page 4
daily nebraskan
thursday, march 12, 1981
Safeguards against unrestrained spying needed
Increasing the power of the CIA to allow the
intelligence agency to use break-ins, physical
surveillance and infiltration of domestic groups
would he a step backwards for the United States
and its citizens.
The proposal reportedly being considered by
the Reagan administration would allow the CIA
much more freedom to conduct intelligence
investigations than that agency now possesses.
No longer would the CIA be required to have
"probable cause to believe" an individual or
corporation had committed crimes or was linked
to questionable foreign powers, according to
Associated Tress reports.
The people of this country have suffered
as was learned in the post-Vietnam period from
the abuse of power by governmental agencies
desiring to operate under a clandestine cloud.
The secrecy, according to those who profess
the importance of keeping Americans in the
dark concerning information-gathering activities,
is all for the good of the nation.
Looking at the situation optimistically, that
indeed may be the starting point for granting this
unlimited authority to an intelligence agency.
But precautions must be taken to ensure against
abuse that could result from unrestrained CIA
spying within the United States.
It would be naive to assume intelligence oper
ations are not necessary. However, it would
be even more foolish not to safeguard against the
possible atrocities to human and civil rights that
would be made possible by such a system.
It certainly is not asking too much to require
the CIA to have "probable cause to believe"
crimes have been committed before the agency
could become secretly involved with a group or
corporation.
In fact, this is essential if the United States
intends to guarantee its citizens freedom of ex
pression and privacy. Otherwise, the path leading
toward harassment and manipulation of U.S.
citizens and groups will be paved by "Big Broth
er" himself.
The CIA should not be given an open-ended
license to run rampant as it tries to gather infor
mation in hopes of ridding the world of commun
ism and terrorism. Such a free rein could only
translate into a reign of terror for domestic
organizations and individuals as they watch
their civil rights erode.
A CIA spokesman has cited the "changing
world" as a reason to warrant lifting the limits on
spying.
Undoubtedly, the world is changing. But any
changes made concerning clandestine investigat
ions should be improvements. l'Apanding the
authority of the CIA would not be a change for
the better.
FRIENDSHIP IS THE UWf
ENVjf OF THE m
Cheap battleground found
for superpowers' next bout
The next confrontation between the
United States and the Soviet Union will
lake place, it can now be revealed, in the
Ratklom of Phynkia. The Rat 1 . himself,
has signed the lease making Ii is country
available to the two superpowers for the
occasion.
hoppe
The agreement brought a collective
sigh of relief from delegates to the United
Nations. It has long been recognized
in the diplomatic community that the
superpowers must constantly have con
frontation in iirder to demonstrate to
each other and the world that they are.
indeed, superpowers. But there has been
an ever-growing problem as to where these
confrontations should be held.
Tver since the devastation of Korea.
Vietnam. Cambodia, Laos, Angola, Af
ghanistan and sundry other spots, there
lias been an increasing reluctance among
smaller nations to host confrontations.
And the thought of a confrontation
in a large country like Poland gives every
one the shudders.
"We don't care what tiny little country
the superpowers have their next confront
ation in." as the delegate from Mbonga
succinctly put it. "as long as it's some
where else."
The Katt's offer of Phynkia's facilit
ies proved a godsend. At the time, the
two superpowers were privately wrang
ling over the selection of I I Salvador
or a Persian Gulf state for the next event
on the confrontation agenda.
Secretary Haig objected to the latter
as being too distant from America's shores,
while Soviet Lorcign Minister Gromyko
similarly complained that II Salvador
would give the U.S. the home team ad
vantage. It appeared there might have
to be two simultaneous confrontations in
order to satisly both sides a prospect
that alarmed I I Salvadori.ms ami IVisian
Gull residents alike.
Phynkia, however, is ideally located
in the center of the Lesser Antilles Desert
and is thus equally inaccessible from
anywhere.
Its other major advantage is that all
native Phynkians loathe Phynkia and have
no objections whatsoever to its devastat
ion although it may be difficult to de
termine when this has been accomplished.
The Kalt. for example, has generously
granted the superpowers permission to
drop all the defoliants they wish, there not
being a wisp l toliage in the country
Nor will the war much interfere with the
Phynkian economy, which is based on
sand mining and rock farming.
Continued on Page 5
Chips may fall to the
right in domino games
Washington Johnny Carson made the
State Department wince the Other night
when echoes of Vietnam creeped into his
monologue on 1:1 Salvador.
"We have an exciting show for you to
night," said Carson. "A little later on. Bob
Hope will be out here to plug his Christmas
show from Id Salvador."
Indeed, the slightest coupling of Viet
nam to Id Salvador turns State Department
spokesmen pale. In return for such un
patriotic inlereiices. one receives an empha
tic denial that the United Stales plans to
involve itsell deepei in I I Salvadoi.
shearer
While ihcv won't less up to it pubhclv.
Reagan's aides are Usui;1 the old domino
theoiy to ialionalie oui loughlv S-s()
million military and economic aid package
to the liny Ccntial Ameiican nation
Several kev Reagan adviseis con lend
that if I I Salvadoi falls to the Mai xisl mici
rillas. revolution will follow in Costa Rica.
Honduras, Guatemala and possihlv Mexico
Taken to its conclusion, millions of ictu
gees might flood into the United States
if I I Salvadoi succumbs.
The intellectual troika that dicamed up
this scenario consists of United States
Ambassador Jeane Knkpatiick. National
Security Council inembei Roger I outaine
and Pedro Sanjuan. resident schoLu at the
American Interpose Institute. All thiee
served as foieign pohev adviseis on
Reagan's presidential campaign and aie
convinced that the United States must ie
gam its old influence in Ccntial Ameiica.
"One has to put a stop to something
somewhere and I I Salvadoi is the bastion
that needs to he identified." one oi the
thiee told us last week " Iheie is no point
m allowing a sin. ill gioiip ! convinced
Marxists to jiist t it i the Hag l sou.il
(evolution thioughout Cential Auieika"
less cautious in Ins wntiik-s, Con
stanlme C. Menges. anothei Reagan cam
paign adviser on latin Ameiica. descubes
in gieater detail how ihe dominoes will
tall
"Vlctorv toi the exlieinc let) in
Salvador would gieatlv muease the pi.-hi
bilily that communist ,,nd i.idu.d tell
groups in Mexico. Hondutas and pcilups
Panama, with c kindest me help to.m ih,
revolutions movement n m ( u!,,, and
Ccntial Ameika. would heein a cam
paign t deslabh.ition iluouih politial
action jnd tenor.' wrote Menjcs in a
papei delivered to the ..drou Wilson
lnteni.ition.il Cci let fin Vholais
"Ihe consequences would unhid p.
sible interruptions in Mexican oil produc
tion and the Panama Canal. Luge numbers
of Mexican refugees, seeking safety in the
United Slates, would swell the current title
of illegal immigrants by several millions if
the violence approached the proportions
experienced in I I Salvador."
The White House has been carrying this
warmed-over academic theory to Capitol
Hill to elicit support for its increased aid
package.
"It's the old domino theory all right. I
don't caie how they describe it." admitted
Rep. Claience l ong, ( D-Mil. ) chairman of
the appiopiiatioiis subcommittee on for
eii'ii opei at ions.
Oihei academics aie equally unwilling
to use the domino theory to explain events
in ( mi lal Ainei ica.
"Ihe domino iheoiv is much less appli
cable in the case ol Cenlial Ameiica than
il is to oihei coiinii ies." said I icdenco G.
Gil. a I aim Ameiican scholai at the Uni
eisit oi Noiih Caiolma at Chapel Hill.
"Ihe main Double with it is that it ignoies
die lutein il conditions o each ol these
1 1 mm i ies
John I II. Puuell. a latin Ameiican
expetl tot Ifaiikeis lnisi in New Yoik.
icpoiis lli.it "When voti go to Mexico and
lalk about the domino iheoiv. the Mexi
cans Itime. Il icallv upsets them because il
assumes that lliev'ie pist anothei letidal
Cential Ameiican state. . . ."
Iionciallv. incieased U.S. militaiy aid to
I I Salvadoi (S vv4 million ) could result in
a sell-tultilhug piophecv ;a different domi
no eltect might occui for the vviong
teasoiis. Moie aid now toi the nghtiM army
could topple the moderate coalition gov
ernment of Jose Napoleon Duarte within a
year. A toughei. non-reformist militatv
government should only help the leftist
guctnllas win moie suppoit among the pea
sant population.
Most toieigii policy experts we've
spoken with s., hesulent Reagan made a
sate bet m choosing I I Salvador for Ins first
toteien pohev showdown. Military and
economic aid to the Salvadorati junta
should be adequate to quiet the lellist
gucmllas it the government itsclt isn't
topled mteinalK b the trustuted light-
1st s
"h.ii wouies me about this episode."
s.is a totmet .il in Ameikan expetl on
P'csidcnl Cuteis National Sccuutv Coun
cil "iv that Pievident Rc.iL'.in might think
"l" aid to SaKadoi was the ilitteietke
in dele. Mine ihe Marxists I hat could en
."in ai'c him to push his hick and involve
the I tilted Stales in a moie dangeioiis sit
I ition in tK- tutu, i-
lominoes (..Mi be an addict me lmhic
kl 1981. Field Fntnpmn, lnc
