SEN. GOLDWATER, MORE UNPREDICTABLE THAN EVER, TROUBLES PENTAGON BRASS ON THE MILITARY BUDGET

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000705930002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 7, 2011
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 20, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000705930002-9
A r f>s L E APPEARED -
ON PAGE L
WALL STREET JOURNAL
20 February 1985
POLITICS AND POLICY
Sen. Goldwater, More Unpredictable Than Ever,
Troubles Pentagon Brass on the Miiitary Budget
"Barry has enough of the maverick in I'm not, I'll certainly hear from any to say that something is not a good ber of Y y
By DAVID SHRIBMAN people."
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL idea," says Sen. William Cohen of Maine, a Troubadour of the West tee. WASHINGTON-Barry Goldwater is at RThe Bata onlean t coup on him mto the a Sen. Goldwater isn't the bronzed trouba-
the center of the storm again. rubber stamp. He can always surprise youhour re the presidential West that he was in 1964, when
This time, the 76-year-old you. his pre campaign was buried in
grandfather His conservatism is not knee-jerk." the Lyndon Johnson landslide. But he says
of modern conservatism has emerged as Just a few months ago, the Pentagon's ; his health has "never been better" and ex-
one of the principals in the battle over the task was considerably easier. Sen. John
military budget. And already, it is clear Tower of Texas was the Armed Services stairs, daily. a evatorl Hill, he takes the
that the more things change in national Committee chairman and made little se- stairs, -not known the elevator.
rewn people around here in their e more Ula'I samehunpredi table flame Goldwater remains cost of his intention of being the Ponta- 30s who are not able to do anything," he
gon's chief advocate on Capitol Hill. Top . says. "At 76 years of age, I'll take any one
-He is, in fact, more unpredictable than Defense Department officials don't -make of those
ever, and when the retired Air Force Re- any secret of the fact .they were much hap people who want to criticize my
d age, and I'll swim them a half mile
serve general as- pier ,with Mr' Tower ...,,.,
tired
re
an
-.. ... ....., ..",,., arllrs "rrULlaWI, ulall
manship of the pow / they are with tho more n?re,. 1- o;., Mr. Goldwater', challenge now, how
two years in S ervices Committee the Senate. fl
oated a plan to trim the president's mih
th
ticularly yvlluurau. , V C Jnever par-
01 the Pentagon. De
worried whether what I said cost
fense Secretary Cas y ; me votes or didn't cost me votes. I'm more
nor Weinber
ham :: fir.
ge
h
t
d
in
h
th
a
1 "1
o
g is vest
e~ "
e
cqnfided privately t AM
--_ ?,;.. _ - for the country,"
that h
i
e
s
Democrats _ in the Barry Goldwater not always in the defense establishment.
House than Republicans in the Senate such He made a similar istinction ast year
when, as chairman of the Senate Intelli-
aS Mr. Goldwater. gence Committee, he was less than defer-
"We will not be surprised by whatever ential to William Case, the director of
he does from here on in," says a Pentagon ral Intelligence and once- in a e er__
lobbyist who, like other Defense Depart- told Mr. Casey he was infuriated atthe
ment officials, requested anonymity so as administration's lack of cand
th
i
or on
e m
n
,td avoid the famous Goldwater wrath. "We ing of Nicaraguan harbors. Denied the presidency and overshad-
have to understand that that's Barry Gold- Sen. Goldwater t cesalT these contre- owed by President Reagan as the leading
water. We don't have any alternative." temps in stride, along with his critics' figure in American conservatism, Mr.
In the course of only two months, Mr. whispers-he hears them, too-that his ce- Goldwater has become increasingly quar-
Goldwater has jarred the Pentagon repeat- lebrated cantankerous nature has wor- relsome. "He's old enough now," says a
edly. First, he publicly told President Rea- sened with age. Democrat on the committee, "that he en-
gan that "my heart has never been in" the "He's an old, erratic and inconsistent joys being colorful. And irascible. And
MX missile and that the administration 'guy," says John Isaacs, executive director iconoclastic."
shouldn't expect to win congressional ap- of the Council for a Livable World, a lobby- But Sen. Goldwater also has become
proval for continued production of the ing group advocating arms negotiations.. something of an elder statesman of the
weapon. Then he suggested that the presi- "He's past his prime. He's clearly not at movement and, in recent years, even
dent should freeze military spending for the top of his game, and hasn't been that rather reflective. What surprises him is
fiscal 1986, which begins Oct. 1. effective." how fresh conservatism seems now, and
A month passed. Mr. Goldwater said he Mr. Goldwater's response: "I'd ask him' how many variations have been spawned.
was "not o
d t
ili
"
ppose
o m
tary cuts
and to desib `i' C I
creprme.an go out and run?
proclaimed that he was "seeking to close No. I have two artificial hips and two bro-
bases." And then, two days later, Mr. ken knees. I played too much football, too
Goldwater said that freezing military much basketball, rode too many horses. It
spending at fiscal 1985 levels would "send all depends on what you consider `prime.' I
a wrong and dangerous signal." The Pen- sometimes wonder myself whether I'm up
tagon's relief at this was tempered by a to the job, and after I consider it, consider
fear that the senator might change his my experience and listen to other people, I
mind again. think I'm perfectly able to do the job. If
ree years; congressional budget experts
swiftly noted that the Goldwater plan em-
phasizes savings in future years rather
than in 1986, and they raised questions of
whether those savings ever would appear.
This is an old game, and Sen. Goldwater
plays it with aplomb.
He acknowledges that some cuts will be
necessary, but is reluctant to specify how
much or where. His prejudices, however,
are clear. He has flown nearly every air-
craft in the American military inventory,
including the B-I bomber. According to one
congressional aide, "if it flies, he supports.
Increasingly Quarrelsome
Continued
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000705930002-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000705930002-9
"Rather new conservatives feel that the
only idea that ever happened has happened
to them," he says. "Well, I'm a great be-
liever in this little thing that's inscribed on
the steps of the Archives: 'What is past is
prologue.'
For the next two years, however, he in-
tends to concentrate on the future of the
nation's defenses and, in all likelihood, will
express himself with his usual bluntness.
. "I have a temper that, probably, I can
control better than I have in the past," he
says. "But I have a tendency to say what I
think. I don't think I would ever stop doing
that. It's gotten me into trouble, but it
hasn't been the kind of trouble I couldn't
get myself out of."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/07: CIA-RDP90-00965R000705930002-9