reporters of other countries, not the U.S., and it is their work that has no doubt embarrassed the "relentless" American probers,.
Kraslow then indicates some of the lies:
"Contrary to what officials said, U.S. “troops and anti-rebel Dominican soldiers and police were jointly manning checkpoints and, in some cases, fought together in returning rebel sniper fire.
"Contrary.to what officials said, some Dominicans were arres~ ted by the U.S. military and turned over to anti-rebel Dominican authorities. Officials who first denied that such a policy existed, now say that the policy has been changed -- prisoners are not released to the Dominicans.
Kraslow is compelled to include Johnson in his embarrassed admissions, On April 28 Johnson said that he was sending no more than 400 Marines to Santo Domingo and the purpose was to protect American lives,
~ LO
"It now seems obvious that on April 28 Mr. Johnson already had much more in mind, ~
"For one thing, it is now known that the 82nd Airborne Division, which is in Santo Domingo, was alerted for a possible move to the Dominican capital on April 27.
"The alert came more than 24 hours before the President's announcement on the 400 Marines and less than four days after the revolution was launched there,"
Johnson's claim about the U.S. being neutral gets similar ... treatment from Kraslow:
"Then there is the preposterous pretense of American neutral~ ity in the revolution,
"The United States is not neutral. The administration is opposed to the rebels because it believes they have fallen under Communist control. It is secretly encouraging the five-man civilianmilitary junta which was formed last Friday." _
Kraslow attempts to cover up for the American forces, "Perhaps, there was no intent to lie when newsmen asked the sensitive questions," he says. "But clearly there was no intent to inform, and in numerous cases where answers were given they were completely contrary to what newsmen had seen and heard."
He ends up considering the moral question:
"Some government officials have maintained that it is sometimes necessary to lie and otherwise mislead for national security reasons.
"Consider then the American youth reading a history book a few years from now who well might ask: ‘If it is necessary for government to lie sometimes, how does one know when it is telling the truth?!"
JOHNSON