Show Vol79 No Friday March 18 1988 70 18 Logan Utah Covering Bridgerland Northern Utah and Southern Idaho pages 2 sections 35 cents Lawmakers lambast Reagan for decision WASHINGTON (UPI) — President Reagan barraged by criticism from congressional Democrats for sending 3200 American troops to Honduras may have to do more selling than he thought to drum up support for his contested policies "I know of nothing that justifies sending troops” protested House Speaker Jim Wright as lawmakers debated Thursday the president’s decision to make a show of force behind the Contra rebels chased across the border into Honduras by Nicaragua's Sandinista forces White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater assured critics that the US troops would be US-back- engaged in joint exercises with Honduran forces 125 miles from the Nicaraguan incursion and would not be involved in combat But the president's decision taking Congress by sun) rise was greeted with widespread skepticism and some anxiety that it might be a step toward deeper US involvement in the Central American conflict Democrats also wondered aloud whether Reagan made the move to build support for more Contra aid Further peace talks between Nicaragua's Sandinista government and rebel leaders nave been scheduled to begin Monday in the Nicaraguan town of Sapoa On both sides Thursday fingers were pointed about the threat to the cease-fir- e sought under the peace plan authored by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias a senior Sen Christopher Dodd Foreign Relations Committee member called g the Nicaraguan wrong — but Reagan's action excessive “The Sandinistas made at the very least a terrible political mistake by engaging in that kind of activity at a time when we're getting so talks’’ Dodd said “The close to some cease-fir- e mistake was compounded in my view by (the decision) to take the dramatic action if you will of sending over 3000 US forces to the base in Honduras “My fear is that the (peace) talks may be border-crossin- scuttled and that would be a disaster" Dodd concluded Wright said Thursday he was “frankly by the decision to commit troops to ionduras because top administration officials ndicated to him late Wednesday afternoon that they had no plans to do so “We weren’t told that it wasn’t going to happen” he said “(But) we were told that it was not ordered that it was not contemplated” Wright who drafted his own peace proposal with Reagan in August but endorsed the Arias plan when his was passed over — did not accuse sur-irise- See TROOPS on page 2 Ortega vows to continue MANAGUA Nicaragua (UPI) — Honduran jets and Nicaraguan ground forces exchanged rocket fire along their troubled border and President Daniel Ortega vowed to continue an offensive against the Contra rebels until they agree to a cease-fir- e Honduran airstrikes Thursday came as Honduran troops moved toward the frontier to repel Nicaraguan soldiers that Tegucigalpa and Washington say crossed the border in pursuit of the Contras They also coincided with the arrival of the first of about 3200 US soldiers at Palmerola Air Base in Honduras US-back- ed Alejandro Bendana a Nicaraguan Foreign Ministry official in an interview today with CBS “This Morning" re- peated the government's assertion that Sandinista A soldier waits to board a - Oliver North John Poindexter and the two other central scandal figures indicted in the have been ordered to appear in court next week to begin what is likely to be a lengthy pitched legal battle US District Judge Gerhard Gesell who will oversee what should be a monumental show of pre-trimaneuvering said the four men indicted on 23 criminal counts will be arraigned Thursday at the federal courthouse The judge’s order one week before the date came with word from the White House that there had been no talk of presidential pardons for the four men accused in the independent investigation of President Reagan’s worst crisis A spate of demonstrations promptly broke out around town including about 35 picketers who stood outside independent prosecutor Lawrence Walsh’s offices brandishing banners saying: “Indict right” and “I love Ollie" Another rally in support of the former White House aide who faces up to 85 years in prison took place outside his lawyer’s office Thursday conservatives planned to lend formal support today at a National Press Club news conference In Charleston SC Thursday night North spoke to the Hibernian Society vowing to fight his indictment “all the way” and applauding Reagan's decision to send a wave of US troops into Honduras as a show of force (UPI) Iran-Cont- ra al pro-Nort- h all-ma- all-whi- te Inside behind the Contra rebels fighting Nicaragua’s Sandinista government “We’ve got to put the Sandinistas back where they belong" North told the audience that gave him a hero’s welcome North the Marine lieutenant colonel fired from the National Security Council staff and Poindexter the retired Navy rear admiral ousted as the president’s national security adviser were charged along with retired Air Force Maj Gen Richard Secord and Iranian-bor- n arms dealer Albert Hakim in conspiring to bilk the government of millions of dollars generated by secret arms sales to Iran All four were accused of conspiring to divert much of the arms money to the Contras at a time when official US aid to the rebels was outlawed All were indicted as well on counts of embezzling govern- ment property and wire fraud in the movement of funds overseas North and Poindexter the White House insiders who knew the most about the arms sales aimed at freeing US hostages held terrorists were charged by further with trying to cover up the clandestine scheme by shredding documents erasing computer files and misleading investigators North Hakim and Secord were accused of profiting personally from the deals Each defendant vowed to plead innocent and to fight the charges as long as it takes to win acquittal It is likely to be a very long fight pro-Irani- an Thiokol at fault to anglers !ireater diversity Five Morton operation to provide southeastern Idaho 11 Index About Cache Classified ads Comics 4 15 14-1- 5 Outdoor 11 3 8 Region report Sports ULIecu Here comes the North Carolina in the r SALT LAKE CITY Dooby Dooby And here comes the weekend Could any two be more perfect for each other? It's gou'j to be 4 more than all right (UPI) -- Thiokol Inc workers killed in a Dec 29 1987 flash fire that ripped through 50 tons of rocket propellant ignored safety rules and violations at the plant were not unusual the Air Force says In a summary investigation report released Thursday the Air Force was critical of Thiokol for sloppy procedures and failure to institute accident safeguards it agreed to following a missile fire seven months earlier investigating board "the procedures used by operators were vague confusing written at a reading level well above that of the average operator sometimes impossible to follow contradictory and incomplete" “In the board's opinion this The sun helicopters wander into Nicaraguan North already has tied up Walsh for months with legal challenges and a myriad of similar roadblocks are expected from the others Legal experts have predicted it could be a year before the case comes to trial Walsh a veteran prosecutor and former federal judge faces the prospect of a protracted legal battle with defense lawyers expected to unload a barrage of legal challenges to every aspect of the prosecution's case Gesell who presided over several key aspects of the Watergate scandal more than a decade ago has been selected to oversee what amounts to the broadest criminal allegations in a White House scandal since President Nixon’s years The judge is likely to be faced with ruling on whether a portion of Walsh’s probe — in the period between his initial appointment by a federal court and his “back-up- " appointment from the executive branch — was unconstitutional He also will have to weigh Walsh's handling of evidence from some key figures who testified on Capitol Hill under limited grants of immunity from prosecution In last year’s televised hearings North Poindexter and Hakim were protected by forcing Walsh to take extraordinary steps to prove all evidence he presents was not gleaned from shielded immunity testimony North faces a maximum prison and $4 million in fines interview from Managua “This is not by any means an invasion of Hon duras We are merely defending ourselves” He warned that if US 85 years in there airspace might be a "new Gulf of Tonkin situation” On Aug 2 1964 North Vietnam boats reportedly attacked two US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin prompting Congress to authorize presidential action — the sending in of troops — to Vietnam In Tegucigalpa Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez Co- ntreras said Honduran warplanes destroyed a Soviet-m- Nicaraguan helicopter ade Thursday afternoon during a bombing run on a Sandinista-occupie- d air strip inside Hon- duras Nicaraguan reported a Honduran officials air strike inside Nicaragua Lopez Contreras said the bombing and destruction of the helicopter “will corroborate the military presence of the Sandinista army on Honduran territory" He said the Honduran planes were attacked by artillery and a missile fired “from a hill located in Honduras” A Nicaraguan commander Lt Col Javier Carrion who was showing foreign journalists a command center inside Nicaragua in the Bocay region 185 miles north of Managua F-- forces fired ground-to-ai- r missiles at the jets them away" chasing State Department official Washington said “There was a Honduran air attack on a suspected location of a A in installation inside Nicaragua at Amaka" apparently referring to the river that meets the Honduran border 30 miles east of Nicaraguan town of Bocay The State Department said one Soviet-bui-lt helicopter was ground Mi-2- 5 dest-oye- Hind on the Earlier Thursday Nicaragua put its troops and reserves on combat alert to repel any attempted invasion by the US troops arriving in neighboring Honduras and called for a meeting of the UN Security Council today In New York UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar called for restraint “by all concerned" and said he may send an observer mission to the area as requested by Ortega President Reagan ordered two battalions of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and two from the 7th Light Infantry Division into Honduras as a “measured response" to what the ad- ministration said was Nicaraguan incursion Honduran territory The White House said it acted on a request for assistance from Honduran President Jose Azcona Hoyo A White House spokesman estimated 1500 to 2000 Sandinista troops were in Hon- duras on Thursday In Managua Ortega said Sandinista troops were staying in Nicaraguan territory He vowed to carry on the offensive until a cease-fir- e can be negotiated and warned his soldiers would defeat the Americans if they invaded Denying his forces were in Honduras Ortega said “The troops are in Nicaraguan territory and they will remain there to displace mercenaries (Contras)" Sandinista found led to a general lack of crew and procedural discipline” Local workers who died in the fire were Del Loosli 42 of Nibley and Richard Goodsell 36 of Clarkston The investigators said the fire was caused either by grit in the casting equipment used to form solid-fue- l rocket motors for the first stage of the MX Missile or by an electrostatic discharge The report was released one day after Utah safety officials cited the aerospace company which also makes solid fuel rocket boosters for the space shuttle for six alleged safety violations in connection with the fire The Utah Occupational and Safety and is seeking fines of 831700 Thiokol officials Thursday Tim A Cadillac in Lincoln The last time Utah Stale Athletic Director Rod Tueller (above at Thursday's practice ) was in Lincoln Neb he was told that the Cornhusker athletic department was so awash in revenue that it just had to find a home for an extra SS million so it gave this small change to the university Was he envious? You betcha But SeeTHIOKOLonpage2 i i a into Air Force finds Grace Idaho fish hatchery has expanded its A waters in arraignments set Iran-Contr- a WASHINGTON transport at Pope Air Force Base C-1- 41 troops did not attempt to invade Honduras “There is fighting along the border and this is one more border incident” Bendana said 5 said: “Two (Honduran) rockets jets fired against Nicaraguan positions “The jets fired at least five rockets against the command post of the Sandinista Popular Army in Bocay (inside Nicaragua) a little ways away from the river of the same name" Carrion said “Our FjvnuS'jerwMe'ilU journal today all the riches in Big Rediand couldn't take the place of the pride coach Tueller feels at the wheel of a Cadillac in Lincoln a deluxe Utah State basketball team which revs up against Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Game time was 1:30 pm pregame story is on page8 |