Word: airstrips
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...compound, hidden deep in the heart of the Amazon jungle, 400 miles southeast of the Colombian capital of Bogota, was called Tranquilandia (the Land of Tranquillity). Amid a hail of gunfire, 40 Colombian policemen in two helicopters and a small plane touched down on its clandestine airstrip. What they found was a busy, self-contained complex devoted entirely to the production of cocaine. Tranquilandia included a dormitory large enough to sleep 80 or more, and a dining area complete with dishwasher and refrigerator. Its bathrooms were furnished with showers and orange-and-white flush toilets made of Italian ceramic. Among...
...between the plane and control towers in Tehran and Kuwait, the hijackers pressed their demands. Finally, they agreed to let some of the 161 on board the Airbus leave. First, 46 women and children, including an American married to a Pakistani, and her daughter, made their way across the airstrip. All had been stripped of their personal papers and any identifying documents. They were followed by 23 Pakistanis and, later in the week, by a group of 30 men. The terrorists let eight more hostages go on Friday, and at week's end they released 39 men, most...
THIS TIME it was an airstrip in Tehran. And in a rage of powerlessness, we waited anxiously for word that the threats, the beatings, the killings had ended...
Undoubtedly, the hijackers might have been stopped more quickly had the Kuwaiti plane been resting on an airstrip at Charles de Gaulle or Heathrow. But the feeling of impotence when faced with hijackings and similar acts is inherent to terrorism, no matter where or when it occurs. Those with a rational outlook and profound concern for human life will always be at a disadvantage when forced to bargain with those whose political or religious fanaticism has supplanted a similar taste for decency. In this respect, President Reagan was no better prepared to meet the terrorist challenge in Iran than...
...Panama has forced the United States to shut down its School of the Americas, training ground for thousands of Latin American soldiers. And in Costa Rica, the fragile democracy is chafing under Washington's efforts to militarize the country, and it refused a recent U.S. request to extend an airstrip near its border with Nicaragua...