Mutiny Not a U.S. Operation, Bush Asserts

President Bush said Tuesday that the failed coup in Panama was not “an American operation” but that the Administration supported the aims of the insurgents, and the White House said the United States was informed in advance of the planned uprising.

On Capitol Hill, an unusual alliance of Republicans and Democrats criticized Bush for failing to order the U.S. military to assist the rebels to overthrow Gen. Manuel A. Noriega, Panama’s de facto ruler.

“There were rumors around that this was some American operation, and I can tell you that is not true,” Bush told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Soviet Defense Minister Dmitri T. Yazov.

However, moderates such as Sen. David L. Boren (D-Okla.) and Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) and conservatives such as Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) joined to attack the Administration for doing too little to help the insurgents.

Mounting frustration in Congress over the nation’s narcotics crisis apparently overcame the usual wariness of military intervention in Latin America. Noriega is under indictment in Florida on charges of drug trafficking.

“Here you have brave people in Panama trying to rid themselves of a drug dealer and thug who’s taken over their country; and for the United States, with all of our strength and force and all of our belief in democracy, to stand by just two miles away as the crow flies and do nothing and allow these people to fail, personally I think is wrong,” said Boren, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Talking to reporters after receiving a CIA briefing on the failed coup, Boren said, “Today we had an insurrection of some very courageous people . . . and the United States did nothing.”

Boren, who opposed a Reagan Administration plan for covert action against Noriega, said Bush should have ordered U.S. military intervention while the rebels held the headquarters of the Panamanian Defense Forces.

Missed Opportunity

Hyde, who is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, said Bush missed a perfect opportunity to have the kind of success in Panama that Reagan had in Grenada, where U.S. troops and Caribbean allies unseated a socialist regime.

“It seemed to be a golden opportunity to resolve the Noriega problem,” Hyde said. “We had a legitimate justification (to move in militarily). We should have taken advantage of it--exploited it.”

DeConcini, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, “I would hope that the President would have some plans to use military action, but I know of none.”

Helms startled fellow senators Tuesday night during a session on anti-drug legislation when he introduced an amendment that would authorize Bush to use U.S. armed forces to remove Noriega from power and bring him to the United States to stand trial on drug-trafficking charges.

Helms said his sources had told him that at a crucial moment during the abortive coup in Panama, the United States had rejected a request for military aid.

‘Like Keystone Cops’

“We were like a bunch of Keystone cops bumping into each other,” Helms said.

The amendment he introduced read:

“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President is authorized to use the armed forces of the United States to secure the removal of Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega from his illegal control of the Republic of Panama in order to (a) bring Gen. Noriega to trial in the United States under the terms of his February, 1988, indictments on drug-trafficking charges, (b) protect the Panama Canal treaties of 1978, (c) protect the people of Panama in their struggle to rid their nation of the brutal oppression of the Noriega regime and (d) restore a constitutional government to Panama.”

The Senate postponed a vote on Helms’ proposal until today at the earliest.

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) said he is concerned that Helms’ amendment could give the President the power to declare war without congressional approval. “I am reluctant to give what appears to be a blank check,” Biden said.

At one point, Helms said he was ready for a vote and was not delaying the work of the Senate. Biden replied: “The senator has not tied up the Senate tonight, but he clearly has confounded it.”

Speaking before it became clear that the coup against Noriega had failed, Bush appealed directly to Panamanian soldiers to support the uprising. Mindful that the American Cable News Network is widely watched in Panama, the President said: “We have no argument with the Panamanian Defense Forces. . . . We’ve had good relations with the Panamanian Defense Forces, and our argument has been . . . with Mr. Noriega.”

White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater said the U.S. government received “advanced reports and rumblings” that a coup was imminent, but he said the United States was not asked for help. A congressional source said the Administration was informed at least as early as Monday of coup plans.

The congressional source said the Administration “encouraged the Panamanians to believe that they would have military backup from the United States. . . . They were led to believe that they’d have military support.”

Administration officials refused to answer the question of whether the United States had encouraged the coup, either explicitly or tacitly.

“We’re just going to dodge that issue,” one official said.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III said the United States has long sought Noriega’s overthrow, although he said Washington did not “instigate” the coup attempt.

Under the Panama Canal treaties, the United States maintains a garrison of about 12,000 troops in Panama, far outnumbering the Panamanian military. However, the Pentagon has been careful not to involve the U.S. forces in Panama’s internal politics, in part to avoid alarming the governments of other nations that grant base rights to the United States.

Although a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill said the Administration should have used troops because of the drug charges against Noriega, other lawmakers from both parties disagreed. For instance, California Rep. Anthony C. Beilensen (D-Beverly Hills), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he doubted that the United States could have done anything to assure the victory of the coup.

“The President doesn’t have many options,” he said. “He’s not doing very much, but he couldn’t do very much.”

Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.), who has previously criticized U.S. policy toward Panama, said he would not have supported intervention by U.S. forces. “Certainly to say we should have flown into the middle of a fire-fight--that’s not something I think we could do,” he said.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), a frequent critic of the Administration’s Latin American policy, praised Bush for his restraint. Speaking at a press conference when it appeared that the coup had succeeded, Dodd said: “There were those who advocated that the United States take unilateral action. President Bush rejected those suggestions, worked through the Organization of American States, worked through regional governments and built the kind of support that isolated Gen. Noriega and that ultimately, it appears, caused his downfall.”

Although Fitzwater denied any U.S. military involvement, he said the troops of the U.S. Southern Command stationed in Panama “took steps to protect U.S. citizens, property and treaty rights under the Panama Canal treaty.”

“We had helicopters that were in the air observing, and we had some troops around one of the causeways there to protect access and rights and so forth,” he added.

For months, the Administration has been demanding Noriega’s ouster, often suggesting that the Panamanian military should do the job.

Bush, in an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One on May 13, encouraged the army to overthrow Noriega, saying: “I would love to see them get him out. . . . The will of the people should not be thwarted by this man and a handful of these Doberman thugs (a reference to the nickname given Panamanian riot-control troops). That’s what I’m saying.”

On Monday, after the Administration was informed of coup planning, according to some sources, Bernard Aronson, the State Department’s top Latin American specialist, hinted at Panamanian military action.

“We are told that opposition within the army is developing, and we hope that will lead to the restoration of democracy,” he told a group of reporters Monday. “When that set of pressures will reach a critical mass that will have an effect, I can’t tell you.”

Despite the failure of the coup, the White House said the United States will keep the pressure on Noriega and continue to try to bring him to trial on drug-trafficking charges.

“Nothing’s changed,” Fitzwater said. “Everything remains the same. We’ll continue to press for Noriega’s removal.”

Elliott Abrams, chief Latin American specialist in the Reagan Administration, said: “I think you can make a good case that we should have pushed and tipped the balance. I think it was a mistake under the Reagan Administration (not to use U.S. force), and it’s still a mistake today. There has been a great reluctance to use American power against Noriega. I think that’s one of the reasons Noriega is still there after a year and a half of our jabbering at him.”

Times staff writers Doyle McManus, James Gerstenzang and Stanley Meisler contributed to this story.