SHULTZ SAYS BUSH KNEW ABOUT DEAL ARMS-FOR-HOSTAGES TRADE SUPPORTED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 1, 1993                   TAG: 9302010107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Medium
SHULTZ SAYS BUSH KNEW ABOUT DEAL ARMS-FOR-HOSTAGES TRADE SUPPORTED
Former President Bush misrepresented his role in the arms-for-hostage deals with Iran while he was vice president, former Secretary of State George Shultz says in memoir excerpts published Sunday.
In the excerpts, which appear in this week's Time magazine, Shultz says he was "astonished" to read a 1987 interview in The Washington Post in which Bush said no one strongly opposed the arms deals during 1985 and 1986 White House meetings.
Shultz recalls the meetings differently. He said that on Nov. 9, 1986, they had a heated talk. "My wife and I went over for a drink with him and [Barbara Bush]. I put my views to him: I didn't know much about what had actually transpired, but I knew that an exchange of arms for hostages had been tried on at least one occasion.
"Bush admonished me, asking emphatically whether I realized that there were major strategic objectives being pursued with Iran."
"I reminded him that he had been present at a meeting where arms for Iran and hostage releases had been proposed and that he had made no objection, despite the objection of both [former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger] and me. . . . There was considerable tension between us when we parted."
Shultz recalls being surprised after reading the Aug. 6, 1987, Post article, in which Bush said: "If I had sat there and heard George Shultz and [Weinberger] express it strongly, maybe I would have a stronger view. But when you don't know something, it's hard to react. We were not in the loop."
Shultz said Weinberger called him after seeing the interview: "He was astonished, too. `That's terrible. He was on the other side. It's on the record. Why did he say that?' "
Shultz also tells of angry confrontations with former President Reagan.
Shultz said that when he objected to the arms deals during a Nov. 24, 1986, National Security Council meeting, Reagan "was angry in a way I had never seen him before. He pounded the table. `We are right!' he said. `We had to take the opportunity! And we were successful! History will never forgive us if we don't do this!' "

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB