Military Aid

In your editorial describing Gen. Maxwell Thurman's congressional testimony on the Salvadoran war ("The General Lays It on the Line," Feb. 12), one sentence jumps out as absolutely absurd. After citing military assessments that, despite massive U.S. military aid, the Salvadoran war is at a stalemate and cannot be won, you conclude: "That's why, when Congress votes to renew that aid--as it is likely to do very soon--it must add conditions . . . to let Cristiani negotiate peace." Can someone please explain how renewing military aid leads to peace?

Conservative leaders launched a campaign Tuesday to pressure Congress to approve $310 million in military aid for the contras in Nicaragua. Rep. Jack Kemp (R-N.Y.), speaking for the group, said at a news conference that the diplomatic peace initiative being pursued by the Administration is unworkable.

The House voted to deny military aid to Indonesia until that country fully investigates an ambush that killed two Americans in August 2002. Teachers from the Tembagapura International School were headed to a picnic in Papua when the two were killed in an ambush. Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) said the Indonesian police have been removed from the case and responsibility assigned to the military. Initial reports said the military may have been involved, but it has since exonerated itself.

President Bush told Congress on Tuesday that he has decided to free $42.5 million in military aid for the government of El Salvador, saying Salvadoran rebels are committing human rights abuses and grabbing weapons. But Bush said he would hold up dispensing the money for 60 days to coincide with elections in March for the Salvadoran National Assembly. This will give peace negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations "every chance to work," Bush said.

Three members of Congress, saying the Administration has a "losing policy" in Central America, introduced legislation Wednesday to halt $40 million in military aid to the Nicaraguan contras. "Aid to the contras and the military approach to the problems in Central America is a six-year policy of failure," Rep. Bruce A. Morrison (D-Conn.) said.

Croatia's interior minister today said he would welcome outside military help in case of attack by the Yugoslav army, and rival leaders of Serbia and Croatia met to try to defuse the threat of civil war. With political tensions continuing to escalate, the country's eight-man collective presidency, which promised Tuesday not to use force to disarm Croatia's special forces, called a meeting today in Belgrade.

Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin opened talks here today on U.S. military aid to his hard-pressed country, with diplomatic sources saying the Reagan Administration will offer Israel $1.8 billion for 1986. But U.S. officials said American economic assistance, including a request for an immediate $800-million shot in the arm, will be scrutinized before a decision is made on that aid. Defense Secretary Caspar W.

Stepping up pressure on President Bush to intervene in the Yugoslav crisis, the Senate on Wednesday authorized the transfer of up to $50 million in military aid to the beleaguered government in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Senate also approved restrictions barring the Agency for International Development (AID) from offering financial incentives to American companies that export U.S. jobs overseas when they open manufacturing facilities abroad.