Contra policy an ‘atrocity’
By Paul Ertelt
Of the Emerald
The U.S. policy of backing
contra rebels in Nicaragua is not
only an atrocity, it is an atrocity
that is not working, a former
CIA analyst said Tuesday.
“The U.S. has failed to
achieve any of its spoken or
unspoken objectives,” said
David MacMichael, a former
CIA analyst who spoke in
Geology 150.
MacMichael made national
news last June when he made
public his conclusion that in
telligence data gathered by the
CIA failed to uphold Pres.
Ronald Reagan's charge that the
Nicaraguan government is sup
plying a steady flow of arms to
Salvadoran guerillas.
The Reagan administration
has used the alleged shipment
of arms as justification for finan
cing the contra rebels fighting
the Sandinista government of
Nicaragua.
MacMichael’s lecture was not
only the last stop on a Nor
thwest speaking tour, but a
return to his alma mater.
Twenty-five years ago he began
his graduate work at the Univer
sity and received a master’s and
a doctorate degree from the
history department.
Between 1981 and 1983. Mac
Michael worked as a contract
analyst for the CIA and had ac
cess to “top secret” and higher
classified documents. But he
said he found no substantive
evidence of arms shipments
from Nicaragua to El Salvador
later than early 1981.
The Sandinistas admit sen
ding arms to El Salvador bet
ween late 1980 and early 1981,
but any arms that have come
from Nicaragua since then pro
bably came from Salvadoran
refugees in that country, he
said.
MacMichael disagreed with
the official interpretation of the
situation while still with the
CIA, and he believes this is why
his contract was not renewed.
In June, he revealed his doubts
to the New York Times.
Because he had signed a
secrecy agreement, Mac
Michael's lecture had to be ap
proved by the CIA, and he did
not reveal any classified infor
mation. But he did attack the
quantity and quality of evidence
the administration has produc
ed to back its claims.
He was especially critical of a
State Department “green
paper” which Pres. Reagan pur
ported was definitive proof of
the arms shipments.
“It is such a bad piece of work
that if you were to submit this as
a term paper... your further
tenure here would be in doubt,”
he said.
MacMichael questioned why
neither the contras nor the Hon
duran army has been able to in
tercept any overland arms
shipments, and why combined
U.S., Salvadoran and Honduran
naval forces have not in
tercepted shipments in the Gulf
of Fonseca, which separates
Nicaragua from El Salvador.
He also wondered why there
was not more evidence of
shipments by air.
“Not one aircraft has yet
crashed; not one has yet drop
ped its load in the wrong place;
we have not yet found one crate
hung up in a tree. This is quite
extraordinary in the annals of
aerial history.”
But MacMichael said the
situation was summed up
recently by Thomas Pickering,
ambassador to El Salvador: “We
don’t have any silver bullet or
any smoking gun.”
The real goal of the contras is
not to intercept weapons, but to
overthrow the Sandinista
government, he said. However,
the contras admit they are not
able to do this without direct
U.S. military involvement.
A U.S. invasion of Nicaragua
is unlikely, but it is a possibili
ty, MacMichael said. According
to one researcher, the level of
involvement needed to suc
cessfully subdue Nicaragua
would cost the United States
20,000 casualties, including
5,000-8,000 dead.
“This is not exactly what I
would call a picnic in the
park,” he said.
MacMichael urged the au
dience to call their Congres
sional representatives, especial
ly Sen. Bob Packwood, and op
pose any further aid to the
contras.
“In the last three years of con
tra war over 3,000 Nicaraguans
have been killed,” MacMichael
said. “The vast majority were
civilians and a good proportion
were women and children.”
David MacMichael
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