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Collection: Public Affairs, Office of: Records Folder Title: Terrorism/Libya (1) Box: OA 18021
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:\ d a rented yacht with the tice Dep~rtment officialnlescribed 1 ::) .ise ·o(a drug ·deal and a sJUp- , him as a full~time member of the· < h~~r'.'d party, according ·to infqrmed ! A~11l ~ilitla. - · · - _-- - souJlces. - - . According to · U.$. officials, he '. .. to•The -updercover operation last : was lureci by i'1e prospect of buying Sunday ·was ·the firsf arrest abroad l drugs for .resale -, fater. Some· · -~Y ~.S. law .enforcement officials of ! sources said there was also talk of a .:a 1suspected terrorist being sought party . .Jn any case, the friend who - .,\i~d~r U.$. laws. It was denounced l accompanied .. Younis . apparently , y.esterday by Lebarion justice min- i dropped out of sight after Yourijs _ ,WY~- Nabih Berri,-leader oft~~ ~.M· ( stepped ·onto the · yacht, carefully -\te~oslem Amal movement, ·a~~ ..~~ ' positioned in international waters. - . attack:against the honor o( ~a· ; The -FBI team took· Younis -fur ' fir/~:' r •;:·i I .ther· out fo ,, the Mediterranean ': P\1ring ··a news conference at his ; wliere he was put 'ilboard a u.s . ··west Beirut home .with other,senior ; Navy vessel· tha:fhea:ded we~t for a Amal officials, Berri · called the in- ; rendezvous -off Corsica . with the cident "close to piracy 'in nature,'' : U.S; aircraft ·carder :'Saratoga•. "It Washington Post special correspon- l was several· days' -sail from where . ,dent Nora Boustany reported. _ . the pinch was rnade to where the ' .: ~ Berri said he -had· asked"for ~ 1 Saratog& was;'! hiiack~ arr.,,..e·,.. st. ~ J 'f, . ~11:-;) · A By Sam Meddis and.D~wlett @ATOD . A ·· Lebanese hijack suspect was arrested by FBI agents - :O.exing "long-arm" anti-terror ism laws - on a boat in the Mediterranean, the Justice De . ' ...... partment said Thursday. Fawaz Younis, 28, of Beirut, was arrested Sunday after vol untarily boarding the FBI boat and . was :O.own to the· USA Thursday, authorities said. NBC reported the CIA .got Younis to board the boat on the AP pretext ofa drug deal. YOUNIS: Makes statement "This was the first such oper~ during_1985 hijacking atiol)., but it will most certainly ' not be the last," said Attorney · denied bail and is being held in General Edwin Meese. an.undisdosed location. Younis is accused ofleading The action may have a· four . heayily armed men - price: The Rand Corp.'s Brian linked to Nabih Berri's Amal Jenkins said it "raises the ques Shiite group "'"'" who .hijacked a tion of will there be retaliation Jordanian airliner in 1985. against the U.S. and, in particu Four USA nationals were on lar, in the U.S.?" board. Their presence allowed Younis was the first arreSt the use of U.S .. anMerrorism after ~Q frustrations: .... laws that permit reaching • Failure to extradite ·Mo around the world for an arrest hammed Ali Hamadi for the Younis was arraigned on 1985 TWA hijacking that left a charges of hostage-taking, con Navy diver dead. Hamadi spiracy and aircraft destruc faces trial in West Germany. tion for blowing up the plane. llJtmbilij:y to :find J\bu Ab Maximum sentence: life. . .· b~ . ~er ; tij.~ .\~8?. b.ijl!ckin~ <>~.- ,• ~" Youn.iSd'i'.plMCled'~ guiitY; the Achille ,ll\!;WO. $~."Jie van•· . through an interpreter·but was ished when freed by Italy. I Attack Analysis Toda,y's Nonn The ~ of a more effective military I WALL ST.J.:4-21-86 madl.lne comes none too soon for tile Pen· I U.S. Raid on Libya, ta.ion. After marshaling the largest peace time anns buildup In history. the Reagan I administration Is facing charges of waste munitions, or missiles fired from a dis· Called 1\ililitary Success, and mismanagement. It is fighting just to tance. rather than bombs that had to be keep military spending even with Inflation dropped on targets from directly over· f~eartens the Pentagon and to continue J.n arms-modernization head. program that :s drawing mcreasmg cnu· "For too long, the Pentagon has rele· clsm for its cost and complexity. gated munitions to the bottom of the JfficialsSay 'Smart Weapons' Some of that criticism of complex new budget list,'" he says. "Stand-off munitions weaponry may soften. Defense analysts would have helped a great deal. We could And lnterservire Planning renerally agree the bombing shows that have bad more target options. As It was, blgh·technology warfare has become the we exposed our pilots and our planes to Were Vital to Outcome nonn today. "Libya is considered a third· more danger." Pentagon officials say It is rate power, but they still have a fairly so likely that the one F·lll that was lost dur· phisticated surface-to-air missile threat." Ing the raid was hit while flying over its Rebuke for Armchair Critics says Mr. McGovern. "It's a further demon· tarret. stration that hlfh tedmology ls what we But Sen. Nunn, who In 1983 lambasted '----: . \i-1-° need.'' the Pentagon for sending Anny and Navy By TIM CAKRJNGTON "fT,' The head of the Washington office of forces into Grenada with Incompatible ra· Slaff Reportrr of THE w ALL STREET J OUaNAL one of the Pentagon's biggest contractors dios, praises the collaboration that marked WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials says: "The thing this operation clearly In· the Ubyan raid. "I would say that the have learned to dread post-mortem re dicates is the Importance of smart Navy and the Air Force were obviousJy v1ews of military forays. Even generally bombs," which locate their targets and able to communicate well," he says. successful missions such as the Invasion of bome In on them with computerized i'Jid· During the Ubyan raid, Navy Hawk· Grenada generated accounts of confused ance l)'Stems. . eyes. command and control planes with planning and bungled execution, bringing Pentaron Was Pleased powerful radar, patrolled the Ubyan coast, criticism from capitol Hill and demands Smart munitions played a major role tn directing Information to the Air Force for military refonn. . the Ubyan raid. Carrier-baSed A-7 and F·111 pilots as they closed In on their So far, however, reports tram last FI A-18 aircraft fired off Hann and Shrike bombing targets. A nearby Aegis cruiser, week's bombing raid on Ubya haven't missiles. which zero in on radar beams, to an air-defense ship crammed with elec· caused the usual chagrin. The U.S. forces destroy radar facilities attached to Soviet· trontcs. collected and compiled combat hit all the designated targets, and only one built SAM missiles poised to strike the U.S. lnfonnatlon from Air Force and Navy war· U.S. aircraft was lost, for causes still being planes. Jamming devices on the U.S. air planel. analyzed. The Air Force and Navy collabo craft apparently tricked Ubyan electronic , In addition, the services won praise for rated throughout the operation. without the equipment designed · to track the enemy tbelr ·•en-coordinated tlmtng during the communications failures that afflicted planes. Unable to target U.S. aircfaft, the raid, In which the F·llls flew about six some past operations. Moreover, the tech Ubyans reportedly fired off the missiles In hours from England to join the Navy nologies of "smart weapons," built into the a wUd barrage. "It was like they were set· forces In the Mediterranean and com U.S. arsenal beginning in the last years of ting off a Fourth of July fireworks dis· mence the bombing runs. Both Air Force the Vietnam war, paid off, or at least play," one Navy aviator says. and Navy officials said that there was a worked. In addition, the F·llls carried bombs · minimum of meddling from higher-ups in Regard!~ of whether the raid achieves with laser guidance systems, capable of Washington. After President Reagan its main objective of dampening terrorism, "reading" the terrain. Although there may signed off on plans to move ahead with the It will leave its mark on the U.S. defense be later lnfonnation showing Some techni· strike, Gen. Rogers and Vice Admiral establishmeJil Jn. two wus: cal problems, Pentagon officials applauded Frank Kelso, commander of the Sixth -It strengtbeps the .U,S .. commitment the perfonnance. "We've beard all this i)eet, set out the targeting plans and tac· to lligh-techoology ~pons that many tics. crtti;cs Siil-Y are .too CQStly and complex. I criticism ol bigb-technoiOgy • weap0ns," The Air Force's participation Itself may High-tech weaponry was central to the op says an aide to Navy Secretary John Leh· reflect a dose of interserv1ce politics, how· eration and, in the view of the Pentagon. man. "But they worked beautifully." ever. Pentagon officials say that Gen. Rog helped limit U.S. casualties. A military consultant who advises the ers has. long wanted to show that land· -The apparently smooth planning of Pentagon on weapons technology says, 1 based forces, as well as naval hardware. the mission validates calls for greater col "What you're seeing is the fuJI maturation could be used to project U.S. military ff technologies that were started in the laboration between the military services power. When Gen. Rogers chose five major and more authority for theater com Tate 1960s." Central to that maturation are ·• recent policies to train soldiers and av1a Ubyan targets, it became necessary to in· manders. Legislation to codify these organ elude the Air Force, because the Navy car· izational changes now seems to be a cer tors in high-technology combat and to plan military tactics that make maximum use riers couldn't bomb all five sites simulta· tainty. neously. Congressional staffers say that Not Without Glitches of technologically advanced weaponry. In May 1984, six months after an unsuc· the Air Force lobbied for a role in the raid. but Pentagon spokesman Robert Sims de The raid wasn't without glltclles. Five ~ful bombing raid in Lebanon's Bekka of the 18 F-llls flown down from Laken Valley, Mr. Lehman warned Defense Sec· ·nies this. heath in England turned back when they retary Caspar Weinberger in a memoran· Last week's bombs weren't dropped reaclled Tripoli because of mechanical dum that hard lesoons learned in Vietnam from planes procured in the Reagan ad· problems. Two of the 14 A~ fighter planes about the misapplication of technology ministration's buildup. The Air Force F· 111 launched from the USS America aborted seemed to have ''slipped Into.memory." A fighter-bombers and Navy A~ fighters their missiops as well. The Pentagon lived Navy study of the raid concluded that the were mostly bought during the 19705, a pe- 1 up to Its repttation for military complexity U.S. had employed "archaic tactics" tliat riod Defense Secretary Weinberger often by qmng more than 100 aircraft for a didn't match the technologica) advances in calls "the decade of neglect." bombing raid that lasted 13 minutes. More the weapon systems used. For example, What the Reagan administration can over, damage repom from lJbya call Into the U.S. used A-65, which are specially clalm credit ·for is the fact that the air qutstloo an early characterization of the equipped to conduct nighttime raids, but i planes were ready to go .into combat. The strike as "surgical": Some of the targeted flew them in broad daylight. During that i .week before the raid, Qen. Rogers asked If sites apparently suffered ODJy limited dam raid, two U.S. planes were shot down, and 1 the aircrclft carriers America and Coral age, while hundreds of. tmtal'Jeted ciY1llans a third was damaged significantly. Sea needed spare parts or munitions. Nei and even a handfuJ of iorefgri embassies To remedy the problem, Secretary Leh· ther did, a ·Navy officer said, adding that suffered significantly. ·_ man set up what he calls "Strike Univer· five years ago these ships were "c~- U.S. officials contend that some of the sity," a school in high-technology bombing . decklng" vital equipment, or trading it damage may have been caused by Ubyan tactics, at the Naval Air Station in Fallon, back and forth, because there weren't suf· missiles that missed their mark. Other Nev. Many of the aviators involved In the ficient supplies for both. problems reflect the difficulty of mounting Ubyan raid attended Strike University, the a raid against targets In unknown territory In addition. the F·llls, which have a Navy says. When Gen. Bernard Rogers, history of being hard to maintain and oper· at nlfht. PIJots were ordered to turn back the commander of U.S. and allied forces in at the earliest sign of malfunctions that ate, were in better shape as a result of a Europe, began planning the Libyan strike new maintenance depot the Air Force set might have led them to the wrong targets two weeks ago, he took into account the or mcreased the risk of getting shot up in England three years ago. The Air down. . Ubyans' reputation for poor nighttime avi Force had also entered a contract with ation and called for A-65 and F-llls. war· But overall, the attack "demonstrates British Aerospace Co. to carry out the planes specifically designed for nighttime maintenance work, which before had been that tile United States has the will and the assaults. power to attack successfuUy," says James deferred or scheduled for remote mainte· Ironically, some analysts~say one prob nance shops in the U.S. McGovern, staff director of the Senate 'lem with the mission was that there Armf'd Si>rv1ces Committee. He savs the weren't enough sophisticated munitions. J!"ll(•· - ••• iuld •.msv.-er ~he \irmcli;i1r s:ra:t Sen. Sam Nunn or Georgia. the rankrn!! ;:' l:>L-:i ... ho na. ve belittled the L".S. m1htarv Democrat on the Senate Armed Services performance m Grenada, Lebanon and :Committee, contends that the mission Iran. Kny Deputy Undel'$eCretary Seth !would bave been less risky if the bombers Cropsey calls the mission "a logistical suc been equipped with so-called stand-off ress. All targets aimf'd !or were hit. ·· !had ,,. :..'A.LL ST . .:. : .:.-21-86 Meanwhile, CDngress is awaiting more detailed information on which sites were hit and how badly they were damaged. "Did we really hit high-value targets?" Sen. Nunn asks . "Most of the damage I've seen seemed to be to buildings. I wouJd have tried to cut off their money-that Jneans oil." The Pentagon could also find Itself in the middle of a nasty fracas if it is re vealed that the strike was intended to kill Ubyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, as well as destroy terrorist and military bases. , U.S. policy forbids assassinations of na tional leaders but administration offkials said they attacked the area around Col. Qadhafi 's family residence because it was a command center for the terrorists. Sen. Nunn, who was briefed the day of the strike. says that If Col. Qadhafi himself was the target, "then we were misin· formed." ·. L.A. TI~ES:4-15-86 Congr~men Back Reagan's Move on Libya /11~ . From nm. Staff wrltn. WASHING TON-Leaden of Congrea, who were informed or the attack on Libya about three Cit.. lateraadeul Law hours before the bombs were Lugar said the Praldent'1 ac dropped, Monday night praised the UoDI were completely within iD President fot ~ retaliatory ternaUonal law. '-rhe President action that they predicted would be (wu) invokfns the United NaUOnt supported overwhelmingly by the code that a nation ii allowed American people. self-defenae ••• the United Na ''9m httlty•lhe President did tions law (requirel) that the activ what the American people would ity must be proportionate, must be have wanted him to do-a propor necessary," be added. '. tionate responae to an act. that bad Aaked whether thil would be the Kadafi't fingerprintl all over it;" end of the offensive acaiDBt Lib~ said Senate Majority Leader Bob the 1enator replied: "Yea, the mls Dole or Kansas. lion of It WU predlely that, to Sen. Sam NUM {D-Ga. ), ranking Indicate to Kadafi that we ire Democrat on the Senate Armed prepared to respond in a PfOPC!I'· Services Committee, predicted that tionate manner and that random once members or Congress view and indiscriminate violence ii to the evidence linking Libyan leader tally unacceptable, and that there Moammar Kadafi to the West Ber are consequences and penalties. lin bombing, they will fully support Hopefully that message will .'be the President's action. °'I would received." ' have preferred an economic em Lu1ar'1 po eaman, Kuk bargo, but our allies have not made Helmke, noted that Relpn CO(D· that possl'ble," he said plied :with \be War Powen Act, which requlrel prior notification'. of Dodta KHaft htJarM Can,rii1 on 1be U.S. under Nunn said he doubted whether takes hostUe-action. Reagan previ Kadafi himself was hit in the raid, ously had characterized the act 8" a but he speculated that innocent vestige or the post-Vietnam era civilians could have been hit. . "Anytime you carry .out ni8ht-time missjona • •• this could happen," he said. 'I hope we devastated Reagan and his top aides met with congressional leaden at about the lair ofsome ofthe: 4 p.m. JlST, after the operation was under way but before the bombe killers. I'm so proud ..~ were dropped at about 7 p.m. Washington lime. Dole said that that I'm an American:' John M. Poindexter, the President's national security adviser, told them Rep. Doman said. •; it was not too late to halt the attack '· if DJ-~!0.-- appo.rition. • wun't any that does not apply to current ~Y Do1e added; _ougb ere a situations. , feeling that (the congressional Perhaps the most colorful ~ leaders) should have been consult- ed earlier." - ·· lion to Monday'• eventl came ~ Cillfornla Rep. R4bert K. J)arQan Sen. Richard G. Lupr .Cranston, GOP Senate Candidates ·support President on Libya Attack - 11111 ...... By KEITH LOVE, 7''7nu Political Writer : Democratic Sen. · a pacifist and that he is not against repeat these actions bUt 1 led who often oppoees~~.,~~en~t!l.r~t- force when force is the only alter- confident that the President be- gan's foreign policy:..decisiona, said naUve," Flander said. "His horror lieves if [Libyan leader lloammar) Tuesday he supports the Presi of teriorism ls reflected by. hia Kadafi conUnuea to repraent a dent's decision to bomb Libya be willingness to support the use of significant threat to the peGP.le of cawie it wu based on proof that force." our country \bat he act in a Libya is · behind 1<>me terrorist · However, Cranston was pe88i- decisive way to prevent that threat attacks on Americans. mistic about whether Monday's from becoming a reali y " errorism is as despicable as attack on Libya would curtail ter- Former commentator Bruce 1 and it must be stopped," rorism. Herschensohn, long a proponent of 1 \ Cranston said in a statement re- .. I hope and pray that the Preli- retaliation against terrorista: "You dent has embarked America on a either wage war against terrorism \ lure ~ ~ct after .we had proof course of action that will succeed in or you surrender to il . . • I would of Llbyatt terrorism would have quelling terrorism," he said "Un- hope that in the future every act of ·ven credence to the view that fortunately, we cannot expect that terrorism against a U.S. citizen is America lacks the will to stand up result ·soon. W must anticipate ,, and fight against terrorism. I more· violence. 1 deeply regret that met quickly!!llt u . Americans-including Capt. Paul · F.conomist IUP· matic action against Lal>ya but our Lorence of San Francisco-are porter of e m es to European allies refused to cooper missing In ·action and that Libyan create jobs, thinks that economic ate. The United States then had to civilians reportedly have .been incentives might be useful in fight- act alone .. .." wounded and killed." ing terrorism: "I would have pre The senator iJio fomiCi IUm8elf in ferred that he [Reagan) have used Senate Candidate.' Views bolUlties on bringing the people to agreement with ~ seYen....,. lican contenders pho want to get Here is what the Republican U.S. justice and trial .... H you bring their party's nomination to oppose Senate candidates bad to say: the guy into justice you get $2 him in November. All ttrongly ··~Los~~~e~le~s~Co~~~~~!l2JL million or $3 million. ~ . . But I supported Reagan's action, as did e AntonoY.ch: "I ~v IUP· love what the President did." Republican Sen. Pete Wilson. wbo port !'reiident -rtellan"a'cleei· Assemblyman Robut N r • - too ..._.. -"- (R-Menlo Park): t spoke out on the matter Yonday SlOD. • • • II' 'II&' -• our ,,.,._~ nighl bat been a defemlve one:" responded with appropriate t.ce. A longtime supporter of a nucle State Sen. B:d - · -Valen- {If Libya responds) the President arms freeze and a leading oppo CJa : wtll go down in ougbl to constcler a naval block- . nt of Reagan's desire to arm the biltar1 11 how a democratic leader ade." · ntras fighting the Nicaraguan shouldprotectbis~e . " - Rep. FA1 Zscl!&u (R-Los Altos): overnment, Cranston believes ~ Bobbi fW11er (R-North- ''Tlili was a preemptive strike . at the Libyan situation is special, ridge/:-., am ltroD8IY behind the targeted on facilities that the Ll.1>y- ccording . to his press secretary, Prelldenr1 effort to try to stem the ans have used w prepare for ter- urra_I S. Flander. tide of terrorism. • • • I alway1 rorist attacks. It was the right thing • Xian has made it clear he is not hope Wiit JMlt be necessary to to do and I totally support it." TERRORISM Issue: How can the United states improve its ability to deter, protect against, and respond to terrorist attacks? Objectives: o Improve international cooperation to detect, deter, and combat terrorism bilaterally with allies, and multilaterally in groupings of like-minded states and other international fora. o Enhance operational capabilities and inter-governmental coordinating mechanisms to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. o Continue refinement of legal instruments and agreements to counter terrorism, including steps for the extradition and prosecution of persons involved in terrorism. Accomplishments: o The Tokyo Economic Summit in May promulgated an important statement condemning international terrorism and pledging maximum Allied cooperation to combat it. o The United States responded militarily to Libyan-sponsored terrorism by striking terrorist-related targets in Libya after the West Berlin disco bombing, and reports of other ongoing Libyan-directed terrorist acts. o The EC and the Su~it Nations agreed to ban arms shipments to Libya, and to discourage their nationals from filling in behind the American firms and workers who left Libya. o The Tokyo Summit also accepted the American-originated proposals for restricting Libyan diplomat missions and tightening up visa requirements. o Western European countries expelled more than 100 Libyan "diplomats" and "businessmen" since the bombing of the Berlin disco in April, and the subsequent U.S. military operations against Libya, throwing off balance the Libyan terrorist network. o Many potential terrorist. attacks on U.S. citizens or facilities abroad were identified and thwarted by the end of 1985 by improved intelligence and stronger security and cooperation with other governments. - 59 - o Quick and decisive action to intercept the Egyptian airliner carrying the Achille Lauro hijackers resulted in their capture and trial. The hijackers have been convicted and sentenced to prison by Italian courts. o Some 2700 officials from 33 countries have been brought to the United States for specialized counter-terrorism training under the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. o U.S. initiatives and/or support at the U.N. obtained passage of a Security council resolution condemning the taking of hostages; Security Council Presidential statements condemning specific attacks, and a broad U.S. General Assembly resolution condemning terrorism as a criminal act. o At U.S. initiative, two U.N. specialized agencies, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the International Maritime organization (IMO), are drafting improved security guidelines. o The Public Diplomacy Working Group established under the joint sponsorship of the IG/T and the International Information Committee, has helped coordinate public affairs activities related to Libya, including "white papers" and media appearances. o A major program to enhance the physical and operational security at diplomatic posts abroad has been initiated; a follow-up to implement the program is being acted on by Congress this year. o A protocol to the U.K. extradition treaty which narrows the political offense exceptions has been ratified by the Senate. Similar treaty modifications are being negotiated with other countries. o As authorized under 1984 legislation, rewards of up to $250,000 have been offered for Abu Abbas for the Achille Lauro hijacking, the TWA 847 and Kuwait 221 hijackings, and the murders of six Americans in El Salvador. o We have established a system of coordinated threat alerts from all members of the U.S. intelligence community to provide more timely and accurate information on terrorist threats to our overseas missions, reducing the problem of duplicate warnings and reporting. - 60 - o Implementation has begun of a number of important anti-terrorism provisions in the Foreign Aid Authorization bill for 1986 and 1987, which Congress passed and the President signed into law in August of 1984. These provide for additional sanctions against countries supporting terrorism or maintaining unsafe airports and authorize additional funds for the ATA program and research and development on equipment to detect explosives. Talking Points: o Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon which is becoming increasingly frequent, indiscriminate, and state-supported. Terrorism is likely to be a prominent factor on the international political landscape for the rest of the century. It directly attacks our democratic values and interests and our diplomatic efforts for peaceful solutions to conflict. o The nature of the international terrorist threat is evolving. Recent developments include the rise of state-supported · terrorism through the use of surrogates. o The number of terrorist attacks has been increasing. There were more than 800 terrorist incidents last year, compared with an annual average of about 500 in previous years. During recent months, we have seen the bombing of TWA 840, and a discotheque in West Berlin. However, the raid on Libya has sent an unmistakable signal to terrorists and sponsors of terrorism that the U.S. will not stand idly by in the face of attacks or threats against Americans. o Terrorist attacks are likely to become increasingly violent the number of casualties and fatalities generally has grown with the number of incidents. o A broader spectrum of citizens is likely to fall victim to terrorism, as exemplified in the Rome and Vienna airport attacks in December 1985. o This is not solely an American problem; terrorism has been directed against a broad range of countries. Nonetheless, the U.S. is a prime target of terrorist acts overseas due to our extensive official and commercial global presence. our citizens and facilities are readily accessible, our democracy and freedoms are directly opposed to the interests of many terrorist groups. o U.S. policy on terrorism is unequivocable: we will make no concessions to terrorists. We will pay no ransoms, nor will we permit releases of prisoners or agree to other acts which might encourage additional terrorism. We will make no changes in U.S. policy because of terrorists' threats or acts. In countering terrorism, we are prepared to act unilaterally or in conjunction with other nations in a wide range of options appropriate to the situation at hand. - 61 - • • o The preemption of terrorist attacks on American targets in France and Turkey, and the decisive action against Libya after their sponsorship of the terrorist bombing of the West Serlin discotheque, demonstrated the increasing effectiveness of the current u.s. policy on terrorism. o The Department of State is assigned the lead interagency role in combatting terrorism outside the United States. The State Department's Office for Counter-Terrorism deals with the problems of international terrorism on two levels: in its coordinating role within the Department of State, and in its similar role as head of the I~terdepartmental Group on Terrorism. o In February, the Vice President's Task Force on Combatting Terrorism published its ·public report endorsing U.S. policy . against terrorism and recommending additional measures to improve the national program. A Presidential directive was signed to implement all of the recommendations. . . o Efforts to counter international terrorism include a major effort within the U.S. Government and with friendly governments to improve our intelligence o~ the identity, objectives, plans, capabilities, and locations of terrorist organizations. We have increased efforts to inform the public, both here and abroad, about the international terrorist threat, and the need to be alert in helping to combat it. · o Additional unilateral efforts to counter terrorism include continuing to improvements to the security of U.S. installations overseas, stepped-up training for u.s employees, and improvements in the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence information. Laws passed in recent years, such as the International Security and Development Cooperation Act of 1985, (which provides for the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program, the Air Marshall program, and Foreign Airport Security procedures), have also strengthened the anti-terrorism effort. o Multilateral steps include the Tokyo Summit declaration against terrorism; U.N. conventions against attacks on diplomats and the taking of hostages, and the· Summit Seven's Bonn Declaration, which provides for concentrated action against states that fail to take appropriate legal action against hijackers. o International cooperation in countering terrorism is imperative. We cannot succeed alone when the threat originates, and is carried out abroad where other governments have the principal responsibility for security and law enforcement. - 62 - o We continue to encourage other countries to take an active stand -- through diplomatic, legal, and economic means - against terrorism. They are, after all, frequently as much the victims of such attacks as we: citizens or installations of 90 countries were hit by terrorist attacks in 1985. - 63 - r------Nation------l TIME! APRIL 21. 1986 COVER STORY Targeting Gaddafi R eagan readies revenge on a "mad dog,, y Sunday morning they were Dictator Muammar Gaddafi. But this counter terrorism with economic and po- 1 1 back on station in the central time there was no pretext that the exer litical sanctions, the U.S. Sixth Fleet was Mediterranean north of Libya: cise was to assert the right of free passage , poised to strike the type of blow the Rea- the carriers America and Coral in international waters. l gan Administration had threatened-and Sea. 14 escort warships and two Nor was there the expectation that any anguished about-for so long. otherB support vessels. Once again, as in American attack would depend on wheth The world watched something it had the clashes arc>und the Gulf of Sidra three er Libya fired first. Libya had already never seen before: the U.S. Navy moving weeks ago, the flattops were prepared to fired-choosing once again the weapon of I into position so that the Commander in launch their 160 fighters and bombers a terrorist bomb. After countless unheeded Chief could have the option of militarily against targets in the desert country of warnings and after futile attempts to punishing another nation for its span- 1 America's forces arrayed last week in the region included two aircraft carriers, with a combined total of some 160 planes, and at least 18 combat and auxiliary vessels, in cluding the U.S.S. Ticonderoga with its sophisticated Aegis air· defense system. Additional ships are in the area, though the carrier Saratoga steamed home last week. At week's end the carriers America and Coral Sea sailed farther from Libyan waters to rendezvous off the coast of Sicily, still within range of likely targets. Carriers America and Coral Sea with combat and auxiliary vessels "Llfl uh · the first time, a U.S. President was prepared to punish militarily another country tor its sponsorship of international terrorism 'uoubt The question. rather. was whet er and added that the Libyan leader does not vilians. Nonetheless. he told the council ~t~h~e..;A~· ~d,µm:.!.!i:.!.!no!-'1s~t~ra~t;;10;'..!.n;_,..:;w~a~s,..!1~·e::!a!;!.d!-v~t~o~t~aw;;_~..._~· !ways tell the truth. that it had his authority to proceed-"but ns s of orderi no- a hard. unilateral str' e. Asked point-blank at his Wednesday let me know the plan you decide upon be Those risks are Ol o v1ous and grave. press conference to confirm or deny re- fore you launch the attack ... Some U.S. pilots and other service members ports that he had already decided on a After the President's news confer might be killed carrying out bombing runs military response. Reagan grew visibly ence. a news blackout came down. White of the scale being contemplated. Even se- uncomfortable and replied. "This is a House Spokesman Larry Speakes opened vere military damage might not cow Gad- question that. as I say, is like talking about a press briefing the next morning by an dafi intocallingofforslowingdown terrorist battle plans or something. It's not a ques nouncing that he would answer no ques attacks. On the contrary.he might intensify tion that I feel I could answer." In fact. tions about Gaddafi or Libya. With or them. as he seems to have done after the the President that morning had approved without any real information. however. Gulf of Sidra battle. Might Gaddafi carry a tentative decision to launch an attack. enough people were speculating about the out terrorist attacks inside the U.S.. as he The decision was made by the National details of the operation to cause the Ad has often threatened to do? ··we certainly Security Council. meeting in the Oval Of ministration to feel that it was becoming do not overlook that possibility," said a fi.ce (minus Vice President George Bush impossible to maintain tactical surprise. It grim-faced Ronald Reagan during his news and Secretary of Defense Caspar Wein- also became extremely difficult to keep pnference. berger. who were both traveling). open the option of making no major re ! --~ Even a clash with Gaddafi's Soviet al sponse to the most recent terror attack . . · lies. though it seems highly unlikely. can he NSC studied the evidence "There's no question we created a bit of a not be ruled out. Soviet technicians pru · ' - g- Frankenstein's monster." said an NSC of dently managed to be elsewhere when na !,he jntercepted messages fi.cial on Friday. "In a way, I guess, we American missiles hit antiaircraft radars indicating that Gaddafi was . - meant to do that. But the monster was three weeks ago. but there is a possibility _2,:e;r~m~g~a~n~e~w~w~a~\~· e~H~~- ~~~ supposed to spook Gaddafi." that some might be killed in a new strike. Tauacks .. - -m1ra rowe voiced his con- Doubts and worries grew, and by Fri- The Soviets, however. appeared to be as cerns about firepower, and CIA Director day, says a top intelligence official. ''we perplexed as everyone else about what William Casey about getting agents out of knew that we were doomed. Too many might happen and what. if anything. they Libya. But they and everyone else present people were talking freely about the oper ought to do. "There have been no guaran agreed with Shultz. who said. "We have ation and too many operational details tees concerning action or nonaction on taken enough punishment and beating. were already out. We had to postpon " the part of the Soviet Union." said Valery We have to act." For the sake of tactical About noon on Friday NSC hastily con Sukhin. a Foreign Ministry spokesman. at surprise, it was agreed that the assault vened again in the Oval Office and got the week's end. Georgi Arbatov. a top Krem should be launched by carrier planes as President's agreement for a postpone lin adviser on American affairs. growled soon as the flattops could get into position. ment of indefinite duration. Reagan, says on U.S. television that Moscow had no Reagan directed that all precautions be one participant. "was furious. He realized deal to defend Gaddafi against the U.S. taken to minimize casualties to Libyan ci- that the operation had to be put off but TIME. APRIL 21. 1986 21 Nation wanted to make sure that in the future no swing through at least four West Europe qualify. Italy would be closest to any new more leaks will get around." an capitals. "Basically, we want to tell al U.S.-Libyan fighting; during the Gulf 6f A full-fledged reconsideration of op lies where we are and what could hap Sidra battle it sent interceptor planes tions-whether to reschedule an attack. pen," said one American official. Walters' aloft, just to be ready in case some ofGad and if so what kind and when-looked first stop was on Saturday in London, dafi's aging Soviet-built Tupolev bombers unlikely until Sunday at the earliest. By where he met with Prime Minister Mar should try to attack NATO bases in Sicily. then, Bush and Weinberger would be garet Thatcher. Italian Prime Minister The Italians seemed to be bracing for a re available. Bush was on a ten-day trip to .. Bettino Craxi announced that he would run of that experience: Prime Minister • Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf na receive a presidential envoy on Monday. Craxi declared publicly last week that the tions, and arrived back Saturday night. Western Europe's predominant re problems of the Mediterranean "certainly Weinberger had been touring the Philip sponse to the threat of an American strike cannot be settled by a military blitz." but pines and Pacific region; he arrived in against Libya has been skittishness, again Americans say the Italians have made no Hawaii on Friday night and left for with the exception of Britain. While hard attempt in private to talk the U.S. out of a Washington Saturday. ly eager to see a military clash, London retaliatory strike. As Bush and Weinberger were flying made clear that it would approve an Kohl, on the other hand. declared home, General Vernon Walters. the vet American blow that could be represented that "my advice would always be to avoid eran troubleshooter and current U.S. Am as a form of self-defense, and officials said such acts of military reprisal until you bassador to the U.N., was beginning a retaliation for the disco bombing would know what you are starting and how you strike at locations in West Berlin where Americans are known to congregate. U.S. intelligence also reportedly picked up a communication from Tripoli offering "congratu lations" after the blast. Asserted a top National Security Council official last week: "We have Gaddafi up to his ears in this bombing operation." The U.S., of course. needs to be able to prove Gaddafi's complicity in order to justify reprisals, particularly military measures. The lack of "hard evidence" is constantly cited as a pretext by uneasy allies seeking to sidestep firm measures against the supporters of terrorism. Not everyone was satis fied with what Washington felt it could safely reveal. West German intelligence officials, who were provided with ab breviated and heavily edited summaries of the intercepted transmissions, accepted that there was some Libyan com plicity in the Berlin bombing but were unwilling to hang all tJte blame on Gaddafi. American intelligence officials faced a familiar dilemma: by disclosing too much they risked compromising their secret La Belle disco in West Berlin after the terrorist blast sources and methods of gathering intelligence. In fact. by re vealing that they had broken the Libyan diplomatic code. they inevitably caused the Libyans to change it and become Seeking the Smoking Fuse more careful about using the telephone. "The leaks have caused us a setback,'' conceded one National Security Agency ncle Sam is always listening. With high-tech spy satel official last week. "It will now take us more time to break the Ulites, ships jammed with electronic gadgetry, super new codes. and in the meantime, we will be kept in the dark." sophisticated listening posts around the globe and eaves U.S. officials are somewhat doubtful of finding a Gaddafi dropping devices-and sometimes with the help of plain old link to the bombing of a TWA jet two weeks ago that cost fashioned human spies-the U.S. constantly monitors many four lives. The evidence so far remains sketchy, though intel of the key telephone conversations and cable traffic of its ligence experts were at least familiar with the type of bomb friends and foes alike. The U.S. intelligence community does used to blow a hole in the airliner's fuselage. The timing de not want to reveal which of these methods it used to listen in vice of the highly sophisticated bomb is activated by pres as Colonel Gaddafi sent orders from Tripoli to his far-flung sure-in this case, when a passenger sat on the seat under terror network. But U.S. officials insist there is little doubt which it was placed. A similar bomb had exploded aboard a that a fortnight ago the U.S. intercepted communications Pan Am flight from Tokyo to Honolulu in 1982. According that specifically link Gaddafi with the bombing of a West to intelligence reports, only one terrorist is known to have German disco that claimed the life of a U.S. serviceman and the expertise to make this kind of bomb: a man who goes by injured 230 people, including dozens of off-duty American the code name Rashid. Already a legend in the international soldiers. terror network for his talents, Rashid was believed to be Indeed, it appears that the U.S. almost learned about the working for a terrorist group called the May 15 or Abu Ibra bombing plot in time to warn American soldiers to stay out him organization. The May 15 group works for the Syrian in of Berlin's nightspots before the terrorists struck. Military telligence service, not Gaddafi, say U.S. officials. Indeed, police were already moving to alert G.I.s in the streets of a prime suspect in the case, May Elias Mansur. who is be Berlin when the bomb decimated La Belle disco. "We were lieved to have planted the bomb's detonator under the seat about 15 minutes too late," NATO Commander General Ber before getting off the flight during a stopover in Athens. has nard Rogers told a school audience in Atlanta last week. Ac been linked to Syrian terrorist groups. But why would the cording to high-ranking intelligence officials, the U.S. inter Syrians get involved in this particular terrorist opera_tion? cepted a message from Gaddafi's headquarters to his One NSC official admitted that the U.S. is "still fishing" henchmen in the Libyan "people's bureau'' in East Berlin in for clues-and still hoping that they will ultimately lead to forming them that terrorists, probably Palestinian, would Gaddafi's doorstep. 22 TIME. APRIL 21_. 1986 Nation are going to get out of it at the end." Other would launch missiles that home in on ra· Libya in January, and some may have dis Germans elaborated by voicing a worry dar to knock out once again the radars at obeyed Reagan's order to get out of the that is widespread in Europe: U.S. retalia the SA-5 missile sites at Surt and Bengha country. The Libyan intelligence-service tion will prompt more terrorist attacks zi. Then, attack planes would wing in low headquarters, from which Gaddafi and that will occur primarily in Europe; even and fast to knock out the missiles and aides launch terrorist operations, is in if the principal targets are American, Eu their launchers. Once they had been de- · downtown Tripoli and hard to hit without ropeans will get killed too. Says one West ... stroyed, the third wave would hit adjacent causing heavy casualties among Libyan German government official: "The more airfields, destroying the runways so that civilians. the Americans hit Libya, the more the Gaddafi's 550 combat aircraft could not · But what would an attack on any or Libyans will hit back at U.S. targets in scramble to counterattack the fleet. Sup all of these targets actually do to combat West Germany. We are more than a little posedly, all that would take little more terrorism? That is the essential question. bit afraid that we are going to be directly than an hour, at the end of which Libya If the Reagan Administration does hit involved in the middle of their war." would be crippled militarily at the price of Libya, the most it can count on is silent France and West Germany each a handful of U.S. casualties. and grudging acquiescence from most of booted out two Libyan diplo its allies and more vocal but still mats, though not, they insisted, General Bernard guarded approval from Con in response to U.S. pressure. Rogers said last gress-and that assumes the Spain. angered by a Gaddafi week that the U.S. fighting is over quickly with no threat to mount terrorist at had "Indisputable heavy loss of American lives. tacks in all countries that har evidence" that Libya Heartier approval would follow bor U.S. bases. recalled its was behind the Berlin only if the attack seemed likely Ambassador from Tripoli "for 1 disco bombing. As to bring about a siz.able decline consultations." Commander in Chief in terrorist outrages. There were signs that the of U.S. European If the Sixth Fleet eventually prospect of a U.S. military at forces, Rogers has steams away without attacking, tack. combined with Gaddafi's · the responsibility of the Administration might win vengeful bluster. was galvaniz the Sixth Fleet. both applause for restraint and ing European allies into talking derision for making empty about taking further steps. At a threats. But it would only be put press conference in Tripoli, ting off until the next time the Gaddafi vowed to answer any question of whether and how to U.S. strike by fomenting terror retaliate. Given the virus ofter ist attacks in all the cities of Vice Admiral Frank rorism, there assuredly would be southern Europe. An alarmed Kelso, commander of a ·next time. Indeed. having Italian Prime Minister Craxi the Sixth Fleet, led talked so much about retaliation phoned his Spanish counter his carrier groups and now gone so far toward part. Felipe Gonzalez. to sug back into the central it, Washington has practically gest that a meeting of foreign Mediterranean. After guaranteed a sharpening debate ministers of the twelve Europe directing the fighting about reprisal every time there is an Community nations be held in the Gulf of Sidra a new murderous attack for right away. The meeting was last month, Kelso which intelligence officials scheduled first for Wednesday. praised the believe they can pinpoint the then for Monday. Its apparent performance of his perpetrator. purpose: to draft some Europe men as "first rate." lnJJIQ't. the urge to hit back is an-wide program of economic driven by the new assertiveness · and political sanctions that of Reagan's foreign policy. The might hold enough promise of Administration takes pride in hurting Gaddafi to persuade having put muscle into American the U.S. to call off a military policy; a series of successes from blOY!~ Another likely group of targets con Grenada to the Philippines has shown that Contingency planning by the Penta lists of communications facilities: radio the U.S. can pull off military and diplomatic gon and CIA has by now given Reagan ,-v stations, ground-to-satellite stations coups without risking nuclear holocaust. and his commanders a wide range of o. and dishes. main telephone terminals. The spread of terrorism is the great. galling tions to choose from. and targets to select, Knocking them out would. in theory, vir exception to this assertiveness; the U.S. too if they again decide to strike. Israeli offi tually cut Libya off from the outside often has seemed impotent in preventing or cials late last week claimed that State De world, at least for a time. Other potential avenging the deaths of its citizens. The Ad partment Under Secretary Michael Ar targets offer both rewards and drawbacks. ministration is eager to prove that the mili macost had told them the U.S. has Hitting two training camps for terrorists tary power it has built at enormous expense · identified more than 30 potential Libyan that are known to operate near Tripoli has uses in the real world beyond standing targets. ranging from airfields to oil de and Benghazi would most closely fit the off the Soviets. pots; Washington reports add such in punishment for terrorism to the crime of But the case for retaliation goes far triguing items as Gaddafi's personal liv inciting and supporting it. But the camps beyond a desire to fl.ex muscle in a good ing quarters. Under one scenario. attack are thought to be empty right now, and cause. Terrorism has become a .virtual planes launched from the Sixth Fleet car when occupied they are also heavily used war that pits mindless barbarism against riers could be joined by F-11 ls from Brit to train young recruits for the Libyan all'civilized society. Even more frighten ain (the British reportedly have given army, who bear no responsibility for Gad ing than the number of terror attacks is a their consent) and even by B-52 bombers dafi's terrorism. Bombing oil jetties and shift in their pattern away from military flying from bases in the U.S. other installations could cripple Libya's and political targets toward random vio Some plans have been drawn in im economy, but at the possible price of kill lence against ordinary people-tourists. pressive detail. One involves three waves ing German, Italian and other foreign shoppers. service members dancing in a of carrier-based planes that would strike technicians still working in the Libyan disco. This phenomenon has many com in quick succession under cover of pre petroleum industry-and possibly even plex causes. But Shultz and his supporters dawn darkness. First, fighter planes some Americans. There were 1.500 in are convinced that a powerful factor is a 24 TIME. APRIL 21. 1986 Nation · belief among terrorists that they can act are Beirutis, Lebanese of all kinds, Syri ally do work; witness Italy's successes with impunity: the U.S. will huff and puff ans, Iranians, Palestinians. Striking at against the Red Brigades and West Ger but · never really do anything. That idea Gaddafi. militarily may just serve to re many's against the once dreaded Baader will not change, in this view, until the U.S. cruit-more such people." Meinhof gang. Indeed, the President de demonstrates that terrorists and the gov What many Europeans fear most is a clared at his news conference last week errunents that sponsor them are not safe, deadly, escalating cycle of vengeance: ter that "in the last year ... through our intel that attacks on Americans are certain to rorism begetting U.S. strikes, which ligence gathering in cooperation with our carry a heavy price. .prompt more terrorism in reply, which allies," we have aborted 126 planned ter .- No one pretends. however, that mili touches off more reprisals. In their view, rorist attacks that never took place." tary reprisal alone will stop terrorism. and in the view of many American ex Nevertheless. last week's activities There is no Terrorist Central that can be perts, an antiterrorism policy must be ac made it clear that the Reagan Administra bombed out of operation. Attacking Lib companied by concerted diplomatic ef tion. led by Shultz and others. firmly be ya would do little to curb the depredations forts to bring about some resolution of lieves military reprisals must play a greater of terrorists sponsored by Syria or Iran or Arab-Israeli conflicts. the Palestinian role in the undeclared war against terror South Yemen. not to mention the innu question and other root causes of tension ism. That is why Muanunar Gaddafi once I merable and shifting groups that operate in the Middle East. So far the Reagan Ad again finds himself in the cross hairs of , beyond the control of any government. ministration has done little. if anything, to America's Sixth Fleet. Uncle Sam spoke Would it quiet Gaddafi.? Europeans reinvigorate the stalled peace process. loudly, vowing vengeance. then raised his fear it would do just the opposite. They are big stick. Given the dangers posed by ter concerned that an American attack · or can the cycle of terrorism be rorism, such a res.,£Onse was understand would force even conservative Arab lead broken without more effective able. evenjustifi~hen. at least for a mo ers who hate and fear the Libyan dictator police work: better intelligence ment. came an eerie pantomime of waiting to take his side publicly. They are more on extremist groups. intense and hesitation. Given the risks involved. worried about inflaming the anti-Ameri surveillance of their move the fact that the sword of vengeance can can passions of Middle Eastern youths al ments. infiltration of terrorist cells. Such not always be swift was also understand ready inclined toward extremism. Says methods take a frustratingly long time to able. also justified. -ByGeorgeJ. ChurclL one top Italian official: "'The terrorists take effect. and meanwhile. murderous Reported by Michael Duffy, David Halevy and themselves are usually not Libyans. They attacks continue. But the methods even tu- Strobe Talbott/Washington police have established joint contingency plans to deal with Could It Happen Here? terrorist attacks. Nevertheless. says an FBI official, "a deter mined nut can do great damage before you can neutralize n Berlin. a shattered discotheque; in Rome and Vienna. him.·· For example. four men and two women said to be I airline terminals strewn with bodies. So far. the U.S. has members of a terrorist group known as the United Freedom been spared the horror of a major terrorist attack. But as hos Front were able to set off ten bombs in military-reserve cen tility intensifies between the U.S. and Libya. the shadow war ters and corporate facilities in the New York City area be could come closer to home. Security experts warn that ex fore they were apprehended. The group was finally convict tremists could find easy pickings in American cities. '"We are ed of multiple conspiracy and bombing charges in federal absolutely unprepared here court last month. in the U.S .. " says Dr. Robert Authorities agree that the Kupperman. a terrorism ex only way to prevent terrorist pert at Georgetown Universi attacks is through timely in ty's Center for Strategic and telligence. President Reagan International Studies and a has maintained that 126 ter former National Security rorist missions were foiled in Council staffer. "Everywhere 1985. Federal officials said 23 in the country, government of those were in the U.S .. in facilities, commercial instal cluding plots to kill Libyan lations and civilian networks dissidents and efforts by Sikh make ideal targets for terror extremists to assassinate In attacks." A U.S. intelligence dian Prime Minister Rajiv analyst concurs: "We have Gandhi during a visit last become the ultimate chal year. lenge for every terrorist, and The U.S. carefUlly keeps we are just not ready." Barricades, dressed up with plants, outside the White House track of visitors and residents In Washington, security from hostile nations such as has been beefed up at the White House, where antiterrorist Libya, Iran and Syria. There are approximately 3.200 Liby barricades have been installed to block cars and trucks. At ans in the U.S. who have been granted temporary visas, in the Pentagon, an underground concourse of shops and banks cluding an estimated 1.200 students. The Government also will soon be closed to anyone without special clearance. The maintains huge computer databases with information on in State Department had also set up concrete barricades and dividuals suspected of having radical, anti-U.S. associations. sometimes screened visitors with metal detectors, but guards Meanwhile, the supersecret National Security Agency uses · could not prevent a horrifying incident last summer when a the world's most technologically advanced surveillance tech 20-year-old man shot his mother to death. then took his own niques to eavesdrop on questionable telephone calls and ra life just 100 yards from Secretary of State George Shultz's of dio communications abroad and intercept and decode suspi fice. Since then Foggy Bottom has required more thorough cious telex messages. To conform to U.S. privacy laws, the personal searches, even for people carrying State Depart intercepts take place outside U.S. borders. But as the rest of ment passes. the world painfully knows, determined terrorists are very In another likely target city, New York, the FBI and local hard to stop. TIME. APRIL 21, 1986 27 WA~;11 • T I ~ES: 4 - I 6 -8 6 Surprise, tactics, night skills led to raids' success, Pentagon says safely, Mr. Sims said. In addition to other targets at the eastern end of 'Ilipoli airport. "Resistance at Benina airfield knock out enemy radar sites, had Bv Waller Andrews \"" " {\ the nation by the Navy A-6 bombers The two eastern targets were the was light, and that is perhaps be been launched by the Nn\'r l\-6s and THE _ .. llf«) T()tj TIMEs ""' --'Ir the one believed downed near Libya, a second F-111 had to land in Rota, began at 7 p.m. EST and lasted about Jumahiriya Barracks in Benghazi, cause the attackers were in and out the Air Force F-11 ls. He said a large, The U.S. raid on Libyan terrorist Spain, because of an overheated en 12 minutes, he said. which the Pentagon said was an al· so quickly:• he said. undetermined number of precision tar1tets Monday night succeeded be gine. Mr. Sims could not say whether Mr. Sims reserved judgment on ternate terrorist command post, and The :;pokesman ridiculed as fake guided 500-pound, 7SO-pound and cause or the element of surprise, the this plane was on its way to or from the overall damage to the five tar the Benina military airbase east of a picture made public by the Lib 2,000-pound bombs also had been use of low-level flight tactics and the Libya. . gets because "we do not have suffi Benghazi, home base for Libyan yans, which they said was an F-111 used. ability to bomb al night, the Defense There was no report of damage to cient data to give our own estimate fighter and bomber aircraft used to shot down by anti-aircraft fire. In Asked about charges 1hat bombs Department said yesterday. any of the U.S. planes, Mr. Sims said. either on the overall success of the transport equipment in its war with fact, he said: "This is the booster had damaged the French ('mbassy in Spokesman Robert Sims also said It is not known why the one F-111 mission against the targets" or the Chad. stage of an SA-3 [Soviet anti 1\-ipoli, the spokesman 11olcd that the search continued in lhe waters went down in Libyan waters, he said. damage to the civilian areas that Mr. Sims said it was believed that aircraft] missile." these had been dismissed as untrue off the coast of Libya for an Air There was no indication it was hit by may have resulted. three to five Soviet supplied 11-76 Mr. Sims said the two American by Defense Secretary l ·aspar W. Force F-111 believed lost with its anti-aircraft fire. "We're examining data as it transport aircraft and between five aircraft carriers - the Coral Sea Weinberger at a While I louse press two-man crew. "The success of the mission was comes in - tapes, pilot estimates and 12 Libyan Air Force Soviet and the America - had launched briefing Monday night. There was no evidence of survi due to surprise, electronic jamming, and so forth:' he said. Photo recon Mig-23 fighter aircraft were de their aircraft several hundred miles . don't have any reason 10 change vors or any sound from beepers at missile suppression, low-level attack naissance had been hampered by stroyed at the 'Ilipoli airfield. north of Libya and would remain in "I tached to the plane's ejection cap tactics, and the cover of the night:' cloud cover yesterday over the tar "I think this is a very conservative the general area "as long as neces that until we have a full assessment" of the bomb damage, he' said. sule as of late yeslerday, Mr. Sims Mr. Sims said. get areas, he said. estimate, but we will have to wait sary." said. "We don't have anything to indi· "We think the defenders were con The Pentagon said the three tar until we have more infor'mation to The two ships began speeding The spokesman also said he had cale they ejected," he said. fused as well as surprised," the gets hit in western Libya were the provide that for you:· the official south early Monday morning from seen no official reporls lhat would Eighteen F-111 fighter bombers, ·spokesman said. "Anti-aircraft fire Azziziyah Barrac~sin the capital said. their station in the central Mediter indicate Libyan gunhoal s were re from two bases in England, partici continued for several minutes after city of 'Ilipoli, Libyan military head Mr. Sims said the fire from anti ranean near Sicily after a final go sponsible for the explosions in the pated in the raid, along with 15 Navy our planes left." quarters were terrorism is planned; aircraft missile and guns was heavy ahead for the attack was given by the waters near the Italian island of aircraft from two carriers stationed The closely coordinated attack on the Sidi Bilal port facility, used as a in all the locations with the excep· White House, officials said. Lampedusa, where the U.S. Coast in lhe Mediterranean. three targets in western Libya by the training base for Libyan comman tion of the Benina air base, where he Mr. Sims said "dozens" of HARM Guard operates a telecommunica All the Navy planes returned F-111 fighter-bombers and on two dos; and the military section of the said it was li~ht. and Shrike missiles, designed to tions facility. .•. ... :t..I I ' . . •I '· L.A . TI~ES:4-16-86 Coordination, Surprise Cited in Raid's Success- Pentagon Says Libyans Were Caught OtJ Guard; U~Planes Press Search for 2 Misdng Airmen By JAMIB a~lAZANG, Time6 Staff WriteT WASHINGTON-Less than a Attack DacriW · ~ ~ day after the raid on targeta linked Another pilot described a missile : t-~ \D terrorist activities in LJbya, U.S. officiala Tuesday portrayed "Oper attack he encountered: "It kind of.~~ ation El Dorado Canyon" as a looks surreal because bow Could lt: - 1ucce11ful .mission in which be a star going that fast, and then ,... long-range bombers and you realize that it might be going':_' short-range, carrier-based aircraft for you, and that snape you right' ·JI back to reality." i ":.. ·) performed a closely coordinated. nighttime bombing raid that ap While the U.S. 6th Fleet operat.:n!'" parently achieved total surprise. ed in the central Mediterranee •,o >.a U.S. military forces searched throughout the day after the raid;· 'd · 1 American airplanes and ships con···, t' hostile waters off Tripoli for two 1 airmen lost when their F-111 went ducted searches for the missing1L& 1 down, Reagan Administration offi F-111 crew in the sea north of ·d. ; Tripoli, encounterin8 no opposition:•rrl : cials began reviewing the results -~ the lightning-fut mjarion that in- from Libyan forcea. '. f. Officials said they bad no indica~> n the D1ead of the Nig · t Hatd choices and high drama/or the raid's planners and pilots It was a sudden strike that Actually. the schedule of Operation military planners that such an action was leaped live right out of the El Dorado Canyon, as the strikes were inevitable. The Pentagon brass was con nightly news. At the pre code-named by Pentagon planners. was cerned. however. that it lacked the fire cise moment that the dictated by the military necessity of hit power to hit Gaddafi with sufficient force. three networks began air ting Libya in the middle of the night. It Since the Sixth Fleet's skirmish only three ing their evening news was just one factor in an enormously weeks earlier with Libyan forces in the casts last Monday. U .S. attack planes complex operation that involved 150 air Gulf ofSidra, the fleers strength had con were roaring toward their five Libyan tar craft and resulted in the launching of siderably diminished with the departure gets. Out of the black Mediterranean more than 60 tons of bombs. The outcome of the aircraft carrier Saratoga fo r it night they came. racing through orange was far from perfect: the U.S. lost one home base in Maypon, Fla. There v .•. cones of frantic antiaircraft fire to punish F-11 1 fighter-bomber along with its two not sufficient time to order the fiattoj . the man Ronald Reagan calls the '" mad man crew and unintentionally caused back to the central Mediterranean to join dog of the Middle East." As Americans. some civilian casualties and damage. But the carriers Coral Sea and America. transfixed at their television sets, listened El Dorado also produced more than a few Political and moral considerations fur to the muffled rattle and thump of the as- nuggets of military gold, including severe ther complicated the military planning. "Try to make the world In a late-hour mission, Lakenheat1 , _koutr smaller for the t errorists," the U.N. Ambassador Mildenhall --1 Retuel commanded President was dispatched to win (HQ, 3rd A.F.) l. outwit Reagan on April 7, as the the backing of U.S. - \'ll.~~:;r,p~ ~ ' U.S. looked for ways to allies for a raid. f(e1un forestall a new wave of Libyan terrorism. The planning for an air strike that would ultimately engage 150 warplanes and drop some 60 tons of bombs on Libya was intricate and constrained by a host of political and diplomatic as well as military considerations. It required U.S. airmen to fly through heavy flak in the dead of night and L 2.800 strike with flawless precision. The primary 11owna target: Colonel Gaddafi's headquarters. The fr11~· unstated hope: that the Libyan leader would tourney be asleep there when the bombs fell. nBUllCJ! Mitterrand F-111 at Lakenheath airbase WEEK OF APRIL 7-13 APRILU- 14 APRIL 14, 12:13p.m. TAK£ OFr ••• ; J. sault filtering over the phone lines of net damage to at least eight Soviet-built Liby The President's guidelines for retaliation ,.. , work correspondents holed up in a Tripoli an planes and Libyan Leader Muammar against terrorists have always been to hit d hotel, the U.S. attackers delivered their Gaddafi's personal headquarters. "We precisely defined targets and to minimize lethal cargo of laser-directed bombs. As didn't do everything right," says Admiral the chance of injuring civilians. Both con quickly as they had come, the warplanes William Crowe, Chairman of the Joint cerns dictated a low-level attack with pre wheeled out to sea, vanishing back into Chiefs of Staff. But on balance, he main cision bombing. Furthermore, it would have the gloom, all safe but one. tains, the operation "was very successful." to be carried out at night, when few people Even for an Administration accus Plans for a strike of some sort aga~t were on the streets. A night raid was al'so tomed to making its moves with television . Libya began late in March when U.S. in likely to risk fewer fliers than a daylight at coverage firmly in mind, the timing of the telligence learned of Libyan intentions to tack. Taking all these factors into accoun ~ 7 o'clock strike was extraordinary. Ron conduct future terrorist acts like the West Crowe and the Joint Chiefs of Staff recom ald Reagan could hardly have written a Berlin disco bombing on April 4. At a. mended that additional aircraft would be more gripping script to dramatize his de- National Security Q:Noeil meeting on necessary. The ones most ideally suited ·termination to strike out militarily at ter April 7, the President clearly decided that to the mission were the Air Force's F-11 ls rorist regimes. By the time Reagan took to the time for action had arrived. His com at Britain's Royal Air Force Base at the airwaves to explain and justify the mand: "Try to make the world smaller for Lakenheath. Reason: like the Navy A-6 raids, they had already been discussed the terrorists.'' craft. the F-111 s are equipped with infrared and generally applauded-at dinner ta Though Reagan did not order up an bombing sights capable of highly accurate bles across the land. air strike then and there, it was clear to nighttime targeting. 28 TIME. APRIL 2S . I '1 86 ; After the Security Council met. in the territory. A mission by U .N . Ambassador Tunisia. it was skillfully integrated into Oval Office on Wednesday, Apnl 9. a Vernon Walters to line up support from the Navy"s airborne armada by a single I, joint security-intelligence team prepared the allies failed to change their minds. So Air Force officer providing coordination I a list of five targets. First on the hst was instead of flying 1.600 nautical miles due from an airborne tanker. ! the Bab al Azizia army compound. which southeast from Britain to their targets. the With one squadron heading for Tripo serves as Gadda~·s comma_nd center and squadron would be forced to keep to inter li and the other for Benghazi. pilots residence. "We rut Gaddafi s barracks be- national skies and detour 2.800 nautical dropped to altitudes undet 500 ft. to avoid I1 cause it"s the nerve center for his co~ miles around the Iberian peninsula. radar detection. This strict insistence on rnand structure and headqu~ners of his Reagan gave final approval to the low-level approaches is a fairly recent de Jovalist guard." says a top national secu~1 - plan on Sunday, April 13. following his re velopment for the U.S. military. "'Every t); aide. There is little doubt that Azma turn to the White House from Camp Da pilot loves to do yanks and banks and dive was also targeted in the hope that the Col vid. In doing so. the President asked Ad and drive. but this is dangerous until you onel would be very much at home and miral Crowe how late he could still order have attrited the threat:· l' Route MALTA Refueling U.K. ~===-----' Within 15 hours of attack Carriers Coral Sea Libyans shoot at U.S. OIJtwUd I Damage at Sidi Bilal, a naval and America move into installation on island of I base used sometimes as a Return position a bout 2 2 5 Lampedusa. I commando school, is reported miles north of Su rt. 14 A-6 strike aircraft I to be slight. take off for Benghazi TUNISIA 0 100 FRANCE (2 abort mission}. :;~ 7- ~ " LI NE OF DEATH" mites •: 11. I SPAIN "'-' + .. ~~~~·~· ~ s~rt Sidra EGYPT Tripoli is attacked by thirteen of the F-111 s from England. Five of these I Four MIG-23 jets, two Soviet 2.800 nautical miles are warplanes bomb the military side of I helicopters and two prop llown on this route. Using Tripoli International Airport, planes destroyed at Benina friince's air space, the destroying five 11-76 transports and · Iairfield. fQYrney is 1,600 some buildings. nau11cal miles. LI BY A - .7:00p.m.ATTACK APRIL 14, 7:00-7:11:30p.m. h_ope, says a senior Administration offi whose mission was to disable Libyan ra ron had circled around inland and ap cial. was to "turn the barracks into dust." dar capabilities. Flying at 30.000 ft. , the proached from the south. The city was · !'lext on the hit list was the military force rendezvoused over southern Eng ablaze with light. and not a single air-raid section of the Tripoli International Air land and refueled four times during its alarm sounded. "We were able to see the Poi:t. base of Libya's fleet of nine II-76s, seven-hour flight through darkened skies. hits:· recalled one Navy airman. who had ~hich have been used in terrorist opera After the first refueling, seven planes. spent many hours studying photos of his uons for supply and transport. A third brought along as a reserve in case of air target. "They looked just where they• · ~rget was the Benghazi army barracks, borne malfunctions in the others. broke ~ should have been." hich Gaddafi uses as an alternative out of formation and returned to base. The U.S. was able to achieve total sur command post. Then came barracks at Meanwhile, the carriers Coral Sea prise in part by giving the Soviets the slip. the naval port ?f.Sidi Bilal, near Tripoli, a and America, stationed in the mid The carrier task force managed to lose the ~mman_do trauung facility. Finally, secu- Mediterranean, were steaming toward Soviet warships that usually shadow the Y .offici_als recommended a strike at the the coast of Libya. Between 5:20 and 6:20 fleet. If the Soviets did spot the planes. at Benma airfield, Where Libya's MiG-?3 in- terceptors are ba d - . p.m .. close to JOO aircraft catapulted off any rate. they evidently did not tip off · se , as a precaution their decks-18 A-6 and A-7 strike and their friends in Libya. against counterattack. strike-support craft. six FI A-18 fighters. In Tripoli. the thunderous whine of A large wrench was thrown into the 14 EA-6B electronic jamming planes and the jet engines was followed by sudden 0 perauon when the French and S . h refused to . pams a variety of support craft. As the Air concussive crescendos. as 500-lb. gravity perrrut F-11 ls to fly over their Force·s F-111 squadron rounded the tip of bombs and 2.000-lb. Paveway IJ laser- TIME. APRIL 28. 1986 29 guided bombs started to explode. The attacker that was out of control. Three that most of them were fired without ra massive blasts shook windows throughout Navy pilots reported seeing one aircraft dar guidance. ~we forced the Libyans to the city, jolting sleeping residents tum into a .. fireball" and disappear into turn off their radar." says Lehman. "If awake-and sometimes more than that. the ocean about ten miles offshore. The they turned them on to guide their mis "When the firing woke me up. I immedi missing crewmen. who were presumed siles. they would get a HARM down the ately thought of throwing myself on the dead after a search yielded no signs of life. throat." Nor was any defense mounted by floor," recalled an Italian resident. "Then were Captain Fernando L. Ribas-Domi the Libyan air force. whose pilots are no a big explosion did it for me. '" nicci, 33, of Puerto Rico and Captain Paul toriously poor night flyers. Military intel Several minutes into the attack, two F . Lorence. 31 . of San Francisco. ligence intercepted a radio transmission things went tragically wrong. possibly in Over their targets. U.S. pilots were of air force headquarters in Tripoli plead connection with each other. One of the confronted with an astonishing barrage of ing with a base commander in Benghazi F-111 s dropped its bombs in a residential Libyan defensive fire. The night sky over shortly before the attack to get his craft in area a mile south of the harbor. killing Tripoli was stitched with orange streaks the air. The commander·s reply: immedi several civilians. destroying homes and as tracers and missiles arced up toward ate takeoff was impossible. damaging other buildings, including the the attackers. "They fired everything they But the performance of U.S. equip French embassy and the Swiss Ambassa had." said a senior Pentagon official. in ment was flawed. In an effort to prevent dor"s residence. It seems highly coinci cluding Soviet-built SAM-2. -3, -6 and -8 any bombing that might be deemed indisc dental. to say the least, that the bomb ex missiles and zsu-23-4 antiaircraft guns. criminate. U.S. airmen were under orders ploded only a few blocks from Libya·s Said Vice Admiral Frank Kelso. com to abort their missions if on-board equip internal-security headquarters. reputedly mander of the Sixth Fleet. who was in ment showed the slightest glitch. Five of a onetime haunt of the notorious terrorist overall command of El Dorado Canyon: the 18 F-1 ll craft developed such mal Abu Nida!. U.S. officials insist, however. ··1 don't think anybody has ever flown a functions, probably in their radar target that the security facility was not a U.S. mission in any more dense SAM environ ing equipment. as did two of the carrier target. ment than they were in today." based A-6 craft. Pentagon officials rightly Some Pentagon officials theorize that What prevented the Libyan missiles maintain that the rules of engagement in the bomb may have been dropped by an from inflicting real damage was the fact wartime would not be as stringent as Lost raiders: F-111 Weapons System Officer Tripoli Harbor Captain Paul F. Lorence and his pilot, Captain F emando L. Ribas-Dominicci. Their aircraft reportedly turned into a "fireball." Reprisals: the corpses of three Western hostages seized in Lebanon, including American Peter Kilburn, dumped on a road outside Beirut two days after the raid. The raid was a total surprise. The city was flyers. Five F-llls were assigned to hit ablaze with light, and not a single air-raid Colonel Gaddafi's compound, and four of them alarm sounded. The Libyans hastily put up a dropped 16 laser-guided 2,000-lb. bomb·s. hail of antiaircraft fire, but their Soviet-made The hope, said a senior Administration SAMs, fired without radar guidance, were official, was to "tum the barracks into dust." wildly Inaccurate. "We forced the Libyans to The bombs cratered the compound, blew out tum off their radar," says Navy Secretary windows and caved in a wall, but did not John Lehman. "They knew If they turned flatten any buildings. Gaddafi was probably them on to guide their missiles, they safe in his underground bunker when the would get a HARM down the throat." Nor planes broke off the attack and headed back TIME Maps by Paul Pugliese and Nigel Holmes was any defense mounted by the Libyan air out to sea. One F-111, apparently hit by Pllotographs by Alpert·Keystone, Peter Jordan, Ponzio force, whose pilots are notoriously poor night antiaircraft fire, never made It. Contrasto, Robert Royal, Sven Simon, Newspix, lsmail-AFP 30 TIME. APRIL 28. l 9Rf. Nation those for the Libyan mission. but the high laser-guided :2.000-lb. Paveways. The . missiles. each with about a ton of dyna rate of even minor malfunctions is hardly bombs cratered the compound. blew out mite in its warhead. in the general direc encouraging. windows and -caved in a wall or two. but tion of the tiny Italian island ofLampedu The bomb run completed. U.S. craft they did not flatten any buildings. Gadda sa. Fired from a military base near the lifted quickly out of the Libyan light show fi's tent was still standing. only slightly Tunisian coast. they were evidently aimed and headed north. For the airmen flying grazed by a fallen utility pole. at a Coast Guard navigational aid facility the F-111 s. that prospect included an ad located on Lampedusa. Both missiles ex ditional eight hours· flying time and two he Libyans also showed foreigners ploded three miles short of land. more midair refueling operations. One last the residential damage wrought Tripoli also claimed that it had snafu occurred when one of the F-111 s by U.S. bombs. But they showed knocked as many as a dozen U.S. aircraft overheated and was diverted to a U.S. na T no inclination to allow inspections out of the skies. and that surviving pilots val station near the Spanish town of Rota. of military targets. The U.S. displayed ae were being hunted down by local citizens When the rest of the crews returned to rial photographs of the damage at the "like mad dogs:· Authorities made no at Britain after spending 15 hours strapped Benina air base near Benghazi showing tempt to prove either claim. but few Liby into the F-11 ls" tight quarters. some men the wreckage of at least four MiG-:23 ans expected Gaddafi to let matters rest had to be lifted out of their seats. Flogger jets. two Mi-8 Hip lightweight where they stood. Nor did those on the By then Libyan radio was claiming helicopters and two F27 propeller-driven front line of the U.S. side seem to think many casualties. including the death of aircraft. The Pentagon estimates that at that last week·s raid put an end to the con one of Gaddafi"s eight children and the the Tripoli military airport the U.S. took test of wills between Gaddafi and Wash injury of two others. Dr. Mohamed out five Il-76 transports and caused major ington. On the day after the raid. TIME Muafa. who identified himself as the damage to several buildings. Defense offi Correspondent Sam Allis noticed that Gaddafi family's physician. said he had cials admit that damage to the Sidi Bilal someone had scrawled a message on the found all three children in the wreckage facility was less than they had expected. circular rear end of a Sidewinder missile of the colonel's home an hour after the at and withheld the results of bombing at the stored on the deck of the carrier America. tack. Washington officials were frankly Benghazi barracks. The grim inscription: THIS IS FOR surprised there were not more casualties Libya's only military riposte to the MOM ..\R 'S MOM. -By Wil/iamR.Doemer. in Gaddafi's compound. Of the five bomb raid was feeble. On Tuesday afternoon it Reported by David Ha/evy and Broce van ers assigned to hit it. four dropped 16 launched two Soviet-made SS- I ballistic Voorst/Washington A Lethal Video Game urtling along near the speed of sound in dead of night, at H times under intense antiaircraft fire. how could pilots of the F-111 fighter bombers plant so many of their bombs on or near targets as small and discrete as a single building or a row of planes? By high-tech wizardry that makes a real-life bombing run seem almost as simple as a video game. The prime weapon of last week's raid was an advanced version of the F-111 fitted with a special electronics naviga tion and targeting pod known as Pave Tack. Developed by Ford Aerospace & Communications and first delivered to the Air Force less than six years ago, the pod fits in the weap ons bay of the F-111 and allows the pilot to find his target in total darkness while moving at very high speed. As they flew to within 30 miles of the Libyan coast. weap ons-systems officers (called whizzos), who sit beside the pilot on each F-111, went into action. They lowered the Pave Tack pods. which began sweeping the horiz.on first with radar and plane up to about 1.200 ft. Though the plane is wrenching up then with infrared cameras, transmitting fairly detailed pic ward. the Pave Tack system. mounted on a device that can tures of the ground below to a radar-infrared scope that is like swivel 360°. keeps its laser eye on the target all the while. a small television screen on the aircraft's instrument panel. In last week·s mission. the F-11 ls used 2,000-lb. bombs of The whizzos knew what to look for: before taking off from the Paveway II class. The bomb's nose contains a laser-sens England, they had thoroughly studied aerial-reconnaissance ing device, a computer and small movable fins for stabilization photographs of their targets. In addition, information to find and control. The sensor homes in on the reflection of the laser and identify targets had been fed into the F-11 ls' computers. off the target: the computer moves the fins to make minute At 90 sec. from target. with the plane at an attack altitude midcourse corrections. Each F-111 emits a laser at a different of less than 500 ft. and streaking alorig at 600 m.p.h., the frequency, which only its bombs are programmed to detect. whizzo sees an infrared image of his quarry on his screen and Known as precision-guided gravity bombs, these ungainly 4~ directs a pencil-thin laser beam toward it. This step, called tar guppy-shape munitions were around in a less sophisticated get designation, or painting, ·supplies the plane's computer form in the Viet Nam War. The Paveway Ils are actually a with the exact range to the target. technological notch below the Harpoon and HARM missiles One minute away, the whizzo tells his pilot that the com used last month in the Gulf of Sidra. Those devices are called puter is locked on to the target. The pilot presses a button on his smart bombs because they have their own propulsion and throttle, turning command of the plane's bomb-release mecha guidance sygtems to direct themselves to a target, enabling a' nism over to the computer. As the.plane roars toward its target, pilot to "fire and forget." Nonetheless, F-111 flyers are still the bombs are release(j to drop in a controlled fall. Then, in confident about what they can do wiih the plain old Paveway what is called a toss, an evasive maneuver to avoid damage by II. Even though the F-111 s did not put a bomb squarely on the explosion of his own bombs, the pilot suddenly takes the Gaddafi's tent last week. they did not miss by much. TIME. APRIL 28.1986 31 LYNDON LAROUCHE Politics Beyond the _Fringe JO N019N I HS~M Of-H I- Tl 1·1d03 02C:8 A21~T0d MN ,d NOS~~~r 92L 3JI~~O J3~3 1N30IS3~d ~-lN 9830 L PB 8 88 POOL 088 Z:OS02 I , I ... : ~ ~· ·; . -:'": .. · . ~·- . ,\RTH\J"!!l,}R,\Cl'--;, r.11 \'r u:;. 1'£T£l! n R:-,LE Y f'QR N EW WEEK The best of enemies: Neither side was intimidated , _ The Libyan leader threatens new terrorist attacks after Reagan steams through his 'line of death' The Navy's 'Terrorist Busters' at wort!: The men on is audience was small and rela By American reckoning, it was Kaddafi business. On the contrary, Libya exhorted tively subdued, but Muammar whose ox was gored last week. U.S. war its fellow Arabs to form "suicide squads" Kaddafi managed to work him ships steamed across the "line of death" · and to hurl "human bombs" at American self into a fine frenzy. "We humil into what Libya re~ards as territorial wa targets in the region. Already, Kaddafi had iated America and its forces," he ters and stayed there, unharmed, for 75 begun to mobilize a counterattack by his toldH the crowd gathered at the Bab al Azi- hours. When Libva fired surface-to-air mis allies and proteges in the vast underworld ziya barracks in Tripoli. Kaddafi boasted siles at America·n planes, the Sixth Fleet of international . terrorism (page 25). that his "line of death" had repelled the replied with missiles of its own, silencing "America is our target," announced the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Gulf of Sidra. He the air-defense battery. When Libyan pa· Palestinian faction run by Abu Nidal, who claimed that his missiles had shot down trol boats approached the fleet, bombs and was blamed for the atrocities at the Rome three American warplanes, "whose six pi missiles drove them off, sinking at least and Vienna airports last Christmas. lots are now feeding the fish." He main two. The American armada-three giant Reagan himself warned about "intensive tained that his forces had recovered a dud aircraft carriers and 24 other ships-had Libyan preparations" for a campaign of missile fired by the Americans. "We are come to keep the sea lanes open and to violence against Americans. "The United going to hand it over to the Russians," he punish Kaddafi for his sponsorship ofinter States will not be intimidated by new gloated. He dismissed Ronald Reagan as "a national terrorism. The dual mission ac threats of terrorism," the president prom trivial and futile actor., and bragged that complished, it sailed away five days before ised. So far, most Americans seemed to "America fears Liby~ ." When Kaddafi fi the announced end of the exercise. with agree. In a NEWSWEEK Poll (page 23), nally finished, Libyan soldiers dragged out Reagan offering "a hearty 'well done'." 63 percent of the people questioned said a terrified cow with "Reakn" painted on its That might not be the end of it, however. last week's attack on Libya was worth side. One of the men slit its throat with a By barging into the Gulfof Sidra, Reagan while, even if it leads to more terrorism knife. Then, as the animal thrashed out its gave Kaddafi a bloody nose, but there was against Americans. life, the soldiers dipped their hands into the no sign that the volatile Libyan leader had And it probably will. Senior American wound and danced around in the blood. been persuaded to get out of the terrorism officials, intelligence analysts and diplo- 20 NEWSWEEK: APRIL 7, 1986 ••mi··-;.:.::~- · - , ...... ------~-,.~ · ....._ . .,.;;_. • &. ' . D2 on • P!:TER TURNLEY FOR NEWSWEEK board the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga knew exactly why they were poised just north of the Gulf of Sidra matic sources in Washington have told NEWSWEEK of mounting evidence that I Kaddafi is preparing a crusade against I American citizens and facilities, mostly in Western Europe and the Middle East. His .... . bag of dirty tricks includes the following: • Highly classified CIA reports warn that Kaddafi's agents have had "no fewer .,.- · than 35" American targets under surveil r-.--. -- lance overseas. The list ranges from the offices of American companies to the head quarters of the Sixth Fleet and the homes of .- -- its top officers in Naples. President Reagan also has been told that Libyan hit squads -...·~ ...: ...... ·~·· are tailing CIA station chiefs in the region. • Last Wednesday a message was sent [ from Tripoli to Libyan agents in Paris, Bel- v · "'11111~::~;~~-~~r~~---=J j grade and Geneva, ordering them to "pre ~- , l pare to carry out the plan." Similar mes- sages were sent to Kaddafi's agents in . Rome, Berlin and Madrid. 1 • A defector from a Libyan hit squad has -L..O'------"T-R-1r-rETT- _,,...... ,r-A_.s_rE_c_.1A~L_.F~EA_T_u_RES~ told the CIA about a plot against the life of A carefully calibrated response: Weinberger briefs the press on Operation Prairie Fire an American diplomat in Europe. The de- NEWSWEEK : APRIL i , 1986 21 Arsenal of democracy: Sidewinder air-to-air missiles (foreground) and 'cluster' bombs stockpiled for action aboard the Saratoga fector, a North African who was recruited by Libyan agents in Western Europe, has passed a series of lie-detector tests and is still in U.S. custody. • Two Libyan agents in the Lebanese Army were ordered last week to attack U.S. Embassy personnel in Beirut. American officials believe that U.S. buildings in the Lebanese capital are now safe from car bomb attacks. But they worry that assas sins might attack Americans with rocket propelled grenades. • In recent weeks Kaddafi has intensi fied his efforts to recruit European and Palestinian hit men in hopes of shifting the Moscow was warned: Soviet destroyer (foreground) tracks a US. aircraft carrier blame away from Libya. One Palestinian ' was enlisted to help carry out an attack on a Similar steps are being taken in many says, "we're going to see attacks against U.S. diplomatic mission in Western Eu American cities and airports, and the 3,500 Americans at airports, on the Via V eneto, rope. The plot was uncovered when Libyans who live in the United States are at train stations. There will be attacks Yasir Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liber being watched. Some of the precautions against individuals-American officials ation Organization, tipped off the United were taken before last week's action in the living abroad and tourists-and against States through a third party. Arafat didn't GulfofSidraand have already begun to pay American businesses. We're in for terrible want his own Al Fatah to be blamed. off. In February an Italian soldier and a trouble ahead." • To keep Washington in what one free-lance cameraman were arrested in Sic But Kaddafi is as unpredictable as he is source calls "a state of high anxiety," the ily and accused of giving secrets to the Lib dangerous. According to several sources, a Libyans are planning a psychological-war yans, possibly in connection with a plot frequently updated CIA report on his men fare campaign in Europe and the Middle against Americans. tal state claims that he uses hallucinogens East, including telephoned bomb threats. Intelligence analysts aren't sure when to expand his mind. Kaddafi also is said to "We think they're really going to yank our 1 Kaddafi's new terror campaign will begin, be preoccupied with a girlfriend in West chain," says an American official. Libya if it does at all. Some experts argue that he ern Europe, flying off in a private plane to also is trying to stir up demonstrations at will strike quickly in order to reaffirm his visit her almost every week. Whether or U.S. embassies in Sudan and two other manhood after the Gulf of Sidra incursion. not those stories are true, Kaddafi some African countries. Apparently the Libyans Others believe he will wait two or three times doesn't seem fo make sense, even to hope that the demonstrators will run amok months, giving himself time to put togeth people who share his cultural background. and sack the embassies. er an elaborate campaign-and giving NEWSWEEK has learned that one impecca· The targeted embassies and other Amer Americans time to drop their guard. Rob ble source who tonferred with Kaddafi last icans in danger overseas have been warned, ert Kupperman of Georgetown University 1 Tuesday told American officials that he and across Europe and the Middle East in Washington predicts that Kaddafi will found the Libyan leader "disoriented and governments are tightening up security. hold off for a couple of months. Then, he incomprehensible." 22 N E W S W EEK : A PR l L 7 , l 9 8 6 S.PECIAL REP.ORT ------~ If Kaddafi is caught sponsoring attacks on Americans, the Reagan administration Fearing Trouble: A Newsweek Poll promises a swift and strong response. No Most Americans think last week's action against Libya was justified, but they fear final decisions have been made, in part be a terrorist response. And there are grave doubts about aiding the contras. cause American retaliation will depend on . . what Kaddafi does. Officials have told NEWSWEEK, however, that most of Rea Gulf of Sidra Attacks Aid to the Contras gan's advisers support Secretary of State George Shultz's longstanding call for re Do you think U.S. attacks against Libyan Do yoll'think giving U.S. military aid to the pi;isals the next time around, not just ·• ships and military sites were justified contra forces fighting the communist gov or not?• ernment in Nicaragua will eventually lead against terrorist camps but against Libyan to U.S. troops being sent there to help in the military and economic targets as well. Sec 75 % Justified fight? Or do you think such aid will permit retary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and 15 % Not justified the contras to carry on without the help of Adm. William Crowe, the chairman of the Some people think that U.S. naval maneu U.S. troops? Joint Chiefs of Staff, are still reluctant to vers in the Gulf of Sidra were a deliberate 44 % U.S. troops will be sent use military power except against specific attempt to provoke an attack from Libya. 33 % Permit contras to carry on terrorist targets. But Donald Regan, the Do you agree or disagree?• 23 % Don't know White House chief of staff, John Poin 43% Agree Which is of greater concern to you today: dexter, the president's national-security 46 % Disagree adviser, and CIA Director William Casey the presence of a communist government as 'ANSWERS FROM THE 90 PERCENT OF ALL close to the United States as Nicaragua, or support Shultz's contention that further RESPONDENTS WHO HAD HEARD OR READ ABOUT THE U.S. RETALIATORY AITACKS. the possibility that U.S. troops will become Libyan-sponsored terrorism should be an involved in a war in Central America? swered with devastating attacks. So far most of Libyan industry does not Fears of Terrorism 34 % Communist government appear on any U.S. target list; nor have Following the U.S. attack on Libya, are 54 % U.S. troops involved plans been drawn up to bomb Kaddafi's you more afraid of terrorist acts against command bunker or the barracks where he Americans because Kaddafi will retaliate, The Wise Use of Military Force lives. But American targeters already are or less afraid because the attack taught prepared to attack a wide range of Libyan Kaddafi a lesson? Do you think President Reagan makes wise military facilities and the training camps 64 % More afraid use of military forces to solve foreign-polky allegedly used by terrorists. And if Kaddali problems, or do you think the president is 26 % Less afraid too quick to employ U.S. lorces? gives them sufficient provocation, Ameri can warplanes will go after the oil pipelines Do you think the U.S. attack on Libya was Wise Too quick and storage facilities that are crucial to worth doing even if it risks more terrorist attacks against Americans? Current 56% 32% Libya's hard-pressed economy. "The next 2/84 40% 52 % act of terrorism," promises a top U.S. offi 63% Worth it 10/83 cial. "will bringthe hammer down." 26 % Not worth it (After Grenada) 43% 47 % Going it alone: Washington began to tighten If you had the opportunity to travel over the screws on Kaddafi early this year. After seas this summer, would you take the trip or F or this NEW•WEEK Poll. The Gallup Organi7.ation the murder of 15 air travelers in Rome and interviewed a representati\·e national sample of 606 refuse it because of the threat of terrorisn;i? adults by telephone Msn:h 26 and 27. The margin of Vienna, Reagan ordered American resi- ' error is plus or minus 5 percen~ points. Some "Don't dents to leave Libya, and he imposed a trade 34% Take trip know" responses omitted. The NEWSWEEK Poll © 1986 embargo on the country. Many American 61 % Refuse it by N EWSWUK. Inc. allies were unenthusiastic about the sanc ------~------~ tions, which seemed likely to do Kaddafi ' little harm. Preparing to go it alone, the administration drafted a long-term plan for additional economic and political moves against Kaddafi. It also started to look for an excuse to take military action against him IN EWSWEEK, Jan. 2m. Why Libya? The administration has long recognized that Syria and Iran are even more deeply involved with terrorism than Kaddafi is. The Abu Nida! group, for in stance. could be traced more directly to Syria than to Libya. But Syria and Iran are difficult, well-armed targets. and the State Department regards Syrian President Ha tez Assad as the essential mediator in Leba non. So Libya became the prime U.S. target. Whatever his precise standing may be among the patrons of terrorism, Kaddafi deserved to be punished. "He harbors ter rorists. trains them, supplies them and en courages them," Shultz said in Rome last week. "You don't have to be Sherlock l'ITER TtJHNl.~:y FOR N~:wsw~;~:K Holmes to figure it out." Kaddafi also con- Anticipating reprisals: Security guards search a car at a NA TO base near Naples NEWSWEEK: APRIL 7, 1986 23 S:P ·EC I A ;L 24 NEWSWEEK: APRIL 7 , 1986 PAGE 11 48TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format. Copyright Cc> 1986 The Washington Post June 24, 1986, Tuesday, Final Edition SECTION: First Section; A1 LENGTH: 1599 words HEADLINE: Reagan Adviser Poindexter Under Criticism by Colleagues BYLINE: By Lou Cannon and David Hoffman, Washington Post Staff Writers KEYWORD: REAG1 BODY: Seven months after taking over as President Reagan's national security affairs adviser, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter has become the object of intensifying criticism from White House colleagues for his management of arms control, the space program and administration foreign policy initiatives in Congress. Senior officials who have daily contact with Poindexter said in recent interviews that he is well versed in policy matters but complained that he is slow ta resolve internal disputes, often overlooks important political considerations and has not mastered the art of explaining complex issues to a president accustomed ta dealing in broad concepts rather than details. For example, the officials said Poindexter had allowed key decisions on the future of the U.S. space program to languish and had failed to anticipate the political outcry following Reagan's Hay 27 announcement that the United States would no longer be bound by the limits of the unratified SALT II treaty. In addition some officials said that, before the June 11 presidential news conference, Poindexter had not adequately explained the probable consequences of the SALT II issue to Reagan, whose explanations of his decision contradicted what high-ranking senior administration officials had said about it. These criticisms -- expressed in interviews by numerous senior administration officials, all of whom requested anonymity -- have persisted even as u.s.-soviet relations appeared to take a better turn and Reagan expressed optimism that Moscow was beginning to negotiate seriously at the Geneva talks on nuclear and space weapons. A Poindexter associate said the admiral is successfully dealing with a "full plate" of difficult problems. But other officials said Poindexter appears overloaded and unwilling to delegate, and they expressed dismay at what they described as an increaslngly clogged system of paperwork at the National Security Council. "It's like Hoover Dam, 11 one official said. Poindexter would not comment on these concerns, following his usual practice of shunning the news media. He spurned the recommendation of other White House officials that he conduct a background briefing for reporters on Reagan's SALT II decision -- one of the most important arms control announcements of the president's second term and one that was followed by contradictory administration statements and considerable confusion in the media. Such LEXIS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS PAGE 12 But Poindexter's .!!_litary crisis ma~nt skill ha~ !lRt been evident in dealing with sensitive poIT"ticaI situations, officials say. Poindexter has acknowledged some of these difficulties to other officials, saying that he has been severely hampered recently by the absence of his respected deputy, Donald R. Fortier, a former assistant to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Lee H. Hamilton LEXIS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS PAGE 7 32ND STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format. Copyright Ccl 1986 The New York Times Campany; The New York Times November 16, 1986, Sunday, Late City Final Edition SECTION: Section 1; Part 1, Page 1, Column 3; Foreign Desk LENGTH: 1216 words HEADLINE: CRITICISM ON IRAN AND OTHER ISSUES PUT REAGAN'S AIDES ON DEFENSIVE BYLINE: By BERNARD WEINRAUB, Special to the New York Times DATELINE: WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 BODY: With the White House facing criticism of its Iran policy and its handling of foreign affairs, two of President Reagan's advisers have mounted a strong defense of their competence and the role they have been playing. One adviser, Donald T. Regan, who is the White Hause chief of staff and a principal subject of the growing criticism from some both inside and outside the White House, said: ''I don't take kindly to this criticism by people who have not examined my record. How much more experience do you have to have in foreign policy than I do to believe you are qualified?' 1 His comments in his White House office on Friday came at the conclusion of a day in which he and Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, the national security adviser, began a series of interviews and television appearances to last through the weekend. They acknowledge that this unusual defense was in response to the criticism about the secret arms deliveries to Iran and their possible linkage to the release of hostages held in Lebanon, but also about the effectiveness of Mr. Reagan and his inner circle in handling the major foreign policy issues of his second term. There is no evidence that the President himself is dissatisfied, but recent events have brought his advisers under close scrutiny and some criticism from members of Congress, the State Department, politicians and diplomats. The criticism comes after reports of official misinformation about Libyan intentions and after a dispute over what the President told Mikhail S. Gorbachev in Iceland. Mr. Regan and aides ta Admiral Poindexter contend that all these issues were beyond their control. 1 1 Some of us are like a shovel brigade that follow a parade down Matn Street cleaning up,' 1 Mr. Regan said with a laugh. ''We took Reykjavik and turned what was really a sour situation into something that turned out pretty well. 1 'Who was it that took this disinformation thing and managed to turn 1t? Who was it took on this loss in the Senate and pointed out a few facts and managed to pull that? I don't say we'll be able to do it four times in a row. But here we go again, and we're trying.'' LEXIS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS PAGE 8 (c) 1986 The New York Times, November 16, 1986 The remarks point up one aspect of the Reagan team that has been compared unfavorably by some current and former officials to the group led by James A. Baker 3d, the chief of staff in the first term. In this view, the present team is seen as having spent a lot of time an 11 damage control,'' while Mr. Baker and his staff seemed better able ta avoid damaging situations. In the first term, the White House maintained generally successful relations with Congress and managed to avoid lasting crtticism over its most acute foreign policy problem, Lebanon. The White House was then relatively unadventurous in foreign policy, focusing on domestic issues. Same current and former officials say Mr. Regan, a blunt-spoken former Wall Street executive, and Admiral Poindexter, because of inexperience in foreign affairs and in dealings with Congress, have caused problems in foreign policy. These officials say Mr. Regan and Admiral Poindexter have been more inclined to adventurism. On specific points, same officials say Mr. Regan, an Iranian policy, did not reach out ta Congress or seek unanimity within the Administration so that Secretary of State George P. Shulti and Defense Secretary Caspar w. Weinberger would not appose the policy. There has also been criticism of the White Hause delay in announcing its new policy on Iran. The Need for Allies in Capital A member of the White House team during the first term said: 1 'There seems to be little understanding now of the fact that in Washington it is important to have allies, and your mast critical allies need to be brought into the process as early as possible.' 1 A White House official who has long worked for Mr. Reagan said: 1 'One of the advantages they saw in Dan Regan's style at the beginning was a kind of strong, fighting confrontational approach that everyone expected ta be healthy in terms of promoting the second-term agenda and preventing lame-duck status. 1 'In the first term, the agenda was domestic-oriented - tax cuts and economic change and recovery from the recession. But in this term, with the President turning more to arms control, to summits, ta terrorism, this may not be the best style in terms of delicate foreign policy issues. When you couple that with a kind of penchant for secrecy, you have got problems.'' Relations With Congress Admiral Poindexter, who as national security adviser heads the National Security Council staff, has also faced criticism within the White House for not cementing relationships with Congress, especially when compared ta his predecessor, Robert C. Mcfarlane. Admiral Poindexter argued against disclosure of the Iran policy on the ground that it would damage prospects of obtaining the release of mare hostages. LEXIS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS PAGE 9 (C) 1986 The New York Times, November 16, 1986 A State Department official, discussing Admiral Poindexter, said: ''You have a leader, at the N.S.C., who is a highly competent military officer, but has two unusual things about him. One, he is still on active duty, which is odd and, I think, makes you less vigorous in pursuing your views. Secondly, he does not have a great deal of background in foreign affairs nor is he a confidant of the President. 11 1 'The best policy in the world can fail if your Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense appose it - as happened with Iran. If you decide to do it, it was Regan's and Poindexter's job to have brought these people in.'' On a personal level, officials say, the tensions over the Iran policy have spilled over into White House criticism of Secretary of State Shultz, who opposed the policy from the outset. But Charles E. Redman, the State Department spokesman, said: ''The Secretary supports the President. Those are his words. You can take that as gospel.'• Mr. Regan, in defending his motives in the interview on Friday, said: ''Look, in the initial stages of this, by necessity, only a few people were involved. You couldn't make this a town-meeting sort of exercise. Those who had a need to know were consulted. There were differences of opinion, they were put forth with vigor by the senior people involved, debated and then the President made his decision.' 1 Fear of Early Disclosure Had the Administration consulted Congress, Mr. Regan said, ''I suspect it would not have held as a secret as long as it did. 11 He spoke testily of the criticism that Mr. Baker, now Treasury Secretary, would have brought in Congressional leaders, as the White House did before the invasion of Grenada. 1 'Look, we did consult with the Congressional leadership on Libya - that happened under Regan, 11 he said, referring to the raid in April. ''When there was an event about to transpire, we made certain the Congress was informed. In this one, there was no big bang as in launching the attack on Libya or the invasion of Grenada.'' An official of the National Security Council staff termed some of the criticism of Admiral Poindexter unfair, saying that the admiral had developed ties on Capital Hill. Although White House officials have criticized Admiral Poindexter for surrounding himself with aides who are in the military, the official said the staff was usually about 30 percent military. SUBJECT: UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS; ARMS SALES ABROAD; UNITED STATES ARMAMENT AND DEFENSE; SUMMIT CONFERENCES NAME: WEINRAUB, BERNARD; REAGAN, RONALD WILSON believe with Reagan that alternatives to force in dealing with The Iron Lady Stands Alone Libya had simply failed. Last week she reminded her critics of Libya·s continuing support of the terrorist gangs in the "A lioness in a den of Daniels.'' the London Times char- Provisional Irish Republican Army and of other Libyan in acterized her. When British Prime Minister Margaret cidents much closer to home. Two years ago. London broke Thatcher stood before the House of Commons last week. op diplomatic relations with Tripoli after Constable Yvonne position members and even backbenchers from her own Fletcher was killed by gunfire from the Libyan "people's Conservative Party hooted and jeered her for allowing U.S. bureau." planes to take off from English air bases for their Nor had Thatcher been entirely complaisant in respond bomb runs to Libya. The Prime Minister held her ground. "It ing to the U.S. requests. Before permitting the use of is inconceivable ... she stated. "that Lthe U.S.) should be the air bases. she insisted that the raid be justifiable refused the right to use American aircraft and American pi as self-defense. She was shown what one aide said were lots ... to defend their own people.·· "compelling·• reports from U.S. and The opposition was in full cry British intelligence that Gaddafi had against her. Labor Foreign Policy ordered the bombing of a West Ber Spokesman Denis Healey said lin discotheque and planned a wide Thatcher·s decision was "a disas range of other terrorist activities. trous blunder" and proved that She also demanded promises from "when Mr. Reagan tells Mrs. Reagan that the U.S. warplanes Thatcher to jump, her reply is 'How would confine their attack to "clear high?'" Other Laborites vowed that ly defined targets related to terror if they ever returned to power. they ism·• and avoid widespread civilian would close down U.S. nuclear bases. casualties. Liberal Party Leader David Steel Thatcher had other reasons too told the Prime Minister she had for assisting the Reagan Administra turned "the British bulldog into a tion. She reminded M.P.s of the vital Reagan poodle." Social Democratic American military assistance in re Party Leader David Owen was less capturing the Falkland Islands from harsh. but maintained that Britain Argentina four years ago: "We re should' have taken the Libyan issue ceived splendid support from the to the United Nations. Later in the U.S .. far beyond the call of duty." week. after two British hostages Added one Whitehall official: "We in Lebanon were murdered. appar owed Washington one." ently in retaliation for Britain's Thatcher showed little patience cooperation with the U.S .. Labor Thatcher leaves Downing Street for Parliament for her counterparts elsewhere in Eu Party Leader Neil Kinnock blamed rope who refused to aid the U.S. Al Thatcher. saying ·the hostages had been "abandoned to though the U.S. had repeatedly urged its NA TO allies to take their fate." tougher, nonmilitary action against Libya, she told Parlia Many in Thatcher"s own Tory .Party were equally un ment, results had been "totally insufficient. She held to the sympathetic.-particularly former Conservative Prime Minis view that "if one never took any action because of the risks ter Edward Heath. who pointed out that he had refused involved. the alternative would be to be totally and utterly President Richard Nixon's request to use British bases passive and supine before Colonel Gaddafi and anyone else for U.S. aircraft resupplying Israel during the 1973 Yorn who practices state-sponsored terrorism." Kippur War. Even some members of Thatcher's Cabinet Although the Prime Minister·s actions set her apart from privately opposed her decision. though all supported fellow European leaders and much of British public opinion, it publicly. her stance of gritty independence was nevertheless familiar. In January, Thatcher had told U.S. correspondents she Thatcher. as one government official put it, "is used to being could not support a retaliatory strike against terrorists that the odd person out." That role last week, as lioness and Iron violated international law. But she seemed to have come to Lady, served the U.S. well. 24 TIME. APRIL 28. 19' ... Nation U.S. should do .. "We'd been a pretty deter asked if Spain would permit overflight, or. dominantly against the raid, was hardly mined bunch ever since the Achille failing that, at least allow tanker planes monolithic. Polls showed an odd pattern. Lauro. " said one senior Reagan official. taking off from Spanish bases to refuel In Britain. Market & Opinion Research "The only major point of discussion was the F-11 ls in flight over the Atlantic. International surveyed 1,051 people for targeting." Reagan insisted that the tar Whenever asked. Gonzalez replied with a the London Times. Two-thirds were gets be chosen with a view toward holding firm no. against the air strike, and 71 % disap down casualties among Libyan civilians. As late as Monday, many European proved of Thatcher's permission for Brit That damage nonetheless occurred. in leaders apparently believed they might . ish bases to be used. But in France, which downtown Tripoli might indicate that a still have time to talk the U.S. out of an at refused to participate, a survey taken so-called surgical air strike is much easier tack. Meeting in emergency session in the within 48 hours of the raid turned up only to plan than to achieve. Hague only hours before the strike. for 49% against vs. 39% who were in favor of Although military action was decided eign ministers of the twelve European it. In France also. one notable political on Monday, April 7, final approval of a Community nations went further than figure, former President Valery Giscard plan and targets did not come until the they ever had before toward meeting U.S. d'Estaing, stated flatly, "I approve of the following Sunday. That allowed time for a requests for collective action. They American action in Libya." French last-minute mission by Vernon Walters. pledged to reduce the number of Libyan speaking Swiss polled by the Lausanne U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and a veter diplomats allowed into their countries. to newspaper Le Matin registerd an aston an troubleshooter. to sound ishing 67.8% majority for out European allies on their DIFF£RENC:E OF OP!NION the attack. Opinion seemed attitudes. On Saturday, Sun vehemently opposed in day and Monday, he visited · BllBTAllNI Spain. A crowd in Barcelona in quick succession London. smashed windows of a Mc Madrid. Bonn. Paris and Do you approve or Do you think Reagan Donald's restaurant. and El Rome. disapprove of U.S. was right or wrong Pais. the leading daily in Walters' mission. how in ordering the Madrid, published a cartoon ever, became a source of new military action of the U.S. flag with skulls controversy. Several Euro against Libya? bombing of Libya? for stars and bones for pean leaders contended that stripes. Walters. while making it Approve 71% Wrong 66% Very privately, the U.S. clear that the U.S. was seri Disapprove 20% Not sure 9% Right 29% No opinion 5% picked up some support in ously considering a military the Arab world. Radical strike. put all his comments Arab states condemned the on a what-if basis. As a re ln the long run, Do you think the military strike in shrill. sult, they said. they got no will the Libyan bombing will increase vehement and threatening impression that an attack bombing help stop or decrease the terms. conservative nations had already been ordered. terrorist attacks likelihood of terrorist in ritualistic tones. But their much less that it was within confidential comments dif days or even hours of begin on Americans? attacks on Britain? fered markedly from their ning. Added to their concern public ones. Said one Arab about being caught in the Agree 56% Increase 84% government minister: ··Gad middle of a cycle of military Disagree 33% Not sure 11% Decrease 4% No difference 12% dafi has done more harm to reprisal and terrorist ven us I by fomenting terrorism I Source: Yankelov1ch/Clancy, Shulman Source: Mar•et & Opinion Research geance was a resentful feel International than to the Americans. The ing that the U.S. had failed only problem with the at to consult them properly, l tack on Libya is that you and perhaps had even misled them. limit their freedom of movement and to didn't get him.'' France had already refused a U.S. re keep them under close surveillance. That The final act before the bombs could quest to permit the F-111 s to fly over her move has some importance: Libyan .. dip fall was a move by the White House to territory before Walters met with Presi lomats" are believed often to pass instruc line up congressional support. The Ad dent Fran~ois Mitterrand and Prime tions. money and weapons to terrorists. ministration acted at about the last imag Minister Jacques Chirac. An official But besides coming too late. the move inable moment to fulfill even theoretically French government statement later ex fell short of meeting Washington's urging the requirement of the 1973 War Powers plained that Paris was feariul of intensify that the Europeans shut down the Libyan Act that "the President in every possible ing "the chain of violence .. by abetting the people's bureaus entirely. Meeting again instance shall consult with Congress be U.S. military strike. France may also have on Thursday, two full days aiter the at fore introducing United States armed been reluctant to become involved in any tack. the twelve tried to come up with forces into hostilities." At 4 p.m. on Mon military action that it did not initiate and some further move that might satisfy the day. when the already airborne F-1 l ls could not control. Another factor: the U.S. but could agree only to wait for a were only three hours from the attack. newly installed Chirac government had committee report due this week. nine House.. and Senate leaders of both just renewed efforts to wm freedom for It is possible that this attitude will parties were summoned to the Old Execu eight French hostages in Lebanon and did change. While opposing the attack. some tive Office Building for "consultation" not want to endanger them-a concern European leaders also crit.i.cized their own with a pride of Administration lions: Vice that was justified by the subsequent l! Xe failure to propose any alternative anti ter President George Bush. Shultz. Weinber cution of British and Amerii;an hostages, rorist program. Said West Germany's ger. CIA Director William Casey, Joint Walters implied that Spain also had Kohl: "Too frequently. the Europeans Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Wil refused overflight permission before he have been too satisfied with mere declara liam Crowe. Reagan came in ten minutes got to Madrid Saturday. Said the Ambas tions which have been politically ineffec later. read briefly from typewritten notes sador: ··sometimes it is better not to ask tual while leaving the U.S. alone in its describing the operation. then turned the the question when you don't think you struggle against international terrorism presentation over to National Security will like the answer." But Prime Minister . .. If we Europeans do not want to follow Adviser John Poindexter. who gave a de Felipe Gonzalez said later that during his the Americans for reasons of our own. we tailed rundown of the evidence linking meeting with Walters. the Ambassador must develop political initiatives ... Libya to the Berlin disco bombing and again on a what-if basis-speci.fically Public opinion in Europe. while pre- the wave of new terrorist acts that 26 TIME. APRIL .2&. 1986 .. Payoff: the shattered fac;ade of Gaddafi's headquarters in Bab al Azizia anny compound on the day after the attack the Administration said was imminent. that the U.S. really will hit back if it has times Tran have been quite as active as All the congressional leaders found sufficient evidence and provocation. the Libya in sponsoring. aiding and sheltering the evidence sufficiently convincing to , President. they say, will now return to em terrorists. To take the most notorious ex justify the raid, but several remarked that phasizing political and economic action. ample. Italian police believe that the gun they were being notified. not consulted. Primarily, that means pushing the allies men who carried out the Rome and Vien One of the Reagan officials replied that yet again to agree to some sort of tough, na airport attacks trained in the Syrian there was still time to call off the attack coordinated action, this time with at least occupied Bekaa Valley of Lebanon. But if the legislators objected "unanimously" the implicit argument that they can see Syria and Tran are far more populous. and and strongly. House Republican Leader for themselves the unpleasant conse more heavily armed. than Libya. They Robert Michel thought. "If T had some quences if they refuse. Indeed. there was also are less politically isolated. serious objection. how could T make some intention among Reagan ·s advisers Syria maintains a treaty of friendship it now·>" to use the bombing to shock the Europe with the Soviet Union-a diplomatic No one objected. but no one expressed ans out of their timidity and inertia. The . plum Gaddafi has pleaded for but never any enthusiasm either. Michel. playing President especially intends to press for a received-which Damascus conceivably devil's advocate, asked ifthe Administra coordinated program next month at the could invoke for military assistance tion had considered waiting for the next economic summit meeting in Tokyo of against attack. Under those circum terrorist provocation. Poindexter replied the non-Communist world's seven lead stances. if evidence ties some future ter that the case against Gaddafi was so ing industrial powers: the U.S .. Canada. rorist murder to Syria as unequivocally as strong that there was no point in waiting. Britain. France, West Germany. Italy the intercepted messages pointed to Libya Several legislators ventured worried and Japan. in the Berlin disco bombing, what would what-next questions: in effect. how ready the U.S. do? Go back on the pledge. re was the Administration to use military ,,..... till, the question of when. how newed by Reagan at his news conference force against future terrorist acts? Demo and at whom the U.S. might two weeks ago. to "respond" whenever he cratic Senate Leader Robert Byrd of West strike again probably cannot be has proof of responsibility for a specific Virginia asked, "What are we playing. tit dodged for long. Even if Gad terrorist act? Or would the U.S. take the for tar~ Suppdse the trail leads to Syria or "lmllllllllllr dafi is cowed, terrorist violence risk of launching a military action that Iran. Are we going to send in the bomb undoubtedly will continue and may even could lead to a much wider conflict? ers'?" Shultz replied that the Administra increase. as last week's incidents so fright One criterion for the use of military tion would consider the problem on a eningly indicated. Libya's assistance to force. of course. is precisely the likelihood case-by-case basis. deciding on a military terrorists is of two types: Gaddafi directiy that it will prove effective at an accept or other response as the circumstances of plans and carries out some attacks. but he able cost. But in the end, the reason for each terrorist outburst appeared to dic also supplies money. weapons and train last week's U.S. air strike came not so tate. That 'did not satisfy Georgia Senator ing to groups that act on their own and much from a calculation of effectiveness Sam ~unn. the leading Democratic ex could carry on without him. Says Brian as from a conviction that a military blow pert on defense. While continuing to de Jenkins. a Rand Corp. expert on terror had become inevitable. Shultz has much fend the Libya raid as justified. Nunn re ism: "Quite clearly Gaddafi has played a merit to his argument that terrorists must marked later. "I don't sense any long major role in terrorism. but he by no be forced to consider a cost for their at range strategy irt dealing with terrorism. I means exercises control over the myriad tacks: given the evidence on Gaddafi and think it's still ad-hocism." Middle East groups who target the U.S. the military strength the U.S. had against Administration officials. for their and the West for a variety of reasons. him. it became a question of put up or shut part. are anything but eager to proclaim a Gaddafi may have a ·go· switch for some up. now or never. The blow established broad new Reagan Doctrine of repeated terrorist groups. but not a 'stop' switch." the credibility of the U.S. military threat. military retaliation against terrorism. On Richly as Gaddafi deserved being tar But it did not solve the question of how to the contrary, they warned against assum geted, the U.S. has been observing a kind integrate that threat into a global antiter ing that new terrorist outrages will neces oi double standard in fingering him as rorist strategy. -By George J. Church. Re sarily. or even probably, be punished by Terrorist Public Enemy No. I. Less nois ported by David Beckwith and Barrett Seaman/ bombs and builets. Having demonstrated ily. but not a bit less lethally. Syria and at Washington and Christopher Ogden/London TIME. APRIL 28. 1986 27 PAGE 22 48TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format. Copyright ~·John was in his office eating dinner, monitoring what was going on, making decisions all the time, 11 said one White House official. ''He was very cool.'' Secretary of State George P. Shultz, responding to a question about Admiral Poindexter, remarked in an interview Friday night that ''the transition is going very, very smoothly'' from Mr. Mcfarlane to Admiral Poindexter. ''He's familiar with the territory,'' said Hr. Shultz. ''He's been there. He's picked up without dropping a stitch.'• LE}f{IS NE}f{IS LE}f{IS NE}f{IS PAGE 24 LEZ!IS NEXIS LEXIS NEXIS