MOVING TO THE SPECIFICS ON FOREIGN POLICY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000401580038-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: September 19, 1988
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401580038-0
Moving to the specifics
on foreign policy
STAT
ROdUT F. M~A6N~R Congressional Investigations
into the CIA, and the resignation
George Bush's touting of his nationiof Bush as director of the
foreign policy abilities is on weak CIA, and on Jan. 30, 1976, he took
grounds. Although the posts he over the job. As a condition for his
held in the CIA, the United States confirmation. It was agreed that
and China might suggest other- he would not become a vice-presi-
wise, each of them was tempo- dential candidate in 1976. This
rary: two sessions of the General was to ensure a nonpolitical direc-
Assembly and less than a year In tor of the CIA. His total tenure in
both China and the CIA. this complex post was less than
In no case was he chosen be- 12 months. So much for the exper-
cause of what he knew, but rather fence of the "temporary interim
because a "temporary interim ap- appointee" in foreign affairs.
pointee" was needed. In not one of
these obs did he stay on long
record as vice president
j y g
enough to get on adds little to the above: in addi-
top of key issues
or to begin to disentangle and tion, he is plagued with a failing
comprehend the complex bureauc- memory on the drug-trafficking
racier of the CIA, the UN and the role of Gen. Manuel Noriega of Pa-
People's Republic of China. "Tem_ nama, the secret airlift of arms to
porary Interim" appointments do arms alvador and the illegal sale of
not an expert make. arto Iran.
Bush was appointed to the UN During his tenure as head of
as a consolation prize for having the South Florida task force on
lost a senatorial race against drugs, no dent was made in the
Lloyd Bentsen in Texas. The ap- drug trade. In spite of his central
pointment received a push from role in the fight against the Inter-
John Connally, who had switched national flow of drugs, Bush pro-
to the Republican Party and ar- fesses to have no knowledge of
gued that Texans would be an- Noriega's role is drug-running,
noyed if the former Democrat be- even though the Department of
came secretary of the Treasury Justice has indicted him.
and their Republican senatorial
candidate got nothing. A review of the congratulatory
While Bush at the UN, one letters sent by the United States to
commentator noted that he "does Noriega to recent years suggests
not have as important an advtso- that drugs were a secondary~con-
ry role in developing foreign policy cern of the administration. To as-
as did most of his predecessors." sure no clarification of this mat-
After being rejected in favor of ter, the White House has ordered
Nelson Rockefeller as President the State and Defense Depart-
Ford s vice president, Bush got an- ments and the CIA not to cooper-
other consolation prize - he was ate with a congressional investi-
named chief of the US liaison of- gation of possible illegal activities
fice in China. The position served by Noriega.
the purpose of distancing Bush Felix Rodriguez, involved in a
from the stench of Waterga- secret airlift of arms from El Sal-
te.After 11 monttls in China, he vador.,p the Nicaraguan contras,
was back in Washington to take told the press that the vice presi-
over his third temporary job. dent was his contact for the oper-
The Washington Post
The New York Times
The Washington Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Christian Science Monitor
New York Daily News
USA Today
The Chicago Tribune
Z05T01`1 54, 1 P. l9
Date 1?1 Seo+ 8
ation. Bush professes no knowl-
edge of Rodriguez, whose post in
El Salvador received the active en-
couragement of the vice presi-
dent's office.
A lapsed memory was also fea-
tured in the illegal sale of arms to
Iran. This sale raised funds that,
through a series of convoluted
Swiss bank operations, were con-
verted into funds to buy arms for
the contras, thus bypassing a con-
gressional ban on such activities.
Records indicate the vice presi-
dent's presence at many of the key
meetings on these events. '
What is essential for a presi-
dent in dealing with foreign af-
fairs is a conceptual mind, a for-
eign policy vision and the ability
to energize a staff. One must have
the ability to select full-time policy
formulators: to organize and man-
age staff members: to coordinate
the activities of the State Depart-
ment, the National Security Coun-
cil. the Department of Defense, the
Central Intelligence Agency, and
the multitude of functional agen-
cies that affect foreign policy.
This, in turn, permits the presi-
dent to create and implement an
integrated foreign policy.
Dukakis' speeches indicate
that he has conceptualized a for-
eign policy perspective. It recog-
nizes the reality of interdepen-
dence, the need for partnerships,
the interaction of economic and
political factors in national securi-
ty policy and the role of environ-
mental issues.
Neither candidate wants a
weak America. The question is
how to maintain effective
strength. The scientific communi-
ty has raised serious doubts about
"star wars." The doubts are both
about_ the practicability of ele-
ments of the program and, per-
haps more important, its enor-
CONTINUED
2Q.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401580038-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401580038-0
mous cost. There will always be
disputes about particular weap-
ons systems, partially on techni-
cal grounds and partially on
which corporations or individuals
or which branches of the defense
establishment will gain or lose
power. The procurement scandal
in the Defense Department lends
credence to Dukakis' position that
there is a lot of waste in defense
spending. The Congressional Bud-
get Office report on the B-1B
bomber states that it would cost
almost $8 billion to overhaul the
existing model. Why should any
presidential candidate accept this
expenditure without considering
alternative approaches? Neither
Dukakis nor Bush is an expert on
the technical and scientific as-
pects of weapons systems. Both
will need and both will have ac-
cess to specialists.
The sooner we can have a pub-
lic debate on the issues the sooner
we can get beyond the negative
campaigning of the "temporary
Interim appointee." These debates
must include the issues of conven-
tional versus nuclear strategies,
"star wars." Europe after 1992.
Soviet structural reforms, the in-
ternational-debt problem, strate-
gies for Iran and Iraq in the post-
war period, Japan and the newly
industrialized countries, the role
of the United Nations in peace-
keeping and the abysmal record of
the United States and its failure to
fund these and other UN efforts.
There are endless issues to be dis-
cussed. It is time to move from the
ephemeral to the specifics. It is
time for the American people to
judge the qualities of these two
candidates.
Robert F. Meagher is profes-
sor of 4iternationaL law at the
Fletche School of Law and Di-
plomacy, Tufts University.
2/.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/25: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401580038-0