Word: hizballah
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...Israeli Cabinet approved the mission by a vote of 11 to 1 in June, after an earlier kidnaping failed to impress Mustafa Dirani, the man believed to be holding one of the soldiers. Last December, Israeli commandos seized Jawad Kasafi, a Dirani associate. But when Jerusalem offered a swap, Hizballah declined even to reply. Israel concluded it needed a bigger fish, and Obeid was selected...
Although the kidnaping was a success, two days later the larger plan appeared to be backfiring. Recognizing that the U.S. could be more easily pressured than Israel by threats against its hostages, a Hizballah front group calling itself the Organization of the Oppressed on Earth vowed to kill Colonel Higgins unless Obeid was released. Israeli Cabinet officials convened an emergency meeting to formulate a counteroffer. Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin proposed an exchange of Obeid and the estimated 150 Lebanese Shi'ites held in Israeli prisons for the release of the three Israeli soldiers and all the Western hostages...
...message that the U.S. would not "object" to the proposed swap. Though it was a pale green light at best, the Israelis recognized it as a sufficient O.K. But by the time the Israelis announced their offer, videotapes of Higgins' hanging body were already being distributed by Hizballah...
Israeli officials insist they had indeed considered the possibility of a backlash by Hizballah. Rabin told the Knesset on Wednesday that the government had taken into account all possible outcomes, "including the event that took place, and worse." He did not say whether it had concluded that an American hostage might be executed or whether it had anticipated the U.S. public outcry over the Higgins outrage...
Bush was also considering a military response. About three dozen U.S. warships were dispatched toward Lebanon and Iran. Iran was notified that as the paymaster of the Hizballah, it would be held responsible if any American hostages were harmed. Through a variety of conflicting leaks, the Administration let it be known that if Cicippio was killed, the President was prepared to order an air strike against suspected terrorist bases...