Page 2/The Battalion/Monday, November 17, 1986
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Opinion
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Same old tune
The underhanded arms deal to Iran combines the best of the
Reagan administration’s worst foreign policy fiascos, culminating in
the deception of the American people, the fueling of Iranian arro
gance, world humiliation and a Justice Department double standard.
While this may appear to be a new administration record, the song
remains the same.
Only a few weeks after admitting to a disinformation campaign
against Libya, the administration once again confessed to keeping
the American people in the dark. In a speech Thursday, the presi
dent apologized for the deceit, saying he believes that an informed
public is the nation’s strength. But silence is more the status quo than
the exception. Reagan and company have classified more informa
tion than any other administration.
World opinion on the deal hasn’t been any better. The United
States appears to have attempted to trade arms to a known sponsor
of world terrorism in return for the release of American hostages in
Beirut — who are being held by a group that Iran has no direct con
trol over. The original “forgotten seven” hostages in Lebanon were
taken to demand the release of political prisoners in Kuwait.
Many NATO leaders are outraged by the arms deal. Even Brit
ain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a staunch Reagan ally,
while refusing to criticize the move outright, has shown noticeable
disfavor to the arms deal.
But in Iran, the move is seen as the final defeat of the “Great Sa
tan.” On Saturday, Iran’s parliamentary speaker said the United
States must apologize for “past mistakes” and admit that “it wants to
make up for them.” It has turned the deal into an American admis
sion of wrongdoing instead of a gesture of goodwill.
While all the gun swapping has been taking place on the diplo
matic level, gun runners in the private sector— “brokers of death” as
the administration dubbed them — have been under the Justice De
partment’s gavel for more than a year.
Attorney General Edwin Meese III has been prosecuting private
arms dealers while at the same time, as the National Security Coun
cil’s legal adviser, he was helping to plan the 18-month campaign to
deal with Iran.
The only explanations of the double standard from the White
House are tainted with executive-privilege Nixonism.
“The president, while he is certainly not above the law, has the
powers because he is the highest elected official in the land ... to do
something in the national interest,” White House spokesman Larry
Speakes says. “Maybe the prosecutor deems these others (17 private
arms dealers) to have broken the law, and the president has not bro
ken the law.”
But it’s the same deal to the same country — one on the diplo
matic level and one on the private level. We only can wonder if the
president made any tapes. . . .
If the Iranian arms deal was a record album, it would be known
as “The Reagan Administration’s Greatest Slips.” This one has it all.
There’s deception, double standards, denunciations and delusions of
grandeur. There’s ineffective and inefficient foreign policy. It’s the
administration’s best flops together in one shoddily executed foreign
policy blunder. Available at off-the-record stores everywhere.
Searching for explanations!
in Reagan’s cerebral desei!
The other night
I had a dream that
I was Ronald Rea
gan’s psychiatrist.
I’m not sure if he
has a psychiatrist,
but that is beside
the point because
this was my
dream.
He came into
my office looking
like he hadn’t slept
cries,” Reagan stated emphatically.
“There is no way that they could affect
the outcome of the war between Iraq
and Iran.”
Craig Renfro
for days. He had bags under his eyes,
his hair had gone without Grecian For
mula for weeks and his voice was shaky,
almost to the point of tears.
I asked him to lie down on the couch
and tell me what was bothering him, but
I knew what it was before he ever said a
word.
“It’s this Iranian situation that’s trou
bling me,” Reagan said. “If Congress
and the American public would just
leave me alone I think I could work it
out by myself.”
Right away I could see the first signs
of megalomania taking over this tor
mented soul, but I couldn’t make any
clear diagnosis. At least not until I heard
the rest of his story.
“I was just trying to free the hostages
any way that I could,” Reagan said.
“Now the rest of the world is portraying
me as some political wimp that is back
ing down to the demands of terrorists.”
“But that is what it seems like,” I re
plied. “After all, you did send them
more than $150 million worth of arms
in secret negotiations.”
“But they were only modest deliv-
At this point I began to realize that
Reagan had not seen the full impact of
his foreign policy blunder.
“It’s not how the arms will affect the
war, but it’s the fact that you openly de
ceived the American people,” I said.
“And when reports of the arms deal
first leaked, you emphatically denied
any responsibility for them. Then, when
it became too obvious to deny, you tried
to pass it off as something minor.”
“Wrong!,” Reagan angrily replied. “I
wasn’t trying to sweep it under the car
pet, I was only trying to stop the spread
of misinformation by the damn media.
Those knee-jerk liberals are just trying
to spoil my last two years in the Oval Of
fice.”
“What do you mean, misinforma
tion?” I asked. “The only misinforma
tion I could see was coming out of your
office. You didn’t even bother to inform
members of Congress about your inten
tions. When you do something like that
it brings back memories of Richard
Nixon and the mess he became involved
m.
That statement really struck home
and the president sat there pondering
what to say next. I could tell he was up
set, because for six years he had hood
winked the public into believing he was
the most honest president ever. Now I
could see he was struggling to save polit
ical face.
“I realize that was a mistake,” Reagan
said. “I was just trying to use the Na
tional Security Council to bypaP 1 l
normal channels of governmeniPjj 1
had known that I would havegffEi
this much trouble 1 would nevt , an ,
done it.”
“Well, if you ask me it sounds —
totally contradicted your stanceffijaf 1
rorism," I said. “I remember whrA-
first took over the presidency yotlj
that you would never give in toi:
mauds of terrorists and how theljjP*
States would stand strong again *
nations of the earth that try to hold!^
ransom.” re(
“1 do remember saying sons du
like that, but you have to change Tl
stance depending on theisst:—
hand,” Reagan said. “And them:.
sue at hand was to win the release
hostages and to eliminate state: •
sored terrorism.”
“But how will arms paymentssie||l
spread of terrorism?” I asked. “Ifi If
thing, it will promote them to the:
that any nation with a pocketkniff
some rope can hold us at ban 1
months. So how much will it costtfH
next time someone takes an Arne
hostage?”
Just as Reagan was about togi« |
answer I woke up from my dreait
cold sweat. I looked at my alarms
and saw that I still had three hoi
fore I had to get up for class.
As I felt myself going backtos
couldn’t help but wonder if ReagJ
having a similar dream. SotnelK 1
think he was, but for him thedreJ
more like a real-life nightmare.
Craig Renfro is a senior jouflk
major and a columnist for The
ion.
Mail Call
Article unfocused
EDITOR:
I was surprised and disappointed by Mark Ude’s rather
unfocused article, “Iran Arms Deal Necessary Evil to Obtain
Release of Hostages” (Wednesday’s Battalion).
The affair is a complicated one, and does not lend itself to
simple moralistic explanation. Be that as it may, Ude is a
geography major and should know better than to identify Iran as
an Arabic country. Iran is non-Arabic, and this fact is an
underlying cause of its mistrust toward the Arab World.
Souren Ala
dangerous precedent. Is the government in the business of selling
weapons to sworn enemies?
Credibility is also a problem. When the president’s actions do
not follow his words, the public should be made aware. Reagan’s
appeals to European allies to “get tough” with terrorism now
appear ludicrous, full of hypocrisy. U.S. pledges of support for
Arab allies may now be greeted with due skepticism. Criticism of
the Reagan administration on this issue is not partisan, despite
Ude’s wishful thinking.
Bill Emshoff
Sleazy side of arms deal
Criticism not partisan
had a formal say in our government for only the last 61 ofour2H
year history, we have come a long way.
However, considering that we are a majority of the population
and that the average woman in this country makes only 61 cents
for every dollar a man makes, we have a long way to go. The goal
of NOW is to work through the system to make up for the wrot$
of the past and to equalize the treatment of women and men in
today’s society.
As a campus organization, our main focus is to improve the
quality of life for students on campus. Since Texas A&M has
admitted women fora relatively short period of time, there aresc
many inequities remaining that demand our attention.
Dina M. Samfield
accompanied by 18 signatures
EDITOR.
Mark Ude’s Wednesday column displayed either blissful
ignorance or a pathological commitment for defending the
Reagan administration. The administration’s blunders throughout
this affair have not only endangered the lives of U.S. citizens, but
have compromised U.S. strategic interests and credibility at home
and abroad.
EDITOR.
Supplying arms to Iran is sleazy and illegal. Iran is a state run
by terrorists, and dealing with such countries affects our integrity
as a nation. Remember the 52 people who spent 444 days in Iran?
Robert B. Baldwin
Remember the hostages
Definition of a feminist
Providing rewards to terrorists now can only send a signal
worldwide that terrorist crimes do pay. Ude states that the
hostages didn’t “listen to warnings telling them that. . . they should
leave the area of danger. . . .” He apparently does not realize that
anyone anywhere can become a victim. Not only must Americans
retreat from the Middle East, but from Europe, Central and South
America as well. William F. Buckley Jr. (not a “Senate Democrat”)
suggests that in following the compromise mentality, the United
States should sell the state of Israel to quell terrorism.
Iran has fought Iraq for seven bloody years, sending waves of
young Iranians to certain death. Now that Iran’s military resources
are dwindling, the United States should help Iraq bring this futile
war to a close, not Iran. Not only does Iran provide primary
sponsorship of the most radical terrorist groups (e.g., Islamic
Jihad), but the country is a threat to the safety of Arab nations.
Iranian control of the Persian Gulf could leave the Western World
at its mercy. The naivete of providing rewards to a terrorist nation
in hopes that it will follow international codes of behavior sets a
EDITOR:
Every time I put up posters announcing our next
organizational meeting, the fliers mysteriously disappear. Why
would anyone want to destroy the announcements of a campus
organization’s meeting schedule?
My first thought was that someone had something against us.
And, since we are a new group on campus, this antipathy must be
based on a lack of knowledge. Secondly, whoever stoops to
destroying these campuswide announcements must take quite an
interest in our organization or they would never bother to remove
them.
Thus, I am writing in an attempt to clear up any
misconceptions about our campus chapter of the National
Organization for Women. Many people have false, preconceived
notions about what a feminist is. A feminist is a person who
believes in equal rights for women and men in their economic,
social, political and private lives. The feminist “movement” is
dedicated to securing these rights. Considering that women have
EDITOR:
Can Mark Ude really believe the inane attempts at justificati®
for Reagan’s arms deals with Iran?
Does he remember that we’re dealing with the same
government that supported the taking of 52 “harmless” Americatf
as hostages? The same one that declared the United States is the
source of all things evil? Supplying them with arms for any reason
is a crime. Why does he think Iran has the power to release these
“harmless foreigners”? Why were these “harmless foreigners”
taken captive in the first place? Why should we supply Iran with
arms for a war in which it is killing thousands of its own children'
Why should we supply it to fight Iraq, who receives arms from
France and Israel, ostensibly our allies?
And finally, the CIA and the Pentagon were left out sothattfo
president did not have to answer to Congress. Instead, he usedtl> (
National Security Council as his own private agency for foreign
operations.
Supporting the president is one thing. Mindlessly following
him is another.
Daniel Bauer ’88
Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff
serves the right to edit letters for style and length, but will make every effort
maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must be signed and must include the da 15
fication, address and telephone number of the writer.