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Page 2/The Battalion/Wednesday, April 25, 1984
Opinion
Reagan accepts
diplomatic reality
Betrayal.
That’s what then Gov. Reagan called
President Nixon’s recognition of
China’s Mainland Government in
1978. Betrayal of our loyal allies in Tai
wan.
Two years later Reagan promised
that he would restore official U.S. rela
tions with the democratic government
that ruled China before Mao’s army
took control of Peking.
Thursday, Reagan will eat roast
duck with Communist leaders.
Reagan’s cabinet members say that
the trip is a result of the president’s re
alization that if Asia is to be politically
stable, America must work side by side
with the Communist government of
the Red China. Other experts on
Chinese policy see Reagan’s change of
view on the “two Chinas problem” as a
political manuever, rather than a
change in political philosophy.
In reality, Reagan had no choice.
The United States recognized Red
China in 1972 — and, personal philos
ophy aside, reversing that wasn’t one
of his options as president.
As former secretary of state Alexan
der Haig said at the MSC Endowed
Lecture Series last week, a president
can’t assume the world began with his
administration. But that’s exactly what
Reagan did with his rhetoric about be
trayal.
The Chinese, initially confused by
the White House rhetoric, see Reagan’s
trip as a chance to strengthen diplo
matic and economic ties with the
United States by hosting the man they
believe will most likely run America for
another four years.
Reagan’s trip is a victory for facing
political reality.
— The Battalion Editorial Board
Covert or overt
that is the question
By ART BUCHWALD
Columnist for The Los Angeles Times Syndicate
An old-timer from Langley, now liv
ing in a safe house in McLean, said of
Nicaragua, “I’ve never seen a CIA co
vert operation more overt in my life.”
“I was thinking the same thing my
self,” I said. “I thought you guys were
supposed to have deep cover when you
went into the jungles of Central Ameri
ca.”
“That used to be the case. But present
U.S. foreign policy demands we let the
whole world know we’re operating co
vertly ter save El Salvador and bring
down Nicaragua. President Reagan
wants to make sure friend and foe are
aware the United States is actively invol
ved.”
“Why doesn’t he just declare an overt
war and let it go at that?”
“He needs Congress to declare an
overt war. He’s not going to ask for one
during an election year. So the presi
dent is conducting a covert war, with all
the fanfare of an overt one. The only
problem is that when you conduct a co
vert war, you have a lot of restrictions
placed on you, in order for it not to be
come overt. The mining of Nicaraguan
harbors is a good example of that. The
president said it was covert — the rest of
the world considered it overt.”
“And Congress cut off the CIA’s
funding for its war in Central America.”
“It was a big mistake on the presi
dent’s part because up until then the
House and Senate supported the CIA’s
covert operations in the hemisphere.
You see, the object of fighting a secret
war is that when something goes wrong,
the government can say it knew nothing
about it. But in the case of the mining,
everyone in the administration de
fended it, and there was no way of
dumping it on a wild rogue elephant at
the CIA.
ness. Unfortunately, Congress got the
same message.”
“Does this mean that the CIA’s covert
war in Central America is over?”
“Of course not. But it will have to be
done much more covertly. Funds for it
will have to be channeled from money
buried in the education budget, CIA
agents will have to be given cover in the
Honduran-American Coffee Bean Ex
change, and President Reagan will have
to shut up about how well his adminis
tration’s covert operations are going in
the Western Hemisphere.”
“That’s going to be hard for the presi
dent to do,” I said.
“He has no choice. He needs congres
sional support for his policy in El Salva
dor to train the army to fight the Nica
raguan-trained Salvadoran rebels.”
“You mean the Nicaraguans are
fighting a covert war against El Salva
dor, at the same time we’re fighting a
covert war against Nicaragua?”
“Yes, the only difference is that Nica
ragua is denying it, which I must say is
to their credit.”
“Why is that?”
“If you deny you’re fighting a covert
warr, then everyone can pretend your
country is not involved. But if you make
a legal case for it like President Reagan
did, and it goes sour, you’re up Central
American creek without a paddle.”
“What should the president have
done when the mining story leaked
out?”
“He should have been publicly horri
fied. Then he should have appointed a
presidential commission headed by
Henry Kissinger to see how such future
incidents could be avoided. Finally, he
should have told Bill Casey if the CIA
was going to act in such a despicable
manner, he didn’t want to be his friend
any more.”
“But the country needs a CIA,” I pro
tested.
“The administration’s strategy was,
the more publicity the covert mining op
eration received, the stronger message
we would be sending to the Sandinista
government that we really mean busi-
tea.
“There’s nothing wrong with having
a CIA,” the old-timer from Langley
said. “But there is something wrong
when it suddenly becomes the most
overt agency in the government.”
The Battalion
(ISPS 045 360
JMember of
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Southwest Journalism Conference
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MOSI
Senioritis strikes students suddenly
“Hey kid — what did you learn in
school today?”
As I slowly made my way through
grade school and childhood, I never
knew how to answer. I suppose adults
expected answers like:
“I learned how to write my name to
day!”
“I learned how to subtract numbers.”
“I learned how people in Brazil cele
brate Christmas.”
If so, they were doomed to disap
pointment. At the end of a school day,
my lessons were the last thing on my
mind.
It is a shame 1 never thought to an
swer honestly. A truthful answer might
have been:
“I learned how to avoid getting into a
fight with the class bully.”
“I learned how to play with a yo-yo.”
“I learned not to say ‘(a)*#!’ unless I
want to visit the principal.”
No one has asked me what I learned
in school for years, but I can’t help won
dering what kind of answers someone
would get if they put this question to a
number of undergraduates. Someone
might expect answers such as:
“I learned how to solve a triple inte
gral in spherical coordinates.”
“I learned how to titrate an acid with
a base.”
“I learned Plato’s Theory of Forms.”
But answers would most likely be
along these lines:
“I learned how to parallel park in
heavy traffic.”
“I learned how to float a keg.”
“I learned how to cram a semester’s
worth of material in one night before
the final exam.”
The point is that people rarely get
what they expect out of their college ed
ucation. After being ushered through
13 years of a pre-programmed public
education, it is easy to expect four more
years of the same in college, followed by
a promising high-paying career with
some major corporation.
At some point during this period, ev
ery undergraduate is hit by the realiza
tion that things such as careers don't
come automatically. Some even find
that a standard, safe career with a large
brian
of grade points from accumulan
any one field; dropping courses
last possible moment; and I
courses — but care mustbciii
keep from being booted out
and into the real world.
A better-known disorder is sei
Symptoms are an increasingimpas
with schoolwork and a hostile a
i < > wa ids u nderclassmen and pro!
1 he progress of this maladyisu
gradual, but in a Doonesburysyinli
suf ferer, it can hit suddenlyandi
times. Such was the case with me.
Last December, I awoke in lk
hours of a Saturday morning
not get hac k to sleep. As 1 satdto
on my guitar and trying to ftp
boyer
Me
Unite*
WHAf
ran con'
company isn’t what they wanted in the
first place, even if it would please Mom
and Pop.
Many students react to this trauma by
slipping into the Doonesbury syndrome,
a malady named after Cary Trudeau’s
now-dormant comic strip. Victims of the
syndrome, like the strip’s Zonker Har
ris, develop an irrational fear of gradua
tion and the unknown world that lies be
yond. In advanced cases, the mere sight
of a cap and gown or the mention of
such terms as “resume” or “interview”
can cause victims to break into a cold
why 1 was troubled, it hitmetb
anxious for the upcomingsprioj!
ter — hopef ully my last hereali
A&M University — to be over will
I was surprised with myself,
my prospects for a job in ji
were slim to nonexistant.andlW
the vaguest idea what 1 wasgoinp nd sente
with my life. apital
Later, when senioritis had! rooperh
taken root in my psyche, 1 knemlk 0 y ea
f ears of graduation had been it! Tuesday
fled. There was no questionthaili
support myself . I had not beenw
for myself , but for my parents*
eryone who had expectationsatai
I was supposed to turnout.
Now that I can reflect on
years of college, 1 find thatldi
great deal more than I expec
learned that the size
sweat.
Sufferers of the Doonesbury syn
drome engage in a variety of tactics to
put off graduation: changing majors
frequently, to keep a significant number
paycheck and where it conies
not important — as long as I’m
with it.
Brian Boyer is a senior jourt
major.
has forn
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Konstan
does not
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the Uni
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They
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would n
But i
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FRANKLY, M..MSE WIS FROM IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
WEREN'T FAVOREP IN THE POLE VAULT UNTIL THE RUSSIA
PROPPEP OUT,,,