Word: bakuriani
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...spasms arose, ironically enough, from a false alarm. On Election Day, someone in the U.S. Government leaked word, based on sketchy and unconfirmed spy-satellite information, that crated Soviet MiG-21 interceptors were about to be unloaded at Nicaragua's Pacific port of Corinto from the Soviet freighter Bakuriani. The U.S. has long warned Nicaragua that the arrival of MiG-21s or similar fighters would be "unacceptable," since such weapons would upset the regional balance of air power...
...time the Bakuriani unloaded its crated cargo and returned to sea, Washington was persuaded that MiG-21s had not been delivered. One reason, indicated by Shultz, was a Soviet assurance to the contrary. Another was the information gleaned from the rash of U.S. spy-plane flights, more probably low-flying F-4 reconnaissance jets than the superfast, supersophisticated SR-71s claimed by the Sandinistas (no sonic boom from an SR-71 can be heard when the aircraft flies, as it can on spy missions, at an altitude of 15 miles or more...
...conclusion: Soviet-bloc ships, including the Bakuriani, have more than likely delivered SA3 and SA-8 antiaircraft missiles, advanced radar equipment that would complete Nicaragua's air-defense system, and a supply of MI-24 "Hind" helicopters. The choppers are heavily armed gunships that the Soviets use against rebellious tribesmen in Afghanistan; they are probably intended to flush out 6,000 of the U.S.-backed contra guerrillas, who have now moved permanently inside Nicaragua to carry on their hit-and-run war against the Sandinistas...
Nonetheless, the Pentagon kept up its threatening expressions of concern. Even without the MiG-21s, U.S. officials said, the arrival of the Bakuriani marked the first time the Soviets had sent weapons to Nicaragua under their own flag, rather than through such surrogates as Cuba or Bulgaria. U.S. military officials said last week that four more Soviet and East-bloc freighters were on their way to Nicaragua, without saying when the ships would arrive, or where. Said Pentagon Spokesman Burch: "Nicaragua has now armed itself to a greater degree or in quantities far greater than any of its neighbors...
...switch in reasoning seemed to reflect the Administration's recurring tendency to speak with different voices about Nicaragua. Privately, some Pentagon sources attributed the hyping of concern over the Bakuriani and its cargo to officials at the White House and National Security Council. The State Department also expressed frustration over the way the MiG issue had materialized: on his way to the OAS meeting, Shultz characterized the original leak as "a criminal act." For his part, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger coolly deplored the "hysteria" that had arisen over the incident, even as the Pentagon provided the varying rationales...