Bush Concedes Iran Arms Sale Is ‘Debatable’

Vice President George Bush said today the Reagan Administration’s policy of selling arms to Iran was “debatable,” but he stopped short of saying either that he supported the decision or that it was wrong.

“I think history has to prove whether it’s wrong,” Bush said in an interview on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.”

Asked if he believed the arms sale was wrong, Bush replied, “I think it is debatable, and I think on the surface, you can make the case that it’s wrong.

“Having said that, when you look at the whole policy and look at Iran’s geographic standing and look at the problems facing them, if a small shipment establishes contact with moderate elements and if it results down the line in a solution to the Iran-Iraq war . . . I think we could argue that it was right.

State-Sponsored Terrorism

“On the surface, selling arms to a country that state-sponsors terrorism, of course, clearly, you’d have to argue it’s wrong, but it’s the exception sometimes that proves the rule,” Bush said.

He said that while Reagan accepted responsibility for the decision and admitted mistakes were made, there was no need for an apology.

Bush also said that Reagan, on the advice of Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, would not publicly detail the Iran- contra affair.

“The President is forestalled from going public as long as--since he has appointed the special prosecutor,” Bush said. “The advice he’s received is that: provide the information to the various groups that are looking into this, including the Congress, including the special prosecutor, including the Tower Commission and then get the truth out, but don’t go public yourself.

“That was the advice he got from, I believe it was the attorney general,” Bush added.

Asked today if Meese had given Reagan that advice, White House spokesman Larry Speakes replied that he did not know.