Honduran Jets Hit Base in Nicaragua : Incursion by Sandinistas Not Over, U.S. Says

The Reagan Administration, facing a heated controversy over its deployment of an additional 3,150 U.S. troops to Honduras, declared Thursday that Nicaraguan government forces were still operating on Honduran territory and began a renewed effort to win congressional approval of a package of U.S. aid for the beleaguered Contras.

The White House asserted that sending the airborne and infantry units represented a moderate response to the Nicaraguan incursion across the Honduran border. Pentagon officials said the U.S. troops would not go within 100 miles of the combat zone.

But some increasingly skeptical Democrats in Congress saw undertones of political grandstanding in the military assignment and insisted that it would not significantly help the Administration gain new assistance for the rebels fighting the leftist Sandinista regime of Nicaragua.

Byrd Sees ‘Overreaction’

“It seems to me it was an overreaction,” Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) said. “We’ve heard the Administration crying ‘Wolf, wolf’ before.”

Both sides of the partisan confrontation in Washington were handicapped by confusion over what is happening in the border battle zone. Despite conflicting reports, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said that “we have no indication or evidence” that Sandinista troops have been withdrawn.

However, independent verification of the Administration’s assertions about the military operation along the nearly inaccessible, jungle-covered border was unavailable.

At the United Nations, an official said the Security Council will meet today to consider a Nicaraguan complaint about the deployment of the U.S. troops, from the 7th Light Infantry Division at Ft. Ord, Calif., and the 82nd Airborne Division stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

By midday, the first of the troops began arriving in an aerial parade of C-141 jet transports at Palmerola Air Base, 35 miles northwest of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa and about 140 miles from the point at which Administration officials say Sandinista troops have entered Honduras.

Honduran President Jose Azcona Hoyo, who an Administration official said “had to be coaxed along” to accept the troops, dispatched a cable to President Reagan on Wednesday evening after meeting with Everett E. Briggs, the U.S. ambassador to Honduras.

Azcona, citing the Sandinista’s military advantage, said: “I find myself required to ask your illustrious government for effective and immediate assistance to maintain the sovereign and territorial integrity of my country.”

No Plans for Combat

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, testifying before Congress, said there were no plans for the U.S. troops to engage in combat “at this moment.” A Pentagon official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said none of the options considered by Reagan before dispatching the troops involved ground combat.

The official said the deployment of the four brigades represented the middle ground of about half a dozen options offered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the White House on Wednesday morning. “It’s the option that early on was focused on,” he said.

The White House said that 2,000 U.S. troops were already in Honduras before the new deployment, code-named Operation Golden Pheasant, got under way at daybreak Thursday.

Military and other officials began drawing up possible U.S. assistance plans well before the request was put in writing by Azcona. The official said intelligence reports indicated more than a week ago that the Sandinistas “might try to punch across” the Coco River marking the Nicaraguan-Honduran border and seize Contra supply depots in Honduran territory.

Reagan, inaccessible to reporters during the day except for a brief picture-taking session when he visited a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon given by House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.) at the Capitol, was asked whether the United States had pressured Honduras into accepting the troops.

“No, no, we didn’t,” Reagan replied. “They asked for support.”

Wright Critical

Wright, at a morning press conference, said he knew of “nothing that justified sending troops.”

“I think some in the White House have obviously been trying to do everything in their power to keep the war going, and that’s unfortunate,” the Speaker said.

Although no military assistance other than the deployment of the airborne and infantry troops has been sought, Shultz said, “if we receive such a request, it will be considered.”

Shultz told the Senate Budget Committee that Reagan has made no decision on the nature of the next Contra aid request. But he said the request will be made soon and probably will include military supplies.

U.S. aid to the rebels ended Feb. 29. The most recent attempt to funnel non-lethal supplies to the Contras was defeated in Congress on March 3.

Contra Aid Outlook

There were no indications Thursday that the dispatch of the troops to Honduras, in the wake of the incursion and the reports of the Contras’ precarious military situation, was having any impact on the prospects for renewed assistance.

Wright said he sees no immediate effect, and Rep. David McCurdy (D-Okla.), an influential swing vote in the past on this issue, said the deployment has not led him to shift from his current opposition to additional military assistance. He called the deployment appropriate and said the Contras have been able to defend their supply caches.

Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and an influential voice in debates on military matters, said the deployment was a justified response to Azcona’s request.

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, back in Washington during a break in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, supported the troop decision and called on Reagan to immediately send to Congress a proposal for new military and non-lethal aid for the Contras.

Staff writers Paul Houston, Josh Getlin, Doyle McManus, Norman Kempster and Don Shannon contributed to this story.