Word: opinionating
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...incentives and reasons to alter his criminal behavior." That argument won the support of only three U.S. allies: Britain, which gave permission for the F-111s to use English bases, Canada and Israel. All the others at minimum counseled against a raid; France and Spain went further, vexing U.S. opinion by refusing to let the F-111s fly over their territory. That forced the bombers to take a circuitous route that added 2,400 nautical miles to their 5,600-mile round trip...
...great fear in Europe was that the attack would trigger a cycle of new vengeful terrorist assaults followed by more U.S. reprisals. Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi expressed the concerns of European governments and public opinion alike: the U.S. action, he said, was likely to unleash "explosions of fanaticism and of criminal and suicide missions...
...Administration's case drew vigorous agreement across almost the full spectrum of American political opinion. House Speaker Tip O'Neill, usually a leader of opposition to what his fellow Democrats see as an overly adventurous Reagan foreign policy, declared that "we just can't let this madman of terrorism (Gaddafi) keep threatening." Indeed, said O'Neill, if Libya continues to foment terrorism, "I think the American people would demand that we go in again." The New York Times and Washington Post, whose editorial writers are often skeptical about military action overseas, voiced approval of the raid. The most notable dissenter...
...Public opinion in Europe, while predominantly against the raid, was hardly monolithic. Polls showed an odd pattern. In Britain, Market & Opinion Research International surveyed 1,051 people for the London Times. Two-thirds were against the air strike, and 71% disapproved of Thatcher's permission for British bases to be used. But in France, which refused to participate, a survey taken within 48 hours of the raid turned up only 49% against vs. 39% who were in favor of it. In France also, one notable political figure, former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, stated flatly, "I approve of the American...
Although the Prime Minister's actions set her apart from fellow European leaders and much of British public opinion, her stance of gritty independence was nevertheless familiar. Thatcher, as one government official put it, "is used to being the odd person out." That role last week, as lioness and Iron Lady, served the U.S. well...