U.S. MAY HELP REBELS PURCHASE ANTIAIR MISSILES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000807470016-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: March 18, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807470016-2
Aftw.
PAIL A i
U.S. May Help Rebels
Purchase Antiair Missiles
By Lou Cannon and George C. Wilson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Reagan administration officials yesterday
predicted that the House would approve
President Reagan's proposal for a $100 mil-
lion aid package for the Nicaraguan rebels.
While at least two key Democratic members
of Congress agreed with this estimate, House
Majority Whip Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.)
said that he has "every confidence" that the
measure will be defeated.
Reagan stepped up his lobbying with phone
calls to House members, as both sides maneu-
vered for what one administration official
called "the psychological advantage of appear-
ing to be on the winning side" before Thurs-
day's vote. They agreed that the outcome will
be decided by a narrow margin, perhaps by
fewer than a dozen votes.
Meanwhile, Pentagon officials said the
United States may help the rebels, known as
contras, or counterrevolutionaries, buy So-
viet SA7 antiaircraft missiles on the black
market if Congress approves the package,
which contains $70 million in military aid and
$30 million in humanitarian assistance. The
weapons would be used against Soviet-made
helicopters operated by Sandinista pilots,
which have proved effective against the con-
tras.
A Pentagon official involved with drafting
the assistance package said that the U.S.
counterpart to the SA7, the General Dynam-
ics shoulder-fired Redeye missile, also could
be purchased if the aid package is approved.
According to government sources, the
Central Intelligence Agency has provided
[ nds to buy t e battle-tested A aniair-
craft missiles on the wor mare or the
Afghan rebels to help them counter boviet
helicopters tere.
The White House had no comment on what
weapons systems would be furnished the con-
tras. Instead, administration officials tried to
build support for the aid proposal bLdistrib-,
uting polls, some from last June,
showing that an overwhelming ma-
jority of the people in Honduras,
Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Sal-
vador support aid to the contras.
The surveys, commissioned by
the U.S. Information Agency and
taken by the Gallup affiliate in Cen-
tral America, were described as
"perfectly authentic" by Philip C.
Habib, the president's special envoy
to Central America.
However, a report on National
Public Radio's "All Things Consid-
ered" on March 7 said that a survey
showing 69 percent approval for aid
in Costa Rica, the figure released
yesterday at the State Department,
was taken last July after a bloody
border clash involving Sandinista
forces. Only 39 percent of Costa Ri-
cans approved aid in a subsequent
November poll that was not re-
leased, according to the report.
White House deputy press sec-
retary Edward P. Djerejian said last
night that a survey taken in Febru-
ary on U.S. aid to the contras
showed a 50-11 percent approval in
Costa Rica and a 57-10 percent
margin in Honduras. He said those
polled had at least one year of sec-
ondary education.
Reagan claimed yesterday that
the surveys showed "over 90 per-
cent of the people" in some Central
American countries support assist-
ance to the contras. White House
officials said the leaders in these
countries also support assistance
but are reluctant to do so publicly
until they know what Congress will
do. Reagan met yesterday with
Habib, who returned to Washington
after talks in Central America that
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes called "very productive."
Habib is expected to return to the
region after Congress votes on the
aid package.
Senate Majority Leader Robert J.
Dole (R-Kan.) said yesterday that
he plans to bring the package up in
the Senate Friday or Monday and
said it could pass without amend-
ments. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ.)
also predicted that the measure will
pass the Senate.
But the tougher hurdle, both
sides agree, is the Democratic-con-
trolled House, where opinions were
split along partisan lines yesterday
about the impact of the president's
nationally televised appeal Sunday
for military assistance to the rebels.
Foley said that opponents of the
plan had lost one vote and gained
one and would win Thursday by a
"not overwhelming but conclusive"
margin.
Two other Democrats said pri-
vately in separate interviews that
momentum was. clearly on the ad-
ministration's side on the issue and
that the president had been helped
by the speech. Vice President Bush
said on NBC's "Today" show that
the House would approve the pack-
age.
Administration sources said that
four Democrats led by Rep. Ike
Skelton (D-Mo.) could hold the key
to the outcome. Skelton last week
sent Reagan a letter offering to pro-
vide immediate aid, including such
defensive weapons as the shoulder-
fired antiaircraft missiles, to the
contras but withholding offensive
weapons for 90 days pending fur-
ther diplomatic negotiations aimed
at convincing the Sandinistas to
bargain with the contras.
Reagan has not replied to the let-
ter. A White House official said the
administration is waiting to see
whether a partial delay in aid is nec-
essary as a condition of winning the
the House vote.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000807470016-2