About That Bounty . . .

Hugely and understandably frustrated by Gen. Noriega’s escape from the massive net of the U.S. invasion force, the Bush Administration is offering a $1-million reward for information leading to the tyrant’s capture. This is a mistake.

To other nations, setting a price on the dictator’s head makes the United States look like a frustrated, helpless giant, unable to conclude its “just cause” without the aid of paid informants. To Central Americans, the offer of reward can only conjure up memories of the 1920s, when U.S. Marines pursuing Augusto Cesar Sandino offered a bounty for the Nicaraguan leader. We live with the reverberations of that act to this day.

As a practical matter, the very existence of the reward means that any Panamanian who turns Noriega in is likely to be seen by his countrymen not as a patriot acting against the usurper of their country’s freedom, but as a venal informer. And those most likely to avail themselves of the American offer are members of the deposed strongman’s personal entourage. So the reward may well enrich some thug as unsavory as Noriega himself.