Source: Voice of America
DATE=03/17/97 TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP NUMBER=6-10071 TITLE=ANTHONY LAKE'S BID FOR THE C-I-A BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE TELEPHONE=619-3335 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=NEAL LAVON CONTENT= INTRO: SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS CONCERNING THE SELECTION OF ANTHONY LAKE TO HEAD THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RESUME IN WASHINGTON THIS WEEK. MR. LAKE SERVED AS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR DURING PRESIDENT CLINTON'S FIRST TERM AND, AS SUCH, HAS BEEN QUESTIONED HEAVILY ABOUT TWO MATTERS THAT DISTURBED THE U.S. SENATE. ONE WAS THE ADMINISTRATION'S DECISION NOT TO TELL CONGRESS IT WAS ALLOWING BOSNIA TO OBTAIN ARMAMENTS AND MILITARY ADVISERS FROM IRAN DURING THE CIVIL WAR. THE OTHER WAS THE ALLEGED CHINESE BID TO CONTRIBUTE FUNDS ILLEGALLY TO MR. CLINTON'S RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN. MR. LAKE SAYS HE KNEW NOTHING DESPITE AN F-B-I BRIEFING OF HIS SUBORDINATES. NOW MR. LAKE FINDS HIS EFFORT TO HEAD THE NATIONS PREMIER INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AGENCY DRAWING OPPOSITION IN THE PRESS. WE HAVE A SAMPLING NOW, FROM ________________ IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP. TEXT: THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY HAS COME IN FOR MUCH CRITICISM IN THE PAST FEW YEARS FOR A NUMBER OF ISSUES. FIRST WAS WHAT SOME SAY WAS THE BELATED DISCOVERY OF A RUSSIAN MOLE (SPY IN HIGH-LEVEL AGENCY OFFICES) IN THE C-I-A; SECOND WAS THE AGENCY'S CONNECTIONS TO SEVERAL LATIN AMERICAN MILITARY PERSONNEL ACCUSED OF GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS. ALSO CITED WAS A FAILURE TO INFORM THE U.S. ARMY OF IRAQI CHEMICAL WEAPONS SITES WHICH WERE SUBSEQUENTLY DESTROYED BY U-S FORCES, EXPOSING THOUSANDS TO POISONOUS AGENTS. THE AGENCY IS ACCUSED AS WELL OF FAILING TO RESPOND QUICKLY TO THE END OF THE COLD WAR AND TO RE-DIRECT ITS INTELLIGENCE GATHERING OPERATIONS TO REFLECT THE NEW GEO-POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES. WE BEGIN WITH THE MIAMI HERALD, WHERE NATIONALLY SYNDICATED COLUMNIST MOLLY IVINS SAYS ANTHONY LAKE IS A DECENT MAN WITH A CONSCIENCE AND THAT IS NOW BEING HELD AGAINST HIM. VOICE: ".... BARRING SOMEONE FROM PUBLIC OFFICE FOR HAVING RESIGNED HIS JOB OVER A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE IS BOTH WICKED AND NUTS [CRAZY]. THE CITIZEN IN POINT IS ANTHONY LAKE ..... A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO, [MR.] LAKE WORKED FOR THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL DURING THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION; HE OBJECTED BOTH TO THE ILLEGAL BOMBING OF CAMBODIA, WHICH HAS HAD UNUTTERABLY TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES, AND TO THE ILLEGAL WIRETAPPING FOR REPORTERS. SO HE QUIT. TO MOST OF US, THIS WOULD APPEAR TO BE A HIGHLY COMMENDABLE ACTION AND A SPLENDID RECOMMENDATION FOR A FUTURE HEAD OF THE C-I-A. IMAGINE, SOMEONE IN CHARGE OF THE C-I-A WHO RESPECTS THE LAW AND HAS A CONSCIENCE - - THANK YOU, JESUS! BUT, NO - - ACCORDING TO SOME ON THE RIGHT, THESE VERY QUALITIES MAKE [MR.] LAKE UNFIT TO HEAD THE C-I-A." TEXT: IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, THE SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER WRITES OF MR. LAKE'S APPARENT FAILURE TO KNOW WHAT WAS TAKING PLACE IN THE CLINTON WHITE HOUSE. VOICE: "WHAT WE SEEM TO HAVE HERE IS A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE. PRESIDENT CLINTON DIDN'T KNOW OF THE F-B-I WAS INVESTIGATING A PURPORTED PLOT BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT TO BUY INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM. NO ONE TOLD HIM. ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO CALLED TONY LAKE, THEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, TO TELL HIM, BUT SHE 'WASN'T ABLE TO REACH HIM.' [MR.] LAKE DIDN'T TELL CONGRESS ABOUT THE IRANIANS SMUGGLING ARMS TO BOSNIAN MUSLIM SOLDIERS IN 1994F, AN OVERSIGHT HE VOWS TO CORRECT IF HE'S CONFIRMED TO HEAD THE CIA. HE APPARENTLY DIDN'T KNOW, AND WASN'T ASKED, ABOUT LESS-THAN-SAVORY VISITORS TO THE WHITE HOUSE, INCLUDING A CHINESE ARMS MERCHANT. HE WAS UNAWARE THAT PART OF THE LONG BEACH [CALIFORNIA] NAVAL SHIPYARD WAS BEING LEASED TO CHINA OCEAN SHIPPING COMPANY, A COMPANY CONTROLLED BY THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY THAT WAS IMPLICATED IN A SCHEME THAT SMUGGLED 2-THOUSAND ILLEGAL CHINESE WEAPONS INTO THIS COUNTRY. HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE APPOINTMENT OF TWO WEALTHY DONORS TO THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE REVIEW BOARD, [FOR WHICH] HE IS RESPONSIBLE. ..... FOR A GUY WHO IS SUPPOSEDLY PRIVY TO SECRETS, LOTS OF THINGS ESCAPED HIS ATTENTION." TEXT: TAKING A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT APPROACH, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER FINDS MR. LAKE'S QUALIFICATIONS INADEQUATE FOR THE JOB. VOICE: "THE NATION'S 30-BILLION-DOLLARS-A-YEAR INTELLIGENCE EMPIRE, EMPLOYING TENS OF THOUSANDS, IS DEEPLY TROUBLED. WHOEVER BECOMES THE NATION'S NEW TOP SPY WILL HAVE TO RESTRUCTURE THE INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS, NOT TO MENTION CONVINCE AMERICANS THE NATION STILL NEEDS ONE. SADLY, THE PRESIDENT'S CHOICE ..... ANTHONY LAKE, JUST ISN'T THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB. ..... HE DOESN'T HAVE THE INTIMATE FEEL FOR THE C-I-A NEEDED TO MOLD IT TO THE NEEDS OF A NEW ERA. NOR DOES HE HAVE THE MANAGEMENT TRACK RECORD TO SUGGEST HE CAN RUN A HUGE INTELLIGENCE EMPIRE." [OPT] TEXT: NEWSDAY, ON LONG ISLAND (NEW YORK) AGREES, AND RAN A HEADLINE OVER ITS MONDAY (3/17) EDITORIALS THAT READ: "IGNORANCE IS NOT A QUALIFICATION TO HEAD THE CIA." THE PAPER CITES LAST WEEK'S SENATE TESTIMONY BY MR. LAKE ABOUT HIS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF THE ATTEMPT BY CHINESE OPERATIVES TO CHANNEL MONEY INTO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN AS PROOF HE WAS NOT MANAGING HIS LAST POST WELL. VOICE: "[MR.] LAKE INSISTED ... HE KNEW NOTHING .... ABOUT A MEETING LAST JUNE BETWEEN THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION AND TWO OF HIS OWN STAFFERS AT THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, IN WHICH THE AGENTS PASSED ALONG INTELLIGENCE ABOUT CHINESE ATTEMPTS TO INFLUENCE U-S POLICY WITH ILLEGAL POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS. ..... DID [MR.] LAKE SO MISMANAGE THE N-S-C THAT VITAL INFORMATION NEVER TRICKLED UPWARD? OR ..... DID HE WANT TO AVOID HEARING BAD NEWS? ABOUT THE BEST THAT ANYONE CAN SAY OF THAT SORRY PERFORMANCE IS THAT [MR.] LAKE IS NOT ALONE." [END OPT] TEXT: COMMENTING ON THE HEARINGS SO FAR, THE NEW YORK TIMES SAYS THAT MR. LAKE HAS SPOKEN ELOQUENTLY ON THE ISSUE OF ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE C-I-A. BUT THE PAPER DESCRIBES HIS ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ALLEGED CAMPAIGN-FUND RAISING ABUSES LAST YEAR, WHEN HE WAS NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, AS "ANEMIC." VOICE: ".... IT IS REMARKABLE THAT THEY [MR. LAKE AND HIS DEPUTY SAMUEL BERGER] DID NOT RAISE AN ALARM ABOUT CAMPAIGN ACTIVITIES THAT WERE SO CLEARLY IMPINGING ON THEIR TERRITORY. IT IS HARD NOT TO CONCLUDE ... [THEY] ...WERE EITHER OUT OF TOUCH OR NEGLIGENT AS THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN SHOULDERED ITS WAY INTO THE SENSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND BEIJING." TEXT: ON THAT NOTE, WE CONCLUDE THIS SAMPLING OF EDITORIAL COMMENT ON ANTHONY LAKE, PRESIDENT CLINTON'S NOMINEE TO BE HEAD OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. NEB/ANG/NL 17-Mar-97 2:55 PM EST (1955 UTC) NNNN .