Sympathy, but No Support

"I'm satisfied that no agency of the Federal Government had anything to do with this." So said Senator Barry Goldwater, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, after a congressional probe last week into the deaths of two U.S. citizens in a helicopter crash in Nicaragua. The issue was whether the Administration was secretly encouraging private volunteers to join the contra rebels who are battling Nicaragua's Marxist-led government. The U.S. cut off covert assistance to the antigovernment forces last May.

Both Senate and House Intelligence Committees heard CIA and other U.S. officials testify that the U.S. was not involved in the ill-fated mission. But State Department Spokesman John Hughes declared that "provided U.S. funds are not used, we do not discourage" private citizens or foreign governments from helping the contras. United Nations Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick agreed. Said she: "We don't advocate passive acquiescence to a new totalitarianism in this hemisphere," adding that she has "very deep respect" for Americans who have joined the contras. Summed up Goldwater: "A private citizen of this country has the right to volunteer to any cause to any place in the world. If they want to go and risk their lives, that's up to them."