I OPINION Page 4 Thursday, ctober 25, 1984 The Michigan Daily A physician' s view of El Salvador Charles Clements, a physician and Viet- goes to both sides in El Salvador... Most of that Clements: I've certainly commented on ac- the guerrillas choose to accept his invitation'" aid has come from the American public rather tions of the guerrillas that were less than ac- and participate in the elections, he couldn t nam Veteran, lived in a rebel-held region of than physicians' support groups. In addition, ceptable, such as killing civilians in military guarantee their total security, and they would El Salvador for a year, using his medical I've been a senior fellow at the Center for operations, and such as some of them who are have to face the same risk of the death squads skills to aid the impoverished civilian Development Policy in Washington, D.C. and I over authoritarian. There are tactics of theirs that he does. Obviously, he was saying that this population. He recently finished a book continue to lecture on U.S. foreign policy and that I have been very critical of, such as their issue-the protection of those who would run Witness to War which draws on his ex- its direction. forced recruitment, which was not extensive for office and campaign-is an issue that would periences. Daily Associate Arts Editor Daily: What did you testify about before but evidently happened for a while after I left prevent elections. If they can't campaign pny enespoke wsiate ts lstr Congress? the country. There have also been individual safely, they can't participate. Duarte has ad- Andy Weine spoke with Clements last week Clements: About my experiences in El acts of irresponsibility such as robbing people mitted that the death squads are still <, about the recent changes in the political Salvador. As early as March, 1983, I reported and calling it a war tax, and people taking operating. That's an issue that is essential for situation of the area, the parallels between that I'd seen Napalm used against the civilian things without paying for them. None of that negotiated settlements. El Salvador and Vietnam, and the validity population, as well as white phosphorous. . . makes any sense in the context of the kind of of U.S. policies there. During search and destroy operations I had revolution that they're trying to bring about. Daily: Do you support President Duarte in heard U.S. advisors on the radio that were ap- But on the whole, I think that their deter- all of his policies? NOTE: Witness to War will be parently in positions of command and control. mination for freedom and a just society is Clements: No. I think Duarte is in the same',; , reviewed in Friday's Weekend magazine. As well, I suspected that American pilots were commendable. And I certainly saw a discipline position today as he was when described by a 4 occasionally flying combat missions against that didn't exist in other parts of El Salvador. secret State Department cable in 1981; that is, areas of guerrilla control in El Salvador. All of There were guerrillas who were punished for he's "a fig leaf providing cover for a rightist .,those allegations have since been confirmed by actions of misdemeanor and for abuses of military regime." I think he is a decent man. .. various reports. authority. He is not as brutal, dishonest, or corrupt as the ., Daily: How has the situation in the Guazapa Daily: What is your opinion of the current Salvadoran military or oligarchy. But it must a e zone (a "controlled zone" north of San political situation in El Salvador? Specifically, be remembered that he presided over this ...............'-....Salvador) changed since you left in March, 1983? what is your opinion of President Duarte and of government silently in 1980 and 1981, when the Clements: About half of the villages in which the recent developments toward peace there? death squad activity was at its very highest. I I lived are "pacified" in the same way that Clements: I think that all of those who have think his initiative toward peace is commen large areas of Vietnam were pacified, in that an interest in peace have to be encouraged by dable, but I wonder about his sincerity, there was no living thing left. Half the villages what happened in La Palma; specifically, the especially when the Salvadoran military laun Daily: What have you been doing since you are now unpopulated, and only the craters and first explicit recognition of the F.D.R. and ches a major offensive two days after the peace returned from El Salvador? ashes remain; there are no longer any people F.L.M.N. by the Salvadoran government is an talks. Clements: I came back with the intention of there. Also, the area is being attacked three important first step. I think that Duarte's 't"' raising money for humanitarian aid and retur- and four times a day now,compared to once a statement on the day after negotiations did Daily: Will you be returning to El Salvador?'' "" Wing to El Salvador within 60 to 90 days. After I day when I was there. The casualties in the more to undermine U.S. foreign policy and Clements: At the end of this year, I'll re- r ,Z) . was here a short while, I began to realize that area of bombardment are worse, and I suspect clarify the situation than have recent events, evaluate my role here as a peacemaker versus .. PerhPS Ihda oeiPoratrl eea the strife's a lot higher, too. He said his hope in La Palma was to de- my role there as a physician, and try to assess;, peacemaker than there as a physician, so I Daily: In your book, you give a fairly internationalize this conflict, to take it out of once more in which place I'd be more useful. decided to take my witness public. I went to positive portrayal of the rebels in that they're the East-West arena. Both sides had agreed But I wouldn't be talking about my plans to Charles Clements, a physician who spent a Congress and testified, and I began writing my friendly and helpful to villagers, humane to the that the cause of the revolution was closed return because of the danger it would bring to year in a rebel-held region of El Salvador and book, lecturing around the country, and helping P.O.W.'s, and somewhat cooperative in their political doors. Basically, Duarte was saying those who would help me get into the country. has written a book an his experiences, says to raise money for the Salvadoran Medical government rather than strictly hierarchical, that this was a Salvadoran problem and it Salvadoran President Duarte (pictured above) Relief Fund. During that time, the Salvadoran Are there any ways in which you are critical of needed a Salvadoran solution. Secondly, he Dsis a "decent man". Clements, however, doubts Medical Relief Fund raised about a quarter the guerrillas? Do you think that they're pur- gave away the problem with the U.S. ad- .Dialogue is an occasionalfeature of the Duarte's sincerity in initiating the recent peace of a million dollars of humanitarian aid that suing the best way for achieving social change? ministration's policy here when he said that if Opinion Page. talks in La Palma. Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Cramer Vol. XCV, No. 43 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Iii THAW JOILN ~1r 41i,~ry K n Ij K5, i ,..._. " . _../ .L !ll i ct i, II / '// I Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board No trivial bit of information W ALTER MONDALE probably created a new trivia question during his speech Tuesday to more than 10,000 students and city residents who gathered in the Diag. But the in- formation he revealed is hardly trivial, and sheds a peculiar light on the character of the man he is challenging for the presidency. For those who at- tended the Diag rally yesterday, here it is: QUESTION: Who headed the "Democrats for Nixon" campaign in 1960 and wrote a letter to Nixon with the following criticisms of John F. Kennedy? "One last thought-shouldn't someone tag Mr. Kennedy's bold new imaginative program with its proper age? Under the tousled boyish haircut it is still old Karl Marx-first launched a century ago... There is nothing new in the idea of a government being Big Brother to us all, Hitler called his 'State Socialism', and way before him it was 'benevolent monarchy'." ANSWER: It's Ronald Reagan, who expressed those opinions in a 1960 let- ter to Richard Nixon. Strange, isn't it. The same Ronald Reagan, who likes to invoke the name of J.F.K. as a way of attracting voters to his own Republican campaign, ac- tually compared Kennedy to a man who wrote the Communist Manifesto. And, of course, to even compare Ken- nedy's Democratic philosophy of government with that of a German leader who believed in the execution of an entire race of people is a heinous distortion of the truth. Besides the obvious hypocrisy of Reagan's use of Kennedy's name in his 1984 campaign, the letter shows how Reagan is able to engage in vicious. partisanship without regard to prin- ciple. Perhaps Reagan cannot distinguish between a strong U.S. government that provides needed ser- vices for its people and one that decides to get rid of certain segments of its human population. Reagan is not the only politician to twist the views of a former popular president and to use a favorable image for his own political advantage. This new information on his real opinion of J.F.K. will hopefully cause his misleading strategy to backfire. Mon- dale should also shy away from ex- ploiting the Kennedy image. For though he may well be closer to sharing, J.F.K.'s ideals, Mondale is hardly a John Kennedy. Candidates of both parties should win votes on the merits of their own policies and beliefs, not those of deceased, popular leaders. Members of both parties should be outraged that the leader of our free world could not even distinguish democracy from either communism or fascism. LETTERS TO THE DAILY Night Ride not created for women To the Daily: I read with interest your recent Opinion Page column and the related letter regarding poor ser- vice received by two Night Ride passengers. "A Nite-Ride nightmare,"(Daily column, Oc- tober 11) and "Nite-Ride unsafe far un"(ny etr, October' 16). AATA has sponsored Night Ride service for over two years. The service is provided through the Veterans Cab Co. which receives a subsidy of approximately $2.00 per passanger. Although the ser- vice is provided by a subcontrac- tor, AATA is ultimately respon- sible for the quality of the ser- vice. We agree with your readers and expect professional, courteous service from both the dispatchers and drivers of Night Ride. If this quality of service is not received by any of your readers, I would urge them to contact AATA at 973-504to rennrt. the' tnecific number of vehicles in order to maintain costs at a reasonable level. The program is intended to meet the late night transit needs of the general public in Ann Ar- bor, including University studen- ts, but was not established to ser- ve only the University area or only women. Generally three to four vehicles are in operation fro m 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. and one to two vehicles from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Because of this, wait- times for pickups are longer than those for the usual taxicab ser- vice. Because of the shared-ride nature of the program other passengers are usually picked up or dropped off on the way to a BLOOM COUNTY destination. AATA has established service standards for Veterans Cab to adhere to in the provision of Night Ride. Pickup waiting time should average less than 20 minutes and combined pickup and traveling time should average less than 45 minutes. Ninety-five percent of the trips should have a combined waiting and traveling time under 60 minutes. Dispatchers should make every effort to in- form passengers of their expec- ted pickup time, and drivers should respond courteously to passengers at all times. AATA monitors Night Ride service in a variety of ways. Vehicle logs are reviewed regularly and AATA occasionally hires individuals to use Night Ride and report on their ex- periences. Passenger comments such as those reported in your ar- ticles are also invaluable sources of information. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or com- ments. Richard Simonetta -October 21 i Simonetta is executive direc- tor of the Ann Arbor Tran- sportation Authority. by Berke Breathed 0 Unsigned editorials appearing on the left side of this page of the rrorP.vPnt a majority onin ion AMI7 A AAQ D lMAtf24C IGASd AGEDO A A GW TH'6# Wf1qr 71/6 WHt A66 CA4P4IW AMiCt~' dX A f? A FD4 1.5 .- Y Xrr c t NUYti ..