Gephardt Assails Dispatch of Troops; Dole Defends It

Democratic presidential contenders debated long-distance with Republican Bob Dole on Thursday over the dispatch of U.S. troops to Central America, with Richard A. Gephardt charging that the Administration had “abandoned the rule of law.”

Dole called for U.S. military help for the Nicaraguan rebels, who he said were being “slaughtered by the hundreds.” (A Contra spokesman said Thursday that casualties in recent days totaled 10 dead or missing and 67 wounded.)

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, campaigning in Michigan, suggested that the sending of troops was motivated more by domestic considerations than by the situation in Central America.

“It looks like a pattern of diversion,” Jackson said. “Just as the indictments of this Administration are coming down and questions are being raised again about Mr. Reagan’s policy in the Iran-Contra affair . . . there is a moment of truth in Honduras.”

Criticism Includes Bush

Jackson also included Vice President George Bush, the GOP presidential front-runner, in his criticism. Commenting one day after former National Security Adviser John M. Poindexter, former White House aide Oliver L. North and two other men were indicted for their roles in the Iran-Contra money diversion, Jackson said:

“This was the President’s policy, and the President and Bush knew about the scheme. . . . In some real sense, the mailmen have taken the rap for the postmaster general.”

Tennessee Sen. Albert Gore Jr., who on occasion during the campaign has sought to depict himself as more hawkish than his Democratic rivals, was more circumspect in his criticism about the dispatch of troops.

Gore did not directly attack Reagan’s decision--”It depends on the circumstances,” he said, when asked if he would have sent troops himself--but he sharply criticized the Administration’s failure to inform Congress about it.

“The Speaker of the House and the Republican leadership were both told that no such movement was under way even as the troops were receiving their instructions,” Gore said. “It’s wrong to mislead the Congress.”

Simon Declares Skepticism

Illinois Sen. Paul Simon said of the troop deployment: “I’m skeptical like a lot of my colleagues. I don’t know what I can trust from the Administration.”

Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, speaking to reporters in Boston, described the decision to send troops as “very regrettable” but did not elaborate.

With Bush refraining from comment on Central American developments, it was left to Kansas Sen. Dole to defend the troop deployment.

Dole joined other Republicans on the Senate floor in attacking Democratic opponents of military aid to the Contras.

“It doesn’t make sense even as thousands of communist troops cross the border of a free country in this hemisphere for the members of Congress to make excuses for (Nicaragua President Daniel) Ortega’s aggression, while accusing (President Reagan) of fueling war in Central America,” Dole said.

Gephardt Blasts Decision

Missouri Rep. Gephardt, however, in a statement released by his office in Washington, strongly criticized Reagan for sending the troops.

“Now we have this overreaction that puts American troops in harm’s way,” he said. “This ‘exercise’ serves no purpose but to draw us into a war that the American people oppose.

“In pursuit of its failed policy of support for the Contras, the Administration has lost its sense of direction, abandoned the rule of law and failed to protect American national interests in a troubled region,” Gephardt said.

Staff writers Thomas B. Rosenstiel and Ron Harris contributed to this story.