unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/12/89)
Q: Given the loss of the State Department C-130, is there any
thought given to adding one more?
A: First of all, I don't think the State Department bird was a
C-130. But I haven't seen anything to readjust, but that was an
asset assigned to the State Department. It was going through
the region. I understand it was on its way from somewhere to
somewhere else, not inside Colombia. Our mis- sion is to
provide emergency assistance to the government of Colombia. So
the two really are separate questions.
Q: Let me take a spin of Susanne's question. If we're not
sending down a Hawkeye or E-2 or something along that line, are
we increasing the use of U.S. aerial surveillance aircraft like
the Hawkeye or AWACS or anything of the kind?
A: I just haven't seen anything on it. I'm not saying that
we're not in answer to Susanne's question. I want to be clear
about that. I'm not sayi that we're not, I'm saying I haven't
seen anything on it. If we get anything, we'll pass it along.
Q: I'm suggesting that we wouldn't necessarily be giving them
something, but increasing...
A: I understand your question. I've heard speculation about
this. I just haven't seen anything.
Q: Do you happen to know whether any of these aircraft will be
provided with...that is to say anti-surface-to-air missile
equipment?
A: I don't know. I think the way I would generally characterize
the depths of information to which we are going to delve here,
in terms of the ordnance provided with this equipment, is that
we want to stay clear of gettin into the order of battle and
that kind of stuff. So we provide you as much information as we
can while not getting into that area. So I don't know the
answer to that question.
Q: So you have nothing further about Stingers, surface-to-air
missiles being provided, sent to Bolivia, Colombia, or on its
way?
A: I don't recall anything like that on the list.
Q: I mean to the other side?
A: Oh, no, I don't.
Q: Do you know if these personnel will be coming from SouthCom?
A: They will all be SouthCom directed, whether they will
physically all come from Panama, I don't know. Some of the
training people may not necessari all be in Panama. So my quess
is that they would all not come from the folks we have in Panama
-- they will come elsewhere in the United States.
Q: Can you comment on the hostage list that Noriega has,
including SouthCom senior officials.
A: I think I'll steer clear of commenting on that in any way.
Q: Since we derecognized the government of Panama, how does that
affect our relationship with the PDF?
A: Not as far as I know, it doesn't have any affect on our
relationship with the PDF. We have military-to-military
agreements that are part of the Panama Canal Treaty and that's
unaffected by our decision on whether to recog- nize the
government or not.
Q: Since the IOWA report is being released Thursday, has the
Secretary read it, approved it? What has been his involvement
with it?
A: He's been briefed on it.
Q: He has to sign off on it?
A: He does not sign off on it. The last guy who signs off on it
is the Chief of Naval Operations.
Q: Are we still doing the things in Panama that we were doing --
march up and down the causeway?
A: It's all over now since you left.
Q: What are we doing down there now?
A: The military exercises we conduct in Panama are normal
readiness training exercises which insure our capability to
defend the Panama Canal as required by the treaties and are
conducted in accordance with the provisions of the treaty. We
have made no changes as far as I know in our desire and
necessity of exercising our treaty rights. There's been no
fundamental change since you were gone.
Q: On the IOWA report, is there any reaction to the ABC report
or the New York Times story today?
A: No. The Navy will answer all of your questions about that on
Thursda
Q: How thick is this report?
A: I'm told the report and supporting documents are 1100 pages,
but I'm not exactly certain what will be provided to you on
Thursday. My under- standing is, and I've not physically
clapped eyes on it, but my understanding that there is a summary
section that walks through the whole findings of fact and all
the other conclusions that are necessary. The rest of the
document, the rest of the 1100 pages, are supporting evidence.
But the report itself is a relatively smaller volume.
Q: Now that the report is about to be released, is there any
change in the status of the No. 2 turret on the IOWA?
A: Well, first of all, in answer to the question: Is there any
change? No. Whether there is any change as a result of the
report, I'll let the Navy speak to that when they do their
report on Thursday. I don't want to get into the IOWA report
predictions.
Q: Can we assume that the other battleships have still not fired
their 16-inchers?
A: Ask the Navy about that. I haven't heard of any change.
We were asked a question of where the C-5 would land, and in fact
has landed. The answer is Bogota at 10 o'clock local time
today.
Q: Why did these five Hueys suddenly become part of the $65
million package as opposed to...
A: I don't know. First of all, the whole generation of this
list, this whole effort has been a sudden thing. These things
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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