A Policy of Deception

On October 2 the Washington Post published a story describing a Reagan administration campaign of deception designed to make Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi think that, among other things, he was about to be attacked again by U.S. bombers. The story revealed a plan that was adopted at a White House meeting August 14 and detailed in a three-page memo from national security affairs adviser John M. Poindexter to President Reagan.

According to the Washington Post, the Poindexter memo said "one of the key elements" is that the strategy "combines real and illusionary events--through a disinformation program--with the basic goal of making Gadhafi think that there is a high degree of internal opposition to him within Libya, that his key trusted aides are disloyal, and that the U.S. is about to move against him militarily."

On August 25 the Wall Street Journal printed a front-page story detailing as fact much of the false information generated by the administration plan. For the next few days, U.S. TV stations, newspapers, and radio contained many reports describing renewed Libyan backing for terrorism and an almost certain U.S. military response. The false reports were based on information provided by administration officials. White House spokesperson Larry Speakes, speaking on the record at the time, called the false report in the Wall Street Journal "authoritative."

After the campaign of deception was revealed by the Washington Post, administration officials began denying and justifying their action at the same time. The president said, "Our side is not lying about anything." Secretary of State George Shultz said if he were a private citizen and heard about the administration's disinformation campaign, he would say, "Gee, I hope it's true." Shultz went on to quote Winston Churchill, saying, "In time of war, the truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies."

Bernard Kalb, assistant secretary of state for public affairs, resigned in protest, stating he was "concerned about the impact of such a disinformation program on the credibility of the United States." As Kalb was resigning, another story was unfolding which proved to be equally difficult for the Reagan administration to explain.

Nicaraguan government officials reported that a U.S.-built cargo plane had been shot down on a contra resupply mission several miles inside Nicaragua. An American, Eugene Hasenfus, had been captured, and two other Americans had been killed in the crash, along with a third unidentified man. Denials of any U.S. government role were immediately issued by high-ranking administration officials, who said there was absolutely no connection between the downed airplane and the U.S. government.

But questions persisted, and by the end of the week the two Americans who had been killed were positively linked to the CIA. The plane that was shot down was positively identified as one used by the U.S. government in the past for undercover drug operations. And the same plane had been photographed in August at Southern Air Transport, a company with longstanding ties to the CIA.

The American captive said he assumed he was working for the CIA and identified the CIA as overseer of the contra resupply operation. Salvadoran air force identity cards found in the plane wreckage reportedly could only have been issued to Americans with the approval of U.S. Embassy personnel in Managua. And one of the two men named by Hasenfus as CIA coordinators of the resupply flights was linked directly to Vice President George Bush and his national security adviser, Donald P. Gregg.

BOTH OF THESE STORIES again demonstrate that the Reagan administration cannot be trusted to tell the truth. The Libya disinformation campaign is the most public example of administration deception, but it is not the largest or the first. This administration has a long history of deceiving the U.S. public about Nicaragua that has been carefully documented by Sojourners and others.

In May, Witness for Peace released a statement signed by 200 religious leaders that listed several administration lies about Nicaragua. The list contained 12 specific examples of disinformation that could be checked and verified by any reporter who was interested. At the time none were.

But that was before longtime media insider Bernard Kalb publicly resigned because of administration dishonesty. Fol- lowing the Kalb resignation, the media s started raising the issue of dishonesty on their own, first about Libya and then about Nicaragua. Now, at least for the moment, administration deception is a hot topic of media interest.

Administration spokespeople are being asked to prove and verify statements that would have gone unchallenged just a few weeks ago. And several news accounts have actually reported that the administration is not telling the truth about one thing or another. This is an opening that did not exist before Kalb resigned, when pointing out administration lies seemed tantamount to treason. But after the resignation, everyone seemed to want to tell a piece of the story.

There is certainly a story to tell about the Reagan administration's use of deception in its war against Nicaragua. But if history is any guide, most of the media will have forgotten about the administration's use of distortion and disinformation as a political tactic before you read this. The president and his key advisers will be believed word for word, and the administration will again be able to tell reporters what is "truth."

George Shultz has quoted Winston Churchill to justify this administration's lying, but the American public has not accepted this rationale. Perhaps instinctively, many people realize that there can be no democracy without honesty. And while the Reagan administration uses the word "democracy" with a greater frequency than any other administration in recent memory, it is, at the same time, eroding the basic foundations necessary for democracy to flourish.

If the exposure of these two most recent examples of administration lying encourages the public to begin examining administration pronouncements more critically, the lies will have done more for democracy in this country than any number of flag-waving events sponsored by the White House.

Dennis Marker was a Sojourners’ assistant to the editor when this article appeared.