A OPINION Page 4 Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Friday, December 7, 1984 The Michigan Daily Fueling the Salvadoran fire Vol. XCV, No.76 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 By John Laherty The present U.S. policy concerning El Salvador is beginning to show itself to be no more than a fuel with which to feed the fire. The large amount of U.S. military assistance Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board The CIA deserves more than a wrist--slapping sent to El Salvador in the form of weapons and advisors only serves .to nourish and prolong the Salvadoran civil war. This is a war that the citizens of El Salvador, the peasants, laborers, teachers, religious leaders - the overwhelming majority of the population - pray will soon end. The people want peace and stability, yet their pleas fall upon deaf ears. Instead of receiving political, economic, and social reforms, El Salvador is only obtaining more war. Central America is a subject which has the American people very anxious. The Vietnam War has not yet been forgotten, and analogies are becoming increasingly easy to draw. The claim that the United States is attempting to "preserve democracy" is a bit too idealistic for the times, especially since the present Salvadoran government is no more than a repressive military-oligarchy. It is time for a change in plans. It is time to aid in the development of peace, instead of the con- tinuation of war. THE PRESENT negotiations are at a stan- dstill. The Salvadoran state under President Jose Napoleon Duarte has, as recently reported in the New York Times, "repeatedly rejected altering the Constitution, giving the rebels a direct share of political power or restructuring the army." This attitude has met with understandable hostility from the rebel forces. Salvador Samayoa, a leading rebel official, was quoted as saying that Duarte's terms were "definitely not accep- table." Certainly, very few people would feel that this "all take and no give" attitude of the Salvadoran government is conducive to a peaceful settlement. Perhaps now is the time for the United States to make a sincere effort to settle the conflict. For, until the present repressive Salvadoran state agrees to reform, the possibility of peace through negotiations simply does not exist. With Reagan's ad- ministration solidly backing Duarte's regime, the Salvadoran government feels no need to alter its unfair policies. If the United States government sincerely hopes to "preserve democracy" in Central America, a democracy must first be created. America must "convince" the Salvadoran state to reform and give the common people a chance to enter the decision making process. If this "convincing" includes the threat of discon-" tinued military aid, so be it. Only when the rebels feel that Duarte and company are giving, as well as taking, will there be a chan- ce for successful negotiations between the two, factions. It seems that the moment of truth has arrived. If the United States feels so strongly that it becomes involved in another countr$s civil war, it should certainly aid in finding o solution to the conflict. Washington claims to be doing all that it can to rectify the problem, yet military aid to the Salvadoran gove- nment has already proved itself to be.(Al* fallacious answer. Meanwhile, the people. of El Salvador live in constant fear and repression. Thanks in a large part to (h4 United States, the war continues to b waged. T he House Intelligence Commit- tee offered little insight or over- sight Wednesday when they concluded a two-month investigation of a CIA manual which advocated kid- napping, blackmailing, and neutralizing selected Nicaraguan government officials. The committee found that the CIA guerrilla manual did indeed violate the law by instruc- ting rebels on how to overthrown the Sandinista government. Wow. Anyone who read the manual could have determined that. The committee should have recommended specific ac- tions to prevent future violations of the law. And in this fundamental duty the committee failed. When the manual came out in mid- October, the chairman of the House In- telligence Committee, Edward Boland, said the document was: "repugnant to a nation that condemns such acts by others. It embraces the Communist revolutionary tactics that the United States is pledged to defeat throughout the world." And, thus, the committee's investigation was launched. But what has it accomplished? Very little, if anything. Two months and much red tape later, Boland notes: "At least 7 or 8 times in the manual, there is a reference to overthrowing the San- dinistas. It was the opinion of the vast majority of the committee that there was a violation of the Boland Amen- dment." So the CIA violated a 1982 law, proposed by Boland, which forbids American personnel from par- ticipating in any effort to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. So what. The law carries no penalities and the CIA can produce more manuals, violate more laws, and continue to ad- vocate murder-all with the tacit ap- proval of the U.S. government. There were a few "mid-level" agen- cy officials reprimanded like small children for doing wrong. The punish- ments were endorsed by President Reagan, advocated by the CIA's in- spector general and Boland agreed that the inspector general's report was "a fair one". But what kind of a message does this send to CIA Director William Casey and other agency of- ficials who originally suggested that such an instructional guerilla manual was needed? It sends an unsatisfactory message which will not prevent the CIA from doing what it has done in the past: break moral and American law. One member of the House committee suggested that its findings be turned over to the Justice Department for fur- ther investigative action. That, at least would have been an attempt to do more than complain about the CIA violation and insure that it doesn't happen in the future. Director Casey's pledge to make managerial changes within the agency shouldn't convince anyone that the problem has been solved. The problem is one of sizeable proportions: How far should the United States go to push democracy on other nations? There needs to be a serious reevaluation as to whether American ends are truly justified by the odius means utilized by the CIA. Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte has shown a lack of willingness to com- promise with the rebel opposition. Laherty is afreshman in LSA. Sinclair 01 I Uq !^ Christmas trimmings I. For many Americans it's the Christmas tree-trimming season. For many Washington officials it's budget-trimming season. To halve the projected $200 billion federal deficit, President Ronald Reagan now finds himself with axe in hand ready to chop, chop, chop. No one would argue that the deficit needs to come down, but Wednesday's budget trimming proposals come down heavy on domestic programs whichhserve the poor and are purposely unclear on defense spending. Although the president is momen- tarily hanging onto his campaign pledges that he will not raise taxes, decrease defense spending, or do away with Social Security cost of living in- creases, few other programs are being spared the axe. The White House has said that it would seek few reductions in programs for the needy, but on the hit list are plans to eliminate the cost of living adjustments in food stamps, child nutrition programs, legal ser- vices aid to poor and Supplemen- tal Security Income for the needy aged, blind, and disabled. These programs all cater to a constituency that can ill afford losing these gover- nment services. In addition, the administration seeks to cut Aid to Families with Dependent Children, . the primary welfare program, along with deep reductions in funding for Medicaid, which provides medical* assistance to the indigent. Many of Detroit's residents will feel the effects if reductions in these programs pass Congress next January or February. University students will find it increasingly difficult to get government financial aid, as the president proposes to freeze 1986 programs at 1985 levels. Of most concern, however, is that not enough is being trimmed from the defense budget. Reagan has shied away from Budget Director David Stockman's proposals to cut the Pen- tagon budget. And Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger is expected to ask for another 15 percent defense spen- ding increase this year. Some ad- ministration officials hint that $8 billion could be cut from the defense budget, but this number has not been formalized, nor is it sufficient con- sidering the drastic cuts in domestic spending. The president may not wish to go against his campaign promise to avoid a tax increase, but poor Americans shouldn't be held hostage to an effec- tive campaign slogan. LETTERS TO THE DAILY Only individuals make the dif To the Daily : I am writing in response to Brian Leiter's article "Real solutions lie far beyond charity" (Daily, December 5) on the shor- tcomings of charity in ending hunger in the world. First, I want to acknowledge Leiter's own deep commitment to ending hunger. His letter reveals his outrage and frustration over our current response to the problem, an outrage and frustration which are shared by many others. He asserts, however, that the charitable activities in which we participate constitute a "sick joke" in the face of the enormity of the problem. I would like to address this statement. Leiter is correct when he says that some people participate in hunger-related charities out of something other than their com- mitment to end hunger: they may do it to "look good", or as a way to relieve their own feelings of guilt. However, there are many of us all over the world who par- Leiter has also invalidated the commitment of those who ex- press their commitment to end hunger through their par- ticipation in charities. Hunger is an extremely com- plicated problem. There are now agencies, some of which are charities, that have taken on various aspects of the problem: sending food (Catholic Relief), medicine (UNICEF), farming technologies (Oxfam), com- municating to our elected of- ficials (Bread for the World), and generating the commitment to end hunger (The Hunger Project). There are literally hun- dreds of others. I assert that participants in all of these deser- ve our complete support and acknowledgement for the work that they do. Leiter seems to believe that only our government can make a significant impact in ending BLOOM COUNTY world hunger, and he criticizes our government's lack of com- mitment in this area. We need to remember that our government's level of commitment is a direct reflection of our own commit- ment to end hunger. I request that we all look at ourselves and tell the truth about our own per- sonal commitment to end world hunger. It is this personal com- mitment that will have the final ference say about whether or not people are starving. Leiter's frustration contes from his belief that who we are and what we do as individuals doesn't make a difference; assert that it is the only thing tla will make a difference in ending hunger and starvation in te world. -Jennifer Bowen Decemb&r6 4 n Letters and columns represent the opinions o the individual author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the Daily. r 40 '?4:.,av,, "\ n.".... ,a :: f v:.v n G..... :Y:?r,'iY* ;:*. :_. .iii?:>;'}* . .} ... . . . i}:.:**:.~ { :. i vY"..'{....'{:i"?: ?F": >':"+":: . . . . 'C , "'. . . .1'." .. " . :}}v .":.: : ::v:"''"'v 'ai" $"} $6 } ;, .4 ,: t .r T{:'2:, x..'.$i ": S'"::}}"...'.....n :.?:?;{}a:i"i::v : :li :"" ": ;. .4 "{:**.* v*:v.v.. . 4r'..4v~:..}:}}:}' \}" ""v :}}::,y: }. a by Berke Breathed MUnJ AAII i . f~F U/_ i OFF OFFLUf1W ' t. Aim J