glad to be with you. STAT
DONALDSON: Now, you've been very critical of President Reagan's
policy in Central America. If you were president of the United
States today, what would you do? GLENN: Well, I think we need
to define the vital interests of our country down there and try
to get support of the American people behind it. I think we
need to get a better balance between our talk and our force
show down there. I think we need to also.... When we talk about
go to the source, as the president did the other day, I think
we need to remember that when we go to the source,. we need to
go to sources of some of the problem also there in El Salvador
itself, because a lot of the problem there is the internal
situation that they have there and the difficulties of the
people, and ... You know, I wonder if we can connect this
because I'm getting a very bad feedback here on this whole thing.'
I'm getting an echo that makes it very difficult to talk. Can
we check that, please.
DONALDSON: We'll check it, John. Go ahead. GLENN: Good.
DONALDSON: Go ahead. We'll check it while you keep telling us
about what you'd do as president in Central America. GLENN:
Okay. Fine. What I was saying is that I think we need to go
for the support of the American people in defining the vital
interests down there. We need also to find a better balance
between our talk and our show of force in that particular
area. And I think that when we go into that area and talk
about going to the source, as the president did, and then
intimate that that is Cuba or that's the Soviet Union, it also
is indigenous in the country itself down there. We have great
problems in that area when we have the right-wing death squads
killing people with impunity from out of the government
circles itself and in effect driving people into the hills and
into'the support of the guerrilla movement there. It just
leaves a great deal to be desired in our whole posture there.
It's been very confusing. We have Ambassador Stone, Dick Stone
there, and then we have the Contadora Group that we're
supporting. We have Kissinger in there. We're supporting the
Contras also. At the same time, we're making three different
major shows of force in there with two carrier task forces, a
battleship task force, and we're going to extend the maneuvers
the president calls routine, but they're not routine, and
everyone knows that. And so I think we need to define what our
real interests are there and what our real posture is going to
be. It's been very confusing.
WILL: Senator, last week the House voted to cut off aid from
the United States, covert aid to the Contras fighting the
regime in Nicaragua. In doing so, they defeated a proposal by
a southern conservative Democrat,. Mr. Mica, who said, 'Let's cut
AWNTINUED
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off aid when Nicaragua cuts off aid to El Salvador.' Could you
have supported that kind of amendment, the Mica Amendment?
GLENN: Oh, I probably could have supported that because I
don't think that the support that we've been giving there in
our efforts to dump the government of Nicaragua, which is
basically what it is, is going to solve the problem there.
Even if all aid is cut off from Nicaragua into El Salvador, and
the flow of arms through there is small right now. In fact, it
needs a-very low flow of arms to really support all the
activity that the guerrillas in El Salvador have been making.
You know, there are only about 5,000 to 7,000 of the guerrillas
there now and they need a few boxes of ammo perhaps and some
small flow of arms could actually come by air. So I don't
think that's really the final answer in that area under what at
least our agreements are with the Organization of the American
States, the Rio Treaty. All have indicated a willingness to
cooperate in that region, not go in and try and dump
governments.
WILL: Senator, I made not have made my question clear. You
then would've supported the amendment that did pass the House
to cut off aid. You would not have supported the Mica
Amendment to make the cut-off of aid contingent on Nicargua
cutting off its aid. GLENN:, No. That's right. I would have
cut off the aid period in that area or cut off the covert
activity in that area. Let me make it clear. Cut off the
covert activity in that area, which I think is counter-
productive to our purposes in that region.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000202180001-9