‘Others Love God, U.S. as Much as You,’ North Chided : Stern Words by Maine’s Sen. Mitchell

Lt. Col. Oliver L. North listened in somber silence today as a member of the Senate Iran- contra committee lectured him that opponents of aid to the Nicaraguan rebels “still love God and still love this country just as much as you do.”

“Although He is regularly asked to do so, God does not take sides in American politics,” Sen. George J. Mitchell (D-Me.), a former federal judge, addressed North at the nationally televised hearing.

“And in America, disagreement with the policies of the government is not evidence of lack of patriotism.”

North sat virtually motionless at the witness table, his eyes glistening, as Mitchell spoke. Leaving the room during a recess immediately afterward, North said, “I have no comment.”

Turning the Tables

Mitchell’s lecture represented the first attempt by a member of the committee to turn the tables on North, who has used his previous four days in the witness chair to rally support for the Nicaraguan contras while stoutly insisting he broke no laws during his tenure at the National Security Council.

A Mitchell aide said his office phones in Washington and Maine were jammed after he spoke, and calls ran 85% in favor of the senator’s statements. There were about 200 calls to the Washington office in the two hours after his statement, and teachers called requesting copies of the speech to read to their students.

Hoping to conclude North’s testimony by the end of the day, several committee members touched on a variety of subjects in interrogating North.

Handle With Care

Some committee members treated North gingerly, even deferentially, while others expressed strong opposition to many of the aspects of the affair.

Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) closed his question time with a quotation from former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”

Rep. Dante B. Fascell (D-Fla.) said, “I begin to feel right now that we the people, in order to form a more perfect union, Col. North, have instead adopted the values, at least temporarily, of a totalitarian government, in an effort . . . to encourage and enhance democracy.” He said he’d hate to think “that in the process we have shredded our own democratic fabric.”

“I do not believe in adopting . . . the philosophies and values of a totalitarian society,” North responded. “I honestly believed we carried out those activities within the constraints of law.”

Mitchell, a second-term senator who has voted against military aid for the contras, cited North’s plea at Friday’s hearings, “when you asked that Congress not cut off aid to the Contras, for the love of God and for the love of country. . . .

“I now address a plea to you. Debate this issue forcefully and vigorously as you have and as you surely will. But please do it in a way that respects the patriotism and the motives of those who disagree with you, as you would have them respect you.”

North, referring to opponents of contra aid, responded that he agreed with Mitchell that it “does not impugn their patriotism to have an attitude different than mine.”