Word: covert
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Eden Pastora Gomez, the Sandinistas' legendary "Commander Zero," stormed Managua's National Palace, paving the way for Dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle's flight into exile. Soon feeling % powerless in a government that he charged was run by Communists, Pastora helped form the Democratic Revolutionary Alliance (ARDE) and began receiving covert U.S. aid to fight the Sandinistas. But the funds were cut off when Pastora refused to cooperate with other rebel forces...
Americans are much less inclined to do ! is provide the difficult and costly positive actions needed to promote democracy: careful involvement with local opposition groups, behind-the-scenes diplomatic maneuvers and, occasionally, military pressure. The U.S. has sometimes tried to encourage and work with prodemocratic political organizations, open or covert, in other countries, but it has not been particularly successful or skillful in this effort. We must understand that the most important task usually does not end but only begins with the overthrow of a dictator. In the wake of the Falklands defeat, Argentina got rid of its ruling generals...
...side of restraint, that the Administration should have had the courage of their convictions--or their animosities. "If we genuinely believe that Gaddafi is more than just a booking agent for terrorism," says Robert Kupperman, a terrorism expert at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, "then covert means of getting rid of him should be considered. We seem to be dealing in niceties. We think we can use the larger instruments of warfare to bring about his elimination, but that we shouldn't use the smaller ones, such as a pistol...
Some suggest that an assassination attempt could be considered more moral than an all-out attack. Neil Livingstone, president of Washington's Institute for Terrorism and Subnational Conflict, proposes that a precise covert action directed toward a single figure may be preferable to a military raid. Says Livingstone: "It is far more humane to get the legitimate bad guy than his baby daughter and innocent civilians." But it seems the Administration simply wanted to have it both ways. That is, it wanted to send a message to terrorists in general and a knockout punch to one in particular...
...wrote many contingency plans," a top CIA officer told TIME last week. Among them: a joint U.S.-Egyptian operation designed to topple Gaddafi, a plan to work with the French that included offensive actions from both the Mediterranean and Chad, and covert action involving other North African governments. McFarlane dispatched Poindexter, then his deputy, to confer with Egypt and other allies in the Middle East and Europe. "We even approached Israel," the intelligence official notes. But the response was discouraging; intelligence reports showed little chance of fomenting a coup within Libya, and none of the ideas jelled. "We learned...