Word: libya
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...blow, when it finally fell, was unexpectedly jarring. Despite years of agonized Western debate about combatting terrorism, months of mostly fruitless diplomatic maneuvering, weeks of U.S. warnings and finally days of ominous public silence, the world still seemed unprepared when the bombers struck. Although Libya had felt the sting of the Sixth Fleet over the Gulf of Sidra just three weeks before, the principal buildings and the minarets of the central mosque in Tripoli were bathed by floodlights, providing a beacon for U.S. pilots. Under cover of darkness, 13 F-111 fighter-bombers flying out of Britain, joined by twelve...
...raid began around 7 p.m. Monday Washington time (2 a.m. Tuesday in Libya) and was over in time for a White House announcement to catch evening TV news shows. But no one ventured to label it an 11 1/2-min. war; neither the Reagan Administration nor anyone else harbored illusions that anything definitive had been settled during the few moments that the bombs were falling. Rather, there was a sense in Washington and around the world that the U.S. had crossed a fateful line in the intensifying battle between civilized society and terrorism, with consequences that no one could truly predict...
...some political power. Washington was wondering how far to trust intelligence reports indicating that the U.S. attack had touched off an attempted military coup against the Libyan leader during which he had been wounded in the left shoulder. If there was an attempt at a coup--and journalists in Libya could detect no more than some mysterious firing--Gaddafi survived that too and appeared to be no more than momentarily subdued. No wounds were visible when he began making appearances on Libyan TV at midweek, apparently to reassure his countrymen that the U.S. attack was over and he was still...
...overlooked the fact that in December, Gaddafi praised and perhaps assisted the terrorists who opened fire on passengers in the Rome and Vienna airports, killing 20 people, including an eleven-year-old American, Natasha Simpson. Overall, White House Spokesman Larry Speakes was quick to contrast the casualties of the Libya raid with the 938 people he said had died last year in terrorist attacks around the world, though American officials admitted they had difficulty breaking down how many of these could be called direct or indirect victims of Gaddafi. For once, Gaddafi in his Wednesday talk made no threats...
...British teachers who had been abducted three weeks before their murder. The men were among 18 British, French, U.S. and other hostages being held in Lebanon. A stenciled statement found near the bloodstained bodies said they had been killed in retaliation for the U.S. air strike against Libya. The statement was signed by the "Arab Revolutionary Cells," a group believed to be linked to the notorious terrorist Abu Nidal, who reportedly is in Libya...