Chairman INOUYE: And you are telling me that a patriotic American general was willing to swap 17 terrorists who were guilty of killing American personnel in return for one-and-a-half hostages who were innocent of any criminal deed?

Mr. HAKIM: Mr. Chairman, with all due respect, that item in the so-called Hakim accord doesn't agree to releasing the 17 prisoners. It agrees to preparing a plan, if you carefully read that, just to be fair to General Secord.

Chairman INOUYE: Do you think the Iranians would have released one and a half if you didn't come through with that?

Mr. HAKIM: No, the plan was—I believe I testified earlier—to bring the Iranians and Kuwaitis together and let them resolve it among themselves and the Iranians took the first step in that direction. We not agree in this nine-point accord to undertake to release—or cause for the 17 prisoners to be released. The plan was to put the two countries together and let them work it out.

Chairman INOUYE: During the past 2 days, panel members and citizens in the audience have chuckled over some of your responses. They have found your testimony fascinating and exotic. But, I must confess to you that I found it rather sad.

To be told that here we had an American citizen, not just one, but two, not cleared to handle certain classified material sharing the secrets of this Nation, secrets that even we here have been denied— I would be tempted to show you one of the documents that this committee received from one of our agencies, and it says, “Reviewed and cleared," and all it has is a blank piece of paper.

You were given the KL-43, a most secret device, something that the KGB would love to grab hold of, and now we are told that it is lying in an attorney's safe or closet.

We have been told that phony passports were issued by this Government. We are told that persons not cleared have had access to the Situation Room, and I doubt if three of us on this panel have ever seen the Situation Room, it is considered so secret and then to find that Iranians who have been sneaked in in the dark of the night have been given a special tour of the White House— to say that it is stranger than fiction is an understatement.

But then we find an American general, who should know better, an American lieutenant colonel, who everyone suggests is second only to the President of the United States, committing this country, its power and majesty, to defend Iran without even consultation with the Congress of the United States, is just unbelievable.

And then to come out that we will participate in deposing a chief of state of a country, and we are supposed to be neutral these things bother you? I realize you are not a diplomat or politician, but I think of all the people in this room you are the most knowledgeable of what is happening in the Middle East. Did it not concern you that something was drastically wrong?

Mr. HAKIM: When I look back, Mr. Chairman, I share your opinion. At the time it didn't occur to me.