THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
My decision not to vote for Oliver North can be summed up by the experiences of two men, Terry Waite and Father Lawrence Martin Jenco. Their experiences are detailed in two books, Taken on Trust by Terry Waite and Terry Waite and Ollie North by Gavin Hewitt.
Terry Waite was an envoy of the Anglican Church who worked tirelessly for the release of hostages in Libya, Iran and Beirut. He learned from experience that it was important to be honest and forthright when negotiating with captors and he faced many dangers in working to secure the release of hostages.
But the greatest danger he faced was when he became involved with Oliver North during the Beirut hostage crisis. Waite thought he and North were working together to obtain the release of the hostages. But one can see, after reading these two books, that Waite was being used as a cover for the arms-for-hostages dealings.
Waite paid a very dear price for this deception. For when the Iran-Contra scandal was brought to light and Waite's name linked to it, he felt compelled to return to Beirut to clear his name and assure those who became his captors that he had always negotiated with them in good faith and that he knew nothing of North's dealings. But because his name was linked to North's, he was not believed; and on Jan. 20, 1987, Terry Waite was kidnapped (Taken on Trust, Pages 342-348 and Terry Waite and Ollie North, Pages vii-ix, 218-219).
Terry Waite spent the next five years as a hostage. He was chained to a wall and for four years was in solitary confinement, subjected to abuse we cannot even imagine. It is clear that, for Terry Waite, trusting Oliver North was the wrong thing to do.
Father Lawrence Martin Jenco was one of the few hostages released because of the arms sales to Iran. But when he found out why he had been released, he was appalled. He said he would have refused to be released under those circumstances. In an August 1987 interview, he said: ``Here I am, a single person . . . and you're exchanging me for arms that are going to kill men, women, children by the thousands. What tremendous foolishness!'' (Terry Waite and Ollie North, Page 211).
And what tremendous foolishness it would be if we didn't learn from the experiences of Terry Waite and Father Jenco. Their experience speaks louder to me than any words Oliver North has to say today.
JUNE FLAGG
Virginia Beach, Sept. 29, 1994 by CNB