Word: coupes
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Should the U.S. Government be involved in coups that might result in the assassination of foreign political leaders? That old controversy was being debated with new intensity last week in Washington. In the wake of this month's failed coup against Panama's Manuel Antonio Noriega, the fickle finger of blame is being pointed in all directions. It has been aimed at George Bush, at Congress, at CIA director William Webster and at the coup plotters themselves. Last week it targeted a section of a presidential order that bars all direct or indirect U.S. involvement in assassinations. The issue...
Senior U.S. officials admit that the curb on assassinations did not rule out American assistance to the plotters in Panama. Ironically, one reason the coup failed is that the goal was only to force Noriega into retirement, not to kill him. Still, there is a potential conflict with the ban if the U.S. supports a coup in which the death of foreign leaders, though not intended, is likely. CIA director Webster last week proposed an effort to define the policy more clearly so that CIA officers "can go right up to the edge of that authority and not worry...
...resolved. "There is a gray area," says Anthony Beilenson, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. "And it ought to remain there. The fact that there's a little bit of uncertainty about the Executive Order serves a useful purpose. We should be cautious when it comes to coups that may lead to assassination." In fact, the CIA has procedures for high-level review of operations that could violate the ban. And yet a clear distinction between coups and assassinations is not always possible. The ban was not originally meant to restrict covert political-action operations at all, recalls Helms...
...Good reason" indeed. The whole affair smells fishy from a distance of three weeks, so one can only imagine the stench on the day of the uprising. A coup may sound like a good idea, if for no other reason than eliminating a standing embarassment to the U.S. But coups aren't ideas; they're actions...
...retrospect, the coup could have had three outcomes. If Bush had actively supported the coup, the plotters might have succeeded. But the improvement for the people of Panama would have been marginal at best; replace despot Manuel Noriega with would-be despot Moises Giroldi, a career military man with no demonstrated affection for democracy...