EX-CIA MAN S DOUBTS GROW ON NICARAGUAN ISSUE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00845R000100350005-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: June 29, 1984
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/09: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100350005-4
STAT
ARTICLE AP
EARED
ON PAGE ,07
BALTIMORE SUN
29 June 1984
Ex-CIA man's doubts grow
on Nicaraguan issue
WASHINGTON (AP) - A for-
mer CIA analyst, who has chal-
lenged President Reagan's claims
of a weapons flow from Nicara-
gua's Sandinista government to
leftist Salvadoran guerrillas, said
yesterday that the administration's
failure to present new evidence
reinforces his skepticism.
David C. MacMichael, who re-
viewed Central American intelli-
gence reports from 1981 to 1983,
said that if the administration had
conclusive evidence to back up the
charge, it would have been
released.
"So critical is this matter ... to
justify U.S. action in this region
that I cannot believe that at any
number of junctures ... the United
States would [so] wish to deliver a
devastating diplomatic blow to the
credibility of the Sandinistas, that
it would not expend an intelligence
resource," he said.
High-level administration offi-
cials challenged Mr. MacMichael's
claims when he first made them
public two weeks ago, but have of-
fered no new evidence to prove
Nicaraguan government involve-
ment in the alleged arms flow. To
do so, they said, would jeopardize
intelligence sources.
Secretary of State George P.
Shultz declared that Mr. MacMi-
chael "must be living in some other
world" to doubt Nicaragua's role,
because he said the administra-
tion's evidence is "so obvious and
clear."
The administration's defense re-
lied heavily on a 1983 House Intelli-
gence Committee report that said
the Salvadoran guerrillas use Nica-
raguan sites for command and con-
trol and logistical support.
Also yesterday, State Depart-
ment officials said a long-awaited
report on Nicaragua's alleged sup-
port for the Salvadoran guerrillas
will not contain specific evidence
from radio interceptions, contrary
to what other department officials
indicated last month.
One official, who spoke only on
condition that he not be identified,
said the report, whose release has
been delayed for several weeks,
probably would be published next
week. He said it largely would be a
compilation of publicly known in-
formation, such as newspaper ac-
counts.
Mr. MacMichael, speaking at a
Foreign Policy magazine press
breakfast, said that if U.S. intercgp-
tions of radio broadcasts from Nica-
ragua contained any strong evidence
of Sandinista involvement in weapons
shipments, the contents would be
released.
Mr. MacMichael, who was a con-
tract CIA employee for two years,
said secret intelligence be saw during
that time convinced him that Nicara.
guan officials assisted in weapons
shipments to the Salvadoran guerril-
las until April, 1981, but that evidence
of their complicity dried up after
that.
He acknowledged, however, that
be may not have seen all the intelli-
gence available on Nicaragua.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/09: CIA-RDP90-00845R000100350005-4