11-”I 1- ”
COLLEGIAN 100 YEARS
April 1887-Aprill9B7
Contras: U.S. aid
By GEORGE GEDDA
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A top Nica
raguan resistance leader said yester
day the expected renewal of U.S.
assistance to the rebels will tilt the
political balance in his homeland,
leading to a popular insurrection
against the Sandinistas and a mas
sive increase in the insurgent ranks.
Flanked at a news conference, by
members of the political and military
leadership of the resistance, Alfonso
Robelo, a member of the original
Sandinista junta, also predicted
“massive defections” from the Sandi
nista cause and rebellions within the
Nicaraguan army.
Robelo’s colleague in the United
Nicaraguan Opposition, Adolfo Cale
ro, said he is placing high-priority on
using the U.S. aid money to acquire
shoulder-fired missiles capable of
bringing down Soviet helicopter gun
ships that were introduced into the
conflict last summer.
He said the gunships have
“changed the war” in the Sandinis
tas’ favor. The Contras also will seek
light anti-tank weapons, grenade
launchers and light machine guns
once, as expected, the U.S. arms flow
to the rebels resumes on Sept. 1,
Calero said.
Robelo said, “The weapons will
balance the present situation, where
we are suffering from sophisticated
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Gov. Dick Thornburgh adresses the 56th Annual Convention of Disabled Philadelphia) and Rep. Bill Clinger (R-Warren) also spoke at the convention,
Veterans at the Penn State Sheraton yesterday. Sen. Arlen Specter (R- which was attended by about 1,000 veterans. The conference ends today.
Governor bids farewell to veterans
By JILL A. BEDFORD
Collegian Staff Writer
Calling it his farewell address, Gov. Dick
Thornburgh told members of the Disabled Amer
ican Veterans organization yesterday that he
was proud to have worked with veterans organi
zations during his l x k years as governor.
Thornburgh (R), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Phila
delphia) and Rep. Bill Clinger (R-Warren) were
keynote speakers yesterday at the Department
of Pennsylvania’s 56th Annual Convention of
Disabled Veterans at the Penn State Sheraton.,
240 S. Pugh St.
The governor, arriving a little late to the
convention, called his work with disabled veter
ans during his two terms as governor an “inspi
rational experience.”
“I’m proud to have been invited to (the veter
ans’ conventions) over the years. I hope (the
veterans) will ask me back even after I’m no
longer governor,” he said.
Thornburgh has already served two terms as
the governor of Pennsylvania.
Specter, a member of the Veteran Affairs
Committee, said he had “very deep feelings for
the Disabled American Veterans organization.”
weapons that the Soviets have given
the Sandinistas.”
The long-held view of the insur
gents is that they require reliable,
consistent support from the United
States in order to rally public opinion
in Nicaragua behind them.
Robelo suggested that Wednesday
night’s 221-209 House vote in support
v of President Reagan’s $lOO million
aid proposal will enable the rebels to
turn the corner in their struggle
against the Sandinstas. Until now,
Robelo said, the United States had
been engaging in a “yo-yo” policy,
with Congress approving some of
Reagan’s requests and rejecting oth
ers.
The aid will involve $7O million in
military aid and $3O million in non
lethal assistance. The rebels have
received no military aid in more than
two years.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole,
R-Kan., said the House reversal of its
anti-Contra vote in March was a
“long time coming” and predicted
the Senate will follow suit and ap
prove the aid package.
Senate Minority Leader Robert
Byrd, D-W.Va., said he was surprised
by the vote, particularly in view of
polls showing public opinion running
against the president’s proposal by
more than 2-1.
House Speaker Thomas P. O’Neill
said he was fearful that the House
vote was a prelude to the eventual
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“My father. . .was a (disabled) World War I
vet, and my brother was a World War II vet, and
I was a Korean vet,” Specter said. “. . .and I’ve
always opposed the administration on budget
cuts (in veterans’ organizations) because there
is no higher priority than the veterans.”
He added that although he is in favor of arms
reduction, he supports a strong defense because
“the Soviets only understand strength.”
The senator said he is now working on legis
lation that would make terrorism an internation
al offense which would require an international
jury for trial, similar to the jury during the
Nuremberg trials.
He is also working on a bill that would make
killing an American anywhere outside the conti
nental United States an offense requiring a trial
in the United States.
“I wanted to come and pay my respects to you
men and women (of the DAV),” Specter said.
“No matter how much money (the legislators)
give you, it won’t bring back your limbs, and it
won’t bring back the dead.”
long as I’m in Washington, I’ll be fighting
for you,” Specter added.
After arriving in State College yesterday
morning following a late-night Congress vote
Collegian
gives new hope
introduction of American troops in
Nicaragua.
Reflecting O’Neill’s concern was
the approval Wednesday night of an
amendment that would bar any U.S.
personnel civilian or military
from providing aid or training to the
Contras in areas within 20 miles of the
Nicaraguan border.
The aid would be provided in instal
lments of $4O million, $2O million and
$4O million, with the first to be made
available on enactment of the bill and
the last on Feb. 15,1987.
Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Mi
guel D’Escoto said the House action
will “cost many more deaths,” and
could prompt his government to ex
pand its military arsenal.
“President Reagan has been say
ing for a long time that he would not
desist from his intent to crush Nicara
gua until we cried ‘uncle’,” D’Escoto
said in a television interview from
London. “Well, what he did finally, he
got the Congress of the United States
to cry ‘uncle’.”
The No. 1 one priority of the coun
try “is going to continue to be the
defense of our sovereignty and terri
torial integrity,” he said.
D’Escoto refused to say whether
Nicaragua would seek additional mil
itary aid from the Soviet Union, but
said, “We won’t reject any aid that
comes from Latin America, Europe
or from any country.”
Pentagon spokesman Robert Sims
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said Thursday that the Soviet Union
has shipped Nicaragua 10 more HIP
MI-8 helicopters, bringing the Sandi
nista fleet to about 25.
The administration says the Soviet
Union has provided Nicaragua arms
worth $650 million this year, and a
total of $2 billion since the Sandinistas
came to power in 1979.
At his news conference, Robelo
pledged that the rebels, who have
been accused of widespread human
rights violations, misuing previous
aid allocations and engaging in drug
smuggling, will put the assistance to
good use.
Noting that the aid will be withheld
at least until Sept. 1, he said the delay
will give the Contadora peace media
tion group more than 60 days to
achieve the negotiated settlement it
has been seeking for more than three
years.
But he gave contradictory answers
when asked what the long-term im
pact of the aid will be. At one point, he
predicted the aid will lead to “cracks
in the Sandinista structure” within a
year but later he spoke of the outright
defeat of the Sandinistas.
Arturo Cruz, a third member of the
opposition’s civilian leadership,
called on the Sandinistas to move
toward peace by allowing all political
exiles to return home without punish
ment as a start toward national rec
onciliation.
Wednesday on the Contra Aid Bill, Clinger told
the conventioners he thought the Gramm-Rud
man-Hollings Law was good because it made
Congress think about what a serious problem the
deficit is. But he added that one reason he
opposed the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings ■ Law
overall was because it would cut back on veter
ans’ programs he thinks must be preserved.
Comparing the law to a hammer, he said “the
point is, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings hammer
should never fall, never come into effect. . .(be
cause) it cuts back on all programs equally,
whether they are good or bad.”
“Every one of us (congressmen) should be
voted out of office,” if the Gramm-Rudman
Hollings Law goes through, Clinger added.
He said after visiting one of the state’s veter
ans’ hospitals earlier in the year, he was so
impressed that he knew any cuts in veterans
programs would be “disastrous.”
“The current freedoms and unsurpassed living
arrangements (enjoyed by Americans today)
would not be possible without veterans,” he said.
Clinger said he would probably return to Wash
ington, D.C., later in the day because the budget
was scheduled to be voted on soon.
Friday, June 27,1986
Vol. 87, No. 10 16 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by students of The Pennsylvania State University
©1986 Collegian Inc.
.. Rep. Bill Clinger (R-Warren)
Contra aid is the way
to peace, Clinger says
By JILL A. BEDFORD
Collegian Staff Writer
Explaining his approval of the
Contra aid bill Wednesday, Rep.
Bill Clinger (R-Warren) said he
reversed his vote of last March
because he is convinced giving aid
to the contra rebels is the most
hopeful outlook for America.
“The decision comes down to
what is most important,” he said.
“(Giving aid to the contras) is the
best way to keep America out (of a
war).”
Congress voted Wednesday to
give $lOO million in aid to the
contras counter-revolutionary
guerilla forces fighting to over
throw the Sandinista Government
in Nicaragua. Thirty million dol
lars is targeted for humanitarian
aid and $7O million is targeted for
military aid.
Bill Wachob, Clinger’s Demo
cratic opponent for the 23rd Con
gressional District, said if Clinger
thought voting for the bill was a
peaceful solution, he was wrong.
“(This bill) will get (America)
in deeper and deeper,” Wachob
said. “Clinger will have to take the
responsibility for the American
contra role in Nicaragua.”
Disabled veterans end
56th convention today
By JILL A. BEDFORD
Collegian Staff Writer
Some men and women lost arms,
legs and eyes while proudly serving
the United States in wartime. And
close to 1,000 of those individuals
assembled in State College on
Wednesday to prove they are just as
proud today as they were years ago of
the sacrifices they made to protect
their country.
Pennsylvania members of the Dis
abled American Veterans organiza
tion will close their 56th annual
convention today at the Penn State
Sheraton, 240 S. Pugh St.
The DAV is a non-profit organiza
tion designed to provide services to
veterans and the widows and children
of veterans, according to Albert H.
Linden Jr., the national commander
of the DAV. It currently boasts a
membership of almost one million
veterans three percent of which
are women, Linden said.
To qualify for membership in the
organization, veterans must have
been injured during wartime service.
The DAV is currently offering mem-
weather
This afternoon, it will be muggy and warm with the chance of an afternoon
shower or thundershower. The high will be a sultry 86. Tonight, it will
remain humid with the chance of a shower or evening thundershower.
Low 67. Tomorrow, the muggies continue with some hazy sunshine and
there is a chance of a shower or thundershower throughout the day. High
85 Heidi Sonen
Clinger said the Sandinistas
have established censorship in the
country, but more importantly
have been unwilling to negotiate a
settlement in order to stop the
fighting.
He also noted that the Soviets
have stepped up their supply of
arms to the Sandinistas and that
there are critical sea lanes on the
East Coast of Nicaragua that
would be governed by the Soviets.
Wachob criticized Clinger for
rejecting a “crucial amendment”
to the bill which would have frozen
the $lOO million in aid until the $27
million the U.S. has already given
the Contras can be accounted for.
“(Clinger’s vote) was just one
more example of Clinger telling
his constituents one thing and vot
ing another,” Wachob said. He
cited Clinger’s vote against a nu
clear freeze after he had pledged
his support for it as another exam
ple.
Clinger said he knows of no
evidence that suggests the U.S.
money isn’t going where it should,
stating that those allegations
came from opponents of the bill.
“If we don’t stop this (war)
now,” he said, “where do
we?. . .Mexico?”
berships to anyone wounded in Gre
nada or Lebanon, since both areas
were considered war zones, Linden
said.
Linden, an amputee who served in
the Vietnam War, was the first leg
amputee in the Army’s history to
return to flight status.
He is on a year’s absence from his
position as Deputy Administrator for
the Energy Department’s Energy
Information Administration while he
serves a one-year term as the nation
al commander of the DAV.
Keynote speakers during yester
day’s session were Gov. Dick Thorn
burgh, and former veterans U.S. Sen.
Arlen Specter, (R-Philadelphia), and
U.S. Rep. Bill Clinger, (R-Warren).
Bill Wachob, Democratic candidate
for the 23rd Congressional seat, was
also scheduled to speak yesterday.
However, he could not attend the
conference. Bob Edgar, Democratic
candidate for the Senate, is scheduled
to speak this morning, according to
Stanley Adams, director for the
Centre County Office of Veterans
Affairs.