U.S. Should Oust Noriega, Lawmaker Says : Foreign policy: The country must shake off its ‘timidity’ on this issue, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher says after returning from a trip to Central America.

Hours after returning from Central America, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher declared Monday that the United States must shake off its “timidity” and resolve to use military force to overthrow Panamanian dictator Manuel A. Noriega.

“We’ve a got a whole population in Panama who would throw flowers at us for helping them get rid of what are basically Al Capone-type gangsters who have taken over their country,” said Rohrabacher (R-Lomita), whose district includes northwestern Orange County.

“When we have a population like that, and we control military bases and we’re still afraid to use any type of force on the side of democracy, it displays a timidity that can’t help but hurt America’s image around the world.”

The three-day Central American trip took Rohrabacher and three other members of Congress to Panama and Honduras. They were unable, however, to fulfill their original goal to visit war-torn El Salvador--where Americans were leaving the country over the weekend because of a renewed rebel offensive--and Nicaragua--where the lawmakers were denied visas at the last minute. The delegation was to have monitored preparations for the Nicaraguan national elections scheduled for Feb. 25.

In denying the visas, Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government cited congressional support for the Contra rebels, who have been waging a civil war against the Sandinistas for nearly 10 years. The Sandinistas have granted visas to other election-monitoring groups, including one sponsored by the United Nations and led by former U.S. Atty. Gen. Elliot Richardson.

At a Capitol Hill press conference, Rohrabacher and Rep. G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery (D-Miss.), who led the delegation, denounced the Nicaraguan government’s decision and said it bodes ill for the fairness of the coming elections.

“It was a dumb move, as far as I can see,” said Montgomery, who is a member of the U.S. Presidential Election Monitoring Commission on Nicaragua. “It looks to me that they’re trying to hide something.” It was the first scheduled visit by a commission member to Nicaragua since the group was formed last month.

Commission members were attempting to persuade the Nicaraguan government to change its mind and grant visas for future trips, sources said Monday, but the outcome of those efforts was in doubt. Among the other commission members is Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove).

Rohrabacher and Reps. J. Roy Rowland (R-Ga.) and Chuck Douglas (R-N.H.), who are not members of the commission, joined the delegation at Montgomery’s request.

Instead of traveling to Nicaragua and El Salvador, the four congressmen consulted with American military officials and opposition leaders in Panama and met with Honduran government officials and visited a Contra camp in Honduras near the Nicaraguan border.

It was Rohrabacher’s second official visit to Central America since becoming a congressman last January. In March, he went to El Salvador as an official member of a congressional election-monitoring team.

Last fall, after his election but before his swearing-in, Rohrabacher traveled on privately sponsored trips to Afghanistan and Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to meet with rebels battling left-wing regimes. Rohrabacher is to visit Taiwan beginning Friday on a visit paid for by a private Taiwanese trade group.

Several staff members have quoted the 42-year-old congressman as saying that among his top priorities are “fighting for freedom and having fun.”

During the visit to Panama on Friday and Saturday, American military officials told the congressmen that the United States had acted with proper restraint during a failed coup attempt against Noriega on Oct. 3, Rohrabacher said.

“After their description, I’m not confident they took the right course of action,” he said.

The implied criticism of President Bush, whom the conservative Rohrabacher usually supports, did not go unnoticed.

“I don’t want to attack the Bush Administration here,” he said, hesitating. Then, prodded by reporters, Rohrabacher continued: “I just think Noriega is still in power because the American government has not come to the realization that we’re going to have to act and act forcefully for his removal. President Bush and . . . the United States government (are) hesitant to use force, especially deadly force, in another country. . . .”

However, Rohrabacher added, “America has to be willing to create the situation that will lead to democracy and not just wait for democracy to happen on its own.”

Rohrabacher said he believes that the United States should not act unilaterally but rather in conjunction with “people who are willing to use force” to remove Noriega from office, “particularly if those people are Panamanians.”