The Michigan Daily -Tuesday, September 17, 1991 - Page 7
Dems quiz
Gates on
scandal
k nowledge
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Robert Gates said yesterday at the
opening of confirmation hearings
on his nomination as CIA director
that he made "misjudgments" dur-
ing the Iran-Contra affair.
Skeptical Democrats accused him
of willful ignorance.
- The opening day of the hearings
was dominated by Iran-Contra, the
five-year-old affair that unfolded
while Gates was No. 2 at the CIA.
Now a-national security aide at the
White House, Gates was nominated
last July by President Bush to suc-
ceed William H. Webster at the
CIA helm.
Under lengthy questioning,
Gates repeatedly denied he had any
knowledge of the diversion to the
Nicaraguan Contras of profits
from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran
before speculation on such dealing
was brought to his attention on
Oct. 1, 1986.
The 47-year-old analyst had
made the same contention during
hearings on his previous nomina-
tion to the top CIA post by
President Reagan in 1987 - a nom-
ination that was withdrawn amid
heated questions about his possible
role in the affair.
"I could have and probably
should have acted more aggres-
sively" in trying to find out more
information, Gates said.
He told the Senate Intelligence
Sullivan: Noriega
is 'crooked cop'
MIAMI (AP) - Manuel
Noriega, the most powerful man in
Panama, was "just another crooked
cop" who sold his nation to
Colombian cocaine kingpins, a pros-
ecutor said yesterday to open the
ousted dictator's drug trial.
Pointing to Noriega and calling
him a "small man in a general's uni-
form," lead prosecutor Michael
Sullivan said the government would
prove Noriega abused his authority
to help a flood of cocaine pour into
the United States.
Noriega came to the Medellin
cartel's attention in the late 1970s
when he arrested smugglers and in-
tercepted drug shipments, Sullivan
said.
"The cartel chiefs sat down and
said they were either going to elim-
inate him, or they were going to buy
him," the prosecutor said. "They de-
cided to buy him."
The defense elected to hold its
opening statement until the prose-
cution rests, which could take
months.
Sullivan never referred to de-
fense arguments that Noriega's ac-
tivities were tolerated or even au-
thorized by U.S. intelligence agen-
cies, in part to help the Contra
rebels in Nicaragua in the mid-
1980s.
According to witnesses who
will include the cartel's convicted
U.S. manager, Carlos Lehder Rivas,
Noriega proved willing to sell him-
self - but was greedy. He quickly
bumped his price from a proposed
$30,000 a shipment to as much as
$500,000 per load, the government
said.
Noriega received a minimum of
$10 million from the cartel, the
government has claimed.
His activities often were dis-
cussed in the cartel's top-level
meetings, Sullivan told the jury.
,The cartel chiefs sat
down and said they
were either going to
eliminate him, or they
were going to buy
him. They decided to
buy him'
- Michael Sullivan
lead Noriega prosecutor
"Manuel Noriega was just an
other crooked cop - the cartel was
paying off hundreds of cops," he
said.
Noriega also protected illegal
arms shipments and allowed drug
profits to be funnelled into secret,
numbered Panamanian bank ac -
counts, among other services, said
the prosecutor.
Noriega, held in a courthouse
basement cell, faces a maximum 140
years in prison if convicted on all
counts. He surrendered to U.S.
forces following the December
1989 invasion of Panama.
Pr ot
Sen. John Warner (R- Va.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, talks with CIA Director nominee
Robert Gates yesterday on Capital Hill during a break in the confirmation hearings for Gates.
Committee that during that period
he had been preoccupied with other
developments, such as a coup in the
Philippines, "and frankly I didn't
pay much attention" to the Iran-
Contra developments.
"I suspect few people have re-
flected more than I have on the
Iran-Contra affairs... but today I
want to speak about the misjudg-
ments that I made and the lessons I
learned," Gates told the commit-
tee.
But Sen. Howard Metzenbaum
(D-Ohio) told him, "You were ab-
solutely surrounded by the truth
- how could you possibly not
know? As No. 2 man at the agency,
such willful ignorance is inexcus-
able."
Some senators also have found
fault with his performance as
Bush's No. 2 national security aide
at the White House, challenging
the quality of intelligence that
Gates, a Soviet expert, had provided
on developments in the Soviet
Union.
Democrats questioned his fit-
ness to lead the U.S. intelligence
community in light of his failure
to predict the collapse of the
Soviet Union.
Most of the questioning was
about his knowledge of the Iran-
Contra affair - and what he told
Congress about it.
The question of what Gates
knew took on new significance in
July when the former director of
the CIA's Central American Task
Force, Alan Fiers, pleaded guilty
to two misdemeanors and testified
that he had told Gates' subordinate,
Clair George, of the diversion.
Former White House aide
Oliver North has testified that
Gates' late boss, CIA Director
William Casey, also knew of the
diversion.
I I
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U OF M FOOTBALL TICKETS. Wanted 2
good season tickets. Call 313-649-8800, day
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MUST SELL: Student football tickets best
offer call 747-6873.
HELP! ALUMNA IN NEED OF 6 TICK-
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Nancy at 703/525-6983 (will pay for
telephone call).
2 TICKETS needed for Florida St. game.
Carol, 212/573-1673 or 371-1691.
ABSOLUTE TOP DOLLAR paid for U of
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1 WAY TORONTO-SEATTLE. Oct. 3,
Female $150 or best offer 930-6515.
*NEED 10 TICKETS to Florida State UM
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4 TICKETS NEEDED*Vor Oct. 19
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FOR SALE- 2 tickets for the sold out Jesus
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2 SEASON FOOTBALL TICKETS wanted
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WANTED: 3 PAIRS of 2 (6 TTL) Tickets to
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IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A
JOB YOU SHOULD SHOP
AROUND.,
Come to the Fourth Annual Job Fair
Thurs. Sept. 19, from 1-6pm in
Briarwood's Grand Court
*Participating Briarwood Merchants will
be taking applications in the Grand Court.
*Full and part-time employees for
management and staff positions will be
recruited.
*To apply, simply fill out a form at the
registration table and leave a copy with the
stores.
*Call 761-9550 for additional Job Fair
info.
So, if you're looking for a job with a lot
of style, shop around. At Briarwood, of
course!!
MEN CAN STOP RAPE. At the UM Sexual
Assault Prevention & Awareness Center we
believe that men and women must work
together to stop rape. The Center needs
concerned, committed male volunteers. Men
of color are encouraged to apply. For more
info. call 763-5865 by Sept. 20.
ATTN. FEMALES! Great apt. close to
cam pus. $270/mo. Newly furnished. 930-
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ATTN. WOMEN: Share a spacious 2 bdrm.
apt. very close to campus. Own room, must
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AVAILABLE NOW: Housemate needed for
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FEMALE ROOMMATE NOW. Furnished,
own room, 8 month lease. Hill Street. 741-
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FEMALE ROOMMATE - 2 bdrm., 4 mo.
lease. $225 + elec. Grad preferred. 971-0679
MALE ROOMMATE WANTED for 6
bdrm. hse. 1 blk. from Union. Cheap. Call
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NEED 1 ROOMMATE for 2bdrm. apt. until
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$190/Mo. Call668-9941.
ICLASSIFIEDS
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1991