(10 of 10)
But the Administration also feels that the revolution in El Salvador can never be won so long as the Nicaraguans continue to funnel supplies to the guerrillas. "There is no way, no matter how much reform and economic development occurs in El Salvador, that the war there can be ended as long as it is being fueled from Nicaragua," Enders said last week on the Independent Network interview show From the Editor's Desk. "That link has to be broken. You can trump any amount of reform by an outside field insurgency." Enders said this is one reason the U.S. feels it necessary to support the contra rebels. "That's why the armed opposition that has appeared in Nicaragua, which is challenging that government to permit it to participate in free elections, is important. Earlier efforts to bring the Nicaraguans to the bargaining table and get a general settlement have not worked. Maybe this opposition that has appeared will be able to do it."
Even the most optimistic analysts suspect this struggle could take years. The question that plagues U.S. policy is whether the Congress and the country will be willing to persevere in such a difficult task for an extended period. "To put everything the way we would like to see it is a question of years and generational change," Ambassador Hinton said in San Salvador last week. "To establish a civilian democratic government dedicated to making the country run and to get the military out of politics will take a generation." For all his well-chosen words last week, Reagan only bought a bit more time for his policies. "If we needed a presidential speech to get a few dollars more this time," one State Department official noted glumly, "what do we use as leverage next time?"
The most basic reason that the Administration has difficulty in mustering support for its policies in Central America is that they have produced no clear victories, either militarily against left-wing insurgents or politically in promoting a stable democracy respectful of human rights. Nor are such results expected in the near future. The U.S. has never had much patience for protracted struggles in ambiguous circumstances. Having defined the issues and the priorities with passion and skill, President Reagan must now be prepared to keep at it, time and again, with all his considerable powers of persuasion.
—By Walter Isaacson.
Reported by Douglas Brew/Washington and James Willwerth/Mexico City
*Among the others: Carter's presentation -Among the others: Carter's presentation of the SALT II agreement in 1979, Carter's report on the Camp David peace accord in 1978, Nixon's message on returning from the Soviet Union in 1972, Johnson's appeal for passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and Eisenhower's address on the crisis in the Middle East in 1957. Truman's containment speech quoted by Reagan was also made to a joint session.