U.S. POLICY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BOMBING OF FAN AM 103 Y4.F76/1;P 75/22 U.S. Policn in the ftfternath of the... \PTJnJQ BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 28, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs •/? ''•-•il'f U.S. GOVRRNME.NT PRINTING OFFICE 83-5.38 CC WASHINGTON : 1994 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046046-8 J U.S. POLICY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 4.F76/1:P 75/22 S. Policy in the ftfternath of the... \RTJ^Q- BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 28, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ^^^t3 U.S. GOVKRNME.N'T PRINTING OFFICE 83-5.38 CC WASHINGTON : 1994 For sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office, Washington, DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046046-8 83-538 0-94-1 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS LEE H HAMILTON, Indiana. Chairman SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York TOM LANTOS, California WILLIAM F. GOODLING. Pennsylvania ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa HOWARD L. HERMAN, California TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin GARY L. ACKERMAN. New York OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine HARRY JOHNSTON, Florida HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois ELIOT L. ENGEL. New York DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey Samoa DAN BURTON, Indiana JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota JAN MEYERS, Kansas CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York ELTON GALLEGLY, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey DAVID A. LEVY. New York ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey DONALD A. MANZULLO. Illinois SHERROD BROWN, Ohio LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART. Florida CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia EDWARD R. ROYCE. California MARIA CANTWELL. Washington ALCEE L. HASTINGS. Florida ERIC FINGERHUT, Ohio PETER DEUTSCH, Florida ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN, Maryland DON EDWARDS, California FRANK McCLOSKEY, Indiana THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio LEWIS V. GUTIERREZ. Illinois Michael H. Van Dusen. Chief of Staff Jo Weber, Staff Associate International Security, International Organizations and Human Rights TOM LANTOS, California, Chairman HOWARD L. BERMAN, California DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey FRANK McCLOSKEY, Indiana DAN BURTON. Indiana THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio ROUEKT King. Staff Director Michael Ennis. Republican Professional Staff Member BhTl'll L. POISSON, Professional Staff Member Theodore M. HiRSCH, Professional Staff Member Andrea L. Nelson, Professional Staff Member (ID CONTENTS WITNESSES Page Barbara K. Bodine, Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Department of State 5 Robert H. Kupperman, Center for Strategic and International Studies 16 G. Henry M. Schuler, director, energy program, Center for Strategic and International Studies 17 Rosemary Wolfe, Virginia 26 Kathleen R. Flynn, New Jersey 30 Babette S. Hollister, New York 33 Susan Cohen, New Jersey 36 Stephanie L. Bernstein, Maryland 38 Aphrodite Tsairis, The Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, New Jersey 41 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Hon. Christopher H. Smith 51 Barbara K. Bodine 53 Robert H. Kupperman 56 G. Henry M. Schuler 69 Rosemary Wolfe 94 Kathleen R. Flynn 137 Babette S. Hollister 145 Susan Cohen 152 Stephanie L. Bernstein 158 Aphrodite Tsairis 160 List otthe victims of Pan Am Flight 103 165 Bruce Smith, prepared statement 172 Amendment to H.R. 4426— and Related Foreign Operations, Export Financing Programs, ofTered by Mr. MurkowsKi for Senator Helms and Senator Mur- kowski 182 Prepared statements: Elizabeth Philipps 183 Paul S. Hudson 186 (III) U.S. POLICY IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 THURSDAY, JULY 28, 1994 House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on International Security, International Organizations and Human Rights, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2 p.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tom Lantos (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. Lantos. The Subcommittee on International Security, Inter- national Organizations and Human Rights will be in order. The recent wave of bombings in Argentina, Panama, and London serve as a potent reminder of the consequences of failure to act swiftly and decisively against terrorism. It should also remind us that terrorists do not operate in a vacuum, but rather rely on cer- tain nations where they know they will find safe haven after carry- ing out their murderous acts. They must have at least tacit govern- ment approval of planned operations and millions with which to continue to buy the tools of death and destruction. Pan Am flight 103 was destroyed on December 21, 1988 after ter- rorists succeeded in having a bomb placed aboard the aircraft. That bomb blew the aircraft apart at 31,000 feet over Lockerbie, Scot- land, killing 259 persons on the airplane and 11 on the ground. Thirty-five Syracuse University students were among the 189 Americans killed on that flight. The criminal investigation has indicated that the bomb was placed in a Toshiba radio cassette player and packed in a suitcase loaded into the plane's baggage hold. Authorities believe that the bomb was made of a very small quantity of Semtex, a plastic explo- sive that cannot be reliably identified by x-ray. It was placed aboard at Frankfurt, West Germany where the flight began. Two and one-half years after the November 14, 1991 indictments of two Libyan intelligence agents, Abdul Basset al-Megrahi and Al- Amin Khalifal Fhimah for their role in the bombing, the prosecu- tion of the case is stalled. The Libyans have refused to extradite the two suspects and the U.N.'s minimal sanctions have done noth- ing to alter Libya's behavior. The only way to get Qadhafi's atten- tion is to hit him where it hurts, at Libya's petroleum economic lifeline. Serious questions remain about the possible involvement of Syria and Iran in the Pan Am bombing. Although both the Bush and Chnton administrations maintain that a lack of hard evidence pre- (1) eludes taking action against Syria or Iran, Ambassador Paul Bremer, the State Department's former chief for counterterrorism, offers this context: 'The fact that Libya is guilty does not prove Syria's innocence. It seems to me it is quite possible that all three of the governments, Iran, Syria, and Libya, have in some ways their hands involved in Pan Am 103." If the civilized world learns nothing else from the mass murder of Pan Am 103 it must be this: Unless those nations which provide safe haven and support to the terrorists are made to pay a price, and I mean a heavy price, the murderers will strike again and again. So-called economic sanctions which allow a terrorist nation to continue to receive billions of dollars from oil production inspire only contempt. Permitting these nations to remain in good standing in the community of nations makes a mockery of the murder of in- nocents. In the 5V2 years since the Pan Am 103 bombing, the surviving family members have experienced immense anguish and frustra- tion in their search for truth and justice. It is my hope that today's hearing will serve as a spur to constructive action on the part of this administration. Those of us who through our own life experiences have been con- fronted with brutal and bloody mayhem will have no difficulty un- derstanding why the Pan Am families are so persistent. If you see your daughter or son or wife blown up through a mindless act of terrorism by international criminals, that nightmare stays with you for the rest of your life. It becomes the pivotal event of your life, and all other things fade. The most recent bombing incidents in the last few weeks graphi- cally illustrate that the world continues to be a highly volatile and extremely dangerous place. We are dealing with terrorists from the darkest recesses of the Mideast who mistake patience and an atti- tude of compromise for weakness. At long last we must apply strongest efforts against rogue regimes that view terrorism as just another tool of their foreign policy. The victims of Lockerbie, Bue- nos Aires, Panama, and London demand nothing less. I would like to call on the gentleman who has been indefatigable in pursuant of this case, the distinguished ranking Republican of the full Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman Oilman of New York. Mr. Oilman. Thank you, Chairman Lantos. I want to thank you and our ranking Republican member, Mr. Bereuter, and Chairman Hamilton for making these important Pan Am 103 hearings pos- sible here today. After meeting earlier this year in my district with some of the family members of the Victims of Pan Am 103 at their request, I wrote our committee chairman, Lee Hamilton, asking for these cur- rent hearings. Along with many of our families, I am especially grateful, Mr. Chairman, that under your leadership these hearings are now taking place and are a clear sign that we as a nation have not forgotten this tragedy or have not ignored or forgotten the pain endured by the victims of this terrible plot, the family members, for only the families truly know and can attest to the real cost of this cowardly and dastardly act of international terrorism.