American Notes Washington

Getting fired for shooting off his mouth is nothing new to Michael Pillsbury, who until last week was the Defense Department's assistant under secretary for policy planning. Although he had been sacked from two other jobs, Pillsbury's latest pink slip, issued for allegedly telling reporters that the Administration had begun supplying rebels in Afghanistan and Angola with U.S.-made Stinger missiles, disturbed civil libertarians. The firing was based partly on Pillsbury's answers to questions on a polygraph test. The case has also been referred to the Justice Department, apparently as a stern message about the Reagan Administration's resolve to plug leaks. Pillsbury's defenders suggest that he spoke out to influence policy, not jeopardize national security. Says Morton Halperin, legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office: "Leaking for policy reasons is an established Washington custom."