Kissinger on Nicaragua

The Congress must renew aid to the contras or they are finished and President Reagan’s policy is dead! There is absolutely no excuse for allowing the Soviet Union to outspend the United States in the Central American conflict. Do we forget so soon that Communist guerrillas were widely active throughout Central America, threatening several nations, when President Reagan took office after the Democratic Administration of Jimmy Carter?

Do we really want to return to a Democratic-controlled foreign policy in Central America? The Soviet Union would like nothing better than for the United States to revert to the same do-nothing policy as before in our own backyard.

Let’s back President Reagan in his policy to aid the contras. They have actually turned the tables on the communists during President Reagan’s time in office. We can keep the pressure on, but only if we keep the contra aid alive throughout any cease-fire period. Otherwise the advantage swings over totally to the Communist Sandinistas. If they can wait us out, and the contras evaporate for want of aid, then there is no incentive left for them to reform, add political and press freedoms, and return to the democratic government that they promised when they first took power in 1979.

N.K. WEAVER

Lakewood