Word: gaddafi
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After a four-month respite that, coincidentally or not, followed the U.S. air attack on Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, Middle Eastern terrorists were on the rampage once again. Only hours after the bloody denouement in Karachi, masked Arab gunmen stalked into an Istanbul synagogue during the morning Sabbath service and, firing machine guns, murdered more than a score of Jewish worshipers...
...contemporary terrorism, that still left a lot unexplained. Early in the course of the hijacking, an anonymous Arab called a Western news agency office in Nicosia, Cyprus, and claimed responsibility for the Libyan Revolutionary Cells, a previously unknown group. Denials came almost instantaneously from Radio Tripoli and from Gaddafi, who was attending the nonaligned conference in Zimbabwe. Next, an obscure Shi'ite organization calling itself Jundullah, or Soldiers of God, announced it was responsible. Most Western intelligence agencies were skeptical...
...some, the shadowboxing smacked of psychological warfare on the part of the Reagan Administration to keep Gaddafi off balance. The timing of the U.S. maneuvers was a coincidence. The "Sea Wind" exercises with Egypt had been scheduled for two years, and the F-111s had flown into Britain for a previously planned NATO exercise. Speculation about U.S. intentions began with a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. had evidence Gaddafi was plotting new terrorist acts and that it was ready to retaliate against him. In response, White House Spokesman Larry Speakes said the obvious: "We certainly have reason...
...statement was less a signal to Libya of imminent U.S. action than a reaffirmation of continuing policy toward Gaddafi. Although Western intelligence agencies believe they have detected new Libyan terrorist plots, the evidence is too sketchy to warrant military retaliation. Nevertheless, the President's advisers took the opportunity to remind the public, and Gaddafi, that contingency plans for Libya are always at hand...
...rumors spread, even some Pentagon officials were puzzled about the Administration's intentions. Complained one senior Navy officer about White House aides: "If they'd just get their act in shape, we'd know better what they expect of us. It's like being on a yo-yo." Gaddafi might have experienced similar feelings last week. If so, the same officer could have cleared up any confusion in the colonel's mind about the Navy's preference. Said he: "Give us an excuse, and we'll clobber him, but good...