Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 15, 1994 TAG: 9405150057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
"At this time in our nation, I think we need more integrity and more ethics in our government," the retired Army general said Friday from his Tampa, Fla., office.
Schwarzkopf's statement follows previous criticism of North by former President Reagan and retired Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell.
Schwarzkopf told the newspaper he was not endorsing North's Republican rival, Jim Miller, who also is seeking the seat of Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles Robb.
Retired Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, who also served as head of the joint chiefs, fired back on behalf of the North campaign.
"The bottom line is that there are thousands of rank-and-file officers, enlisted personnel and military retirees - myself included - who disagree with Gen. Schwarzkopf and believe that Ollie North served his country with great integrity," he said.
Schwarzkopf, who has generally refrained from commenting on political matters, said he was speaking out at the urging of friends backing Miller.
"This does not constitute an endorsement," said Schwarzkopf, a registered independent in Florida who added that he doesn't know Miller and is not familiar with the issues in the Virginia race.
One of them - North's role in the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages scandal - haunts North's candidacy.
Though the retired Marine is considered the front-runner for the GOP nomination, polls show him losing in the fall - largely because of Iran-Contra.
"I have some real concerns with ethics and integrity as far as Col. North is concerned," Schwarzkopf said.
Asked to explain North's appeal, the general said: "He defied the congressional inquiry [of Iran-Contra] and the congressional committee, and I think the American public was pretty well fed up with the Congress. . . . I would confess that I was one of them. But the facts came out that he did, indeed, lie, and that disturbed me."
In 1989, North was convicted of three felonies, among them aiding and abetting in the obstruction of Congress. The convictions were overturned on a technicality by a federal appeals court.
A spokesman for Miller, a former White House budget director, said Schwarzkopf's remarks should come as a warning to state Republicans about North's credibility.
"Reagan, Powell, Schwarzkopf - these are among the most respected men in America," said Keith Appell, a Miller spokesman. "Their credibility is unquestionable and their statements speak for themselves."
The Miller campaign acknowledged seeking a statement about the race from Schwarzkopf.
A Miller delegate to the June 3-4 convention, retired Gen. John C. Bahnsen of York County, was a West Point classmate of Schwarzkopf and recently wrote Miller that the Gulf War leader had expressed concerns about North's integrity.
Schwarzkopf has a personal beef with North.
In 1991, he told the newspaper, North's organization used his photograph - without his authorization - in a fund-raising letter for the children of American casualties in the Gulf.
Schwarzkopf said it left the erroneous impression he had endorsed the North effort - "which I had not." When he demanded that North's staff not use his picture, Schwarzkopf said, North tried to depict him as uncaring.
North press secretary Mark Merritt said he believed the offending photograph had been pulled.
Schwarzkopf is a trustee of the University of Richmond and a member of the adjunct faculty.
In another development Friday in the U.S. Senate race, Democratic state Sen. Virgil Goode of Rocky Mount received endorsements from five constitutional officers in Russell County, including Sheriff Trigg Fields.
Also seeking Robb's seat are Richmond lawyer Sylvia Clute and Lyndon LaRouche supporter Nancy Spannaus.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB