White speaks on foreign policy

Q: Should the lmited States give Duarte's g(JIIemment military aid? A: Tht" political history of El Salvador ovt·r tht· last year and a half is tht· struAAJc of the civilian kadcrship 10 gain control over the military. The Salvadoran military has already rt'<.'dVl·d more military assis· tann· than had hc.·t·n given them in twenty years in order to mt"ct the ldtist threat. I hdkvt' this was a correct deci~ion. Their military wart·houses arc filkd. There is no nt·cd liJr additional military assistance. The signature of the Unitt"d Statt·s towards El Salvador should be economic assistance designed to assist tht· rdorm and implement social programs, which would undercut the program of the left and assist the solution. If you emphasize military assistance, you cmpha.~izc a military solution and you stengthcn tht' corrupt dt·ments in tht· security forces. Tht· point is that the military assistance is not necessary and it docs exactly the contrary of what you want it to do. Q: Is there a direct link between repression in 1:'1 Salt1ador and military aid? A. If you abandon the human rights policy, whkh the Reagan administration a.~ a practical matter has done. tht·n you arc in effect stating that it doesn't mattt"r who you kill. Ninety pcrct"nt of the people killed hy the st"curit)' forces have been kllkd on mere suspicion. Q: How much power does the left hm,e? A: The left ls incapable of winning a war. The only thing the kft is capahlc of is acts of terrorism. The way to counter terrorism is to take away the puhlil.: support for the kft, not through ma.~sivc military assistance. This ls done hy pushing forward the social. economic and political reforms. Q: I/ ow much assistance hcwe the leftists receil1etl?' A: Except for the brief period hctwet·n administrations, military assistance to tht· leftists has been very small. Just a.~ you bring all the bricks and all the monar to a building site, unless you have the masons to put that huilding up, nothing is going to happt·n. This is what indeed haP,pt·nt·d in January, where thcrt· were amplt· arms, but no one to pick them up. That is why the leftist offensive in El Salvador failed in January.