Shultz for the Defense

''American foreign policy. . . is going extremely well"

With the withdrawal of U.S. Marines under way in Lebanon, the political heat on the Administration's policy there was easing a bit on Capitol Hill. But it was rising again on U.S. military aid to the government of El Salvador and to the antigovernment rebels in Nicaragua. Secretary of State George Shultz last week defended the Administration before two Senate committees and in a speech on human rights. Said he: "American foreign policy, taken around the world, is going extremely well."

Shultz conceded to the Senate Budget Committee that "the situation in Lebanon has deteriorated from our standpoint." Yet he argued that the U.S. had been right in trying to establish "a unified, stable and sovereign Lebanon." He placed most blame, perhaps rather naively, on Syria for refusing to withdraw its forces after Israel had agreed to do so in its May 17 accord with Lebanon.

Turning to Central America, Shultz asked Congress to approve quickly an extra $ 178.7 million in military aid to El Salvador this year and to vote $132.5 million for next year. He warned that the rebels can be expected to launch new attacks before the presidential election on March 25 and that the government troops might run low on military supplies before then. Said he: "If you won't give them any resources and the other side is pouring resources in, what do you expect [will happen]?"

Skeptical Congressmen suspect that low troop morale is the real problem. "It seems to me the situation is deteriorating, and we are losing the war," declared Democratic Senator J. Bennett Johnston, "perhaps because of the death squads and the lack of human rights in El Salvador." Replied Shultz: "I would have to just flatly disagree.' ' Some lawmakers hinted they might want to wait for the election results. If far-right Candidate Roberto d'Aubuisson wins, they say, he may scuttle efforts to extend land reforms and to crack down on the semiofficial death squads.

Congress approved $64.8 million in military aid to El Salvador this year, but withheld $19 million more until the suspects accused of killing four U.S. churchwomen in December 1980 are brought to trial. It also passed legislation requiring a cutoff in military aid unless the President could certify that El Salvador had made progress on human rights. Reagan used a pocket veto to kill the bill in November.

In testimony before a House subcommittee last week, Langhorne Motley, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, urged a "gentleman's agreement," possibly to classify and thus keep secret the requirements for continued aid. This would make it unnecessary for the Salvadoran government to submit to American demands in public. At a dinner in Peoria, Ill., Shultz argued that it is impractical for the U.S. simply to cut off aid to those governments that abuse human rights. Said Shultz: "This to me is a copout; it seems more concerned with making us feel better than with having an impact on the situation we deplore."

Shultz was also questioned on Capitol Hill about news accounts of widespread waste and fraud in U.S. military and economic aid programs in Central America. He contended that the reports were based on audits made in the past three years by the State Department and that most of the abuses had been corrected.

If Congress balks at the extra aid request, Shultz told the Senators, the Administration might use its emergency authority to transfer military funds and equipment from U.S. forces to a friendly nation like El Salvador. The President can draw from a fund totaling $75 million. But that would jeopardize congressional support for future military assistance to El Salvador and for the fiveyear, $8 billion Central American aid program proposed by the Kissinger commission in January.

Shultz was skeptical about elections in Nicaragua, which the Sandinista government last week announced would be held on Nov. 4. The balloting will not be fair, he said, unless the Sandinistas permit rival political groups to organize and to express their views publicly. Shultz implied that even an honest election would not lead the Administration to end support for the contra rebels. He said that the Sandinistas' "efforts to upset regimes in neighboring countries by force of arms are simply not compatible with the kind of world we would like to see."

After the tough quizzing by Congress, Shultz could take comfort in the fact that one elected official remained solidly on his side. At his press conference Wednesday night, the President was asked whether Shultz had failed in Lebanon and should resign. Said Reagan: "I have seen that talk, and I think it's disgraceful. He has done a splendid job." qed