Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 4, 1993 TAG: 9301040256
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OPEN THE BOOKS ON CIA'S SORDID PAST
THE TIME is coming to open the records of covert activity during the Cold War.Did the CIA overthrow the elected government in Guatemala in 1954? Did we secretly conspire to overthrow the elected government of Chile in 1973?
Have our agents conspired to assassinate Fidel Castro? Did the United States organize and control the Contra war against the Sandinistas? Did this effort include civilian targets such as schools, health clinics and cooperatives?
Did the United States know of and tolerate village massacres by El Salvadoran troops?
Justified by reason of national security, CIA information about these activities is classified. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the fear of communism, this reason loses validity.
With the end of the Cold War and new leadership assuming power in our country, now is the time to open the classified books and encourage an honest evaluation of our past. U.S. security is not at risk. However, our sense of moral self-righteousness is.
Because the incoming Clinton administration is not closely linked to past CIA activities, it has nothing to hide. For those of us who are already aware of many suspected crimes, an accounting of these activities in the public would go a long way toward restoring our faith in the government.
Without honestly evaluating our past covert violence and subversion, we will be condemned to repeat our crimes with new justifications.
Those involved in criminal activities should be judged by their peers in court. However, in a spirit of reconciliation, those found guilty should be granted amnesty.
With the threat of heavy punishment taken away, perhaps the process could be more open and less threatening to those involved.
To some extent, crimes committed in the name of the Cold War are our crimes, in that these people represented us. Our indifference to the truth, or even our more active belief in the lies, contributed to the suffering of many people. Only by honestly looking at the past can we hope to avoid making the same mistakes again. B. ELI FISHPAW LEXINGTON