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Some of this material, however, was presented by Haig and CIA Director William Casey in a classified briefing to a bipartisan group of 26 former security officials and advisers. Although these experts did not wholeheartedly endorse the Administration view that the Salvadoran guerrillas are actually controlled by Cuba and Nicaragua, they agreed that external forces were playing an important role in the Salvadoran struggle. Said Sol Linowitz, one of the negotiators of the Panama Canal Treaty: "We found it sobering and reason for concern. We found what we were shown to be credible and quite persuasive." Added Jimmy Carter's National Security Adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski: "Disturbing." William Rogers, Richard Nixon's first Secretary of State, called the case "overwhelming" and added that it was the "duty of patriotic Americans to support their government when its position is sound."
Administration critics in Congress remained skeptical. Even Senate Republicans chided Haig for the absence of proof when he appeared before the Appropriations Subcommittee. "Your policy is being questioned by the American people, and abandoned by friend and foe alike," said Wisconsin's Robert Kasten. "If you have any evidence of outside interference in El Salvador, it is imperative it be brought forward. We want to support Administration policy, but we find it difficult to do so." Said Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy: "We are having trouble with your contradictory statements. This is hard on those of us who must make policy, and hard on the American people who want to get behind that policy."
Despite its doubts about Administration policy, a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee voted last week to postpone action on a bill that would have prohibited any military aid for El Salvador. Still pending on Capitol Hill are a host of other inhibiting resolutions. One calls on the El Salvador government to negotiate a settlement with the rebels; an even stronger one would cut off military aid to El Salvador unless negotiations are started. The most comprehensive bill of all was proposed on Friday by Democratic Senators Paul Tsongas of Massachusetts and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, two of the Administration's leading critics. It would require prior congressional consent for any military aid or covert action in Central America. In practice, this would make covert action all but impossible. Said Tsongas: "We're on the verge of a kind of 1950s intervention policy. The domino theory does work, but we're going to be the ones to knock down that first domino" by driving Central American countries into the "Cuban embrace."
The skepticism on Capitol Hill is partly a reaction to the Administration's overblown talk about outside influences threatening El Salvador. Yet it is also a cause of such rhetoric. With its increased but scatter-brained role in foreign affairs, Congress has tended to become a troublesome partner for the White House, undermining the ability of any Administration to sustain a coherent program. Haig believes that the only way to avoid a paralysis of policy is to persuade Congressmen that the fate of the Western world depends on their action.