LUGAR SAYS CONGRESS IS LIKELY TO DENY FURTHER CONTRA AID

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000403850027-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 16, 2010
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: January 24, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

f STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90
WASHINGTON POST
24 January 1985
i~ugar Says Congress
Is Likely to Deny
turther `Contra' Aid
By Helen Dewar
W'zshmgton Pct Staff Wnter
Sea. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.),
new chairman of the Foreign Re-
lations Committee, said yesterday
that Congress likely will deny fur=
ther aid to the antigovernment
"contra" guerrillas in Nicaragua.
Lugar, who has' supported the
aid, said the program no longer is
"via ble."
Luear's assessment is the latest
of a series of signals to the Reagan
administration from Republican and
Democratic lawmakers that an ex-
pected request for new aid faces
difficult if oat insurmountable ob-
stacles in the 99th Congress. -
But Lugar's warning was espe-
cially significant in light of his pre-
vious support for the aid and his
general record as an administration
loyalist.
Speaking of the once-covert pro-
ram at has become one of the
most highly ublicize foreign pol-
icy in Congress, Lugar told
the National Press Club: "Aid to the
contras is not viable because it is no
longer covert and because Con-
gress will probably not continue to
ua i
An earlier Senate Republican
blow to the program came late last
year when Sen. David uren r-
er -1 inn. , new chairman of the
Senate Select Committee on Intel-
ligence, came out against further
fun i3 ngof covert activities, al-
though he left the .door open to
overt aid.
--Lugar went further yesterday in
indicating opposition to overt assist-
ance. "That would be very close to
declaring war, and there's no con-
sensus in the [American) public for
that," said Lugar. .
Instead'of such aid, Lugar said,
the United States should find new
ways to keep pressure on the leftist
Nicaraguan government to make
peace with El Salvador and other
neighbors and to resist the estab-
lijiment of Soviet oases within its
borders.
~Zn an interview with the Associ-
ated Press yesterday, President
Reagan said there would be "great'
difficulties" in openly aiding the con-
tras "because in the world of inter-
national law you find that you
changed the situation completely,
and you then find yourself having to
weigh what are then considered
acts of war."
Although the Republican-con-
trolled Senate generally has sup-
ported financial aid for the rebels, it
joined the Democratic House late
last year in voting to suspend aid
until another vote is taken after
Feb. 28.
- -The administration repeatedly
has indicated that it will ask that the
ban be lifted. The Central Intelli-
gence Agency then could use $14
m ion to aid the contras durm-k-ilie
fistn year ending pt. 30.
On other issues, Lugar said the
Reagan administration should find
'ways to pressure the white South
African government to share power
with the country's majority black
population.
While declining to say whether
he would support sanctions against
South Africa that Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy (D-Mass.) and others are
'expected to push, Lugar said the
issue will be debated seriously.
~-,In a warning to South Africa's
minority white government, Lugar
said its officials will be making an
"awesome mistake if they do not
reform and do not reform quickly.
"It is apparent they are headed
` for a bloody civil. war which would.
be a disaster.: for the western
world," he added:
But Lugar said he had misgivings-,
about sanctions because it is not
clear whether they would lead to
improved conditions for blacks or
deeper troubles for them.
While parting company with the
administration on policy toward
Nicaragua, Lugar came out strongly .
for the administration's "Star Wars"
space defense program and for a
continued military buildup while
arms control negotiatiohs proceed.
He said the space-weapons ini-
tiative was responsible for bringing
the Soviets to the bargaining table,
and added, "We should be prepared
for the fact that this research effort
is here to stay and that its conse-
quences will be great."
On defense spending, Lugar said,
"Arms control arrangements can
affect the pace and character of
some military programs, but they
cannot alone contribute substantial-
ly to the balance we require for our
security."
Implying opposition to a defense
spending freeze under study by
Senate Republicans, he suggested
that it would hamper U.S. efforts to
get allies, including the North At-
lantic Treaty Organization, to, in-
crease financial support of joint mil
itary efforts.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/16: CIA-RDP90-00552R000403850027-4