Word: goodman
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...liberation of Goodman at least eased tensions between the two countries, whose worsening relations deteriorated sharply in December when Syrian anti-aircraft batteries fired on U.S. reconnaissance planes over eastern Lebanon. During a retaliatory strike the next day, two U.S. fighter-bombers were shot down and Goodman was captured. The new mood could be seen in small ways: Syrian television and newspapers carried the full text of Reagan's note to Assad, while the U.S. President expressed a willingness to meet with the Syrian leader. Donald Rumsfeld, Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, is now expected...
...Goodman's release startled Washington, it did not surprise the supremely confident Jackson. Two weeks ago, .he learned through press reports that Rumsfeld had not even mentioned Goodman during talks in Damascus. Jackson blasted the Administration for not doing enough to free the airman, and within days the Syrians said he would be welcome in Damascus. He insisted he would not go if Reagan asked him not to, but four telephone calls to the President went unreturned...
Before talking with Assad, Jackson met with Syrian religious figures and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Though the Muslim and Christian leaders opposed Goodman's release, their American visitor made an impassioned plea for mercy. He then persuaded Mahmoud Labadi, a P.L.O. spokesman, to present Jackson's case for freeing Goodman to P.L.O. faction leaders in Damascus. It was they who subsequently urged the Syrians to give up the flyer...
...when the civil rights leader toured the Middle East. For a man who was hospitalized with a heart ailment just two months ago, Assad looked remarkably hale. He talked with the group for about an hour, then conferred with Jackson alone for 20 minutes. Jackson argued that keeping Goodman would not stop U.S. reconnaissance flights over eastern Lebanon. To concentrate on those missions, said Jackson, was to focus on the mailman instead of the post office. But if Assad released the flyer, Jackson maintained, he would fuel demands within the U.S. for a Marine pullout and achieve his larger goal...
Assad promised only to discuss the matter with his aides. Syrian officials had been debating the merits of releasing Goodman almost from the day he was shot down, and Jackson's plea tipped the balance. Jackson was given the good news the next day by Syrian Foreign Minister Abdel Halim Khaddam. Ambassador Robert Paganelli, who was not invited to Jackson's briefing, was informed moments later. Meanwhile, Goodman was driven from his Damascus military jail to the U.S. embassy. After putting on a tie and brown tweed jacket supplied by Jackson, he had a celebratory lunch...