Administration Fires Back at Criticism of Failed Coup : No Regrets Says the President

WASHINGTON —  The Bush Administration today launched a vigorous defense of its handling of the failed coup in Panama, saying it would not have done anything differently and that “we did the best we could with the information available.”

Privately, Administration officials said the United States was guilty of shortcomings in intelligence matters and other areas. “I hope we will have learned some things from this and be a little better next time,” said one senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Publicly, the White House said President Bush was satisfied with the U.S. role but disappointed that rebels had failed to depose Panamanian ruler Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Decision Not Regretted

Bush said today that he does not regret his decision against intervening militarily, adding, “There was never a chance to have (Noriega) handed over to us.”

“We reviewed all the information, and I don’t see anything now that would have made me make a different decision then,” Bush told reporters as he emerged from Walter Reed Army Medical Center after minor surgery on his finger.

As the Administration mounted its defense, the nation’s top military leaders went before Senate committees investigating the Administration’s actions, including whether rebel troops sought U.S. support while the uprising was in progress.

The Intelligence and Armed Services committees met in closed session with Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Army Gen. Colin L. Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to press for the details.

After the three-hour session, Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.) quoted Cheney and Powell as saying they “basically . . . would not have changed their decision and recommendations to the President, based on what they know today.”

The two panels planned to issue later today an analysis of issues that remain in dispute surrounding the events in Panama and contacts between the rebel officers who organized the coup and U.S. officials.

“There are a lot of things in dispute” said Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), referring to media and other accounts that he said are “all over the lot.” He declined further comment.

‘The Best We Could’

At the White House, press secretary Marlin Fitzwater said Bush “feels that we did the best we could with the information available and he feels he made the right decisions.”

Bush, after meeting with Republican senators at the Capitol earlier today, denied that there was a lack of communications during the coup attempt. He added that senators “don’t feel that way either.”

For the first time, the Administration publicly pinpointed the wife of coup leader Maj. Moises Giroldi as the person who tipped off U.S. officials about the planned coup. She contacted U.S. officials last Sunday, Fitzwater said, disputing a Wall Street Journal report that she had made contact three weeks ago.

The newspaper said Adella Bonilla de Giroldi on Sunday night arranged for a meeting between her husband and two officials from the CIA. It said the CIA had confidence in the rebels but the U.S. military did not.