Word: stinger
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Reagan's reply to all these concerns was to strike an attitude of poised calm, even when taking firm action. The President last week invoked his emergency powers to sell Saudi Arabia 400 shoulder-fired Stinger antiaircraft missiles and to provide a fourth aerial tanker, a KC-10, that can refuel Saudi fighters in flight. The moves were intended to help the Saudis protect shipping from Iranian air assault in the Persian Gulf. Kuwait promptly made an unofficial request for Stingers; the U.S. suggested it turn to European suppliers...
King Hussein's public statements expressing concern over this country's pro-Israel bias were long overdue [WORLD, March 26]. The Government's retaliation by immediately canceling the Stinger missiles to Jordan unfortunately proved his point...
More recently, King Hussein has been upset by the efforts of Congress to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. He was angered by the public debate in the U.S. over the proposed sale of the Stinger missiles to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Two weeks ago, when President Reagan explained to a United Jewish Appeal audience in Washington why he believed such a sale was necessary, Hussein blew up. What many Americans saw as a bold step by Reagan in an election year seemed humiliating to Hussein. At this point, as the King told TIME editors...
...Administration reacted defensively to the criticism. Secretary of State George Shultz argued that the King's criticism had made congressional approval of the Stinger missile sale "extremely difficult." And sure enough, when faced with the fact that at least 55 Senators were known to be opposed to the sale, the White House withdrew its request. To some degree, the Stinger debacle hurt the Jordanians, though they were considering other options, including the purchase of similar weapons from France or the Soviet Union. What suffered most, amid the sense of spiraling failure of American interests in the Arab Middle East...
...mullet pole for a baseball bat and tempt him with the upscale life. But every paternal gesture meets with failure or misunderstanding. His sex lecture about contraception, for example, leaves Simons with the impression that the body part in question "is some kind of electric eel or polyp stinger you have to insulate with rubber...