dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby) (01/09/86)
Driving to work this morning I heard an interesting commentary by Peter Jennings on the president's latest news conference. He said that the news conference was noteworthy mostly because of what the president DIDN'T say. Two points stand out. (1) Reagan, in retaliation for Libya's terrorist activities, imposed strict economic sanctions against Libya, cutting off all trade. What he didn't say was that our trade with Libya is negligible anyway. In 1980 we did more than $5 billion worth of trade with Libya. By 1985 (first ten months' statistics) that figure was down to less than $32 MILLION. I'm sure Quadhafi's wrists really sting from that slap on them. In view of the billions of dollars of trade that the European countries give him, I'm sure he's really hurting for our measly $32 million. (BTW, for those in the UK and elsewhere who don't already know, one billion in the U. S. is one thousand million, not one million million. We are not as rich as you think. :-) (2) Reagan called for the European countries to join him in this heroic action. What he didn't say was that the chance of that happening, even among our allies, is virtually nil; the European countries have a lot more to lose than the U. S. if they join in this game. It would be like someone in Europe demanding that the U. S. cut off all trade with Saudi Arabia. The U. S. is recalling all its citizens working abroad in Libya. The average U. S. citizen working in Libya makes 95,000 US-tax-free dollars a year. These are the people that will be hurt most by the new sanctions. It will give Quadhafi a good laugh at best. (Still, I find it hard to feel sorry for someone who has been making $95,000 per year tax free all this time. But maybe I'm just cold-hearted.) The reaction of the president is apparently a political technique designed to cool off public pressure (by making it look like he is really doing something) until the president and his advisors can come up with something meaningful. Personally, I can't think of anything truly meaningful he could do to stop Quadhafi's antics, short of a declaration of war and blowing Libya off the map; but that could have most undesirable repercussions. Maybe if we repealed the law forbidding covert assasination plots? Or perhaps made an exception this one time? :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave) "Prosperity is just around the corner." - Herbert Hoover, 1930.
aouriri@ittvax.ATC.ITT.UUCP (Chedley Aouriri) (01/12/86)
> Personally, I can't think of anything > truly meaningful he could do to stop Quadhafi's antics, short of a > declaration of war and blowing Libya off the map; but that could > have most undesirable repercussions. Maybe if we repealed the law > forbidding covert assasination plots?Or perhaps made an exception this > one time? :-) > > Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave) The trouble is that COVERT actions against Libya are not covert any more; they are OVERT and therefore miss their covert target. A couple months ago, the Washington Post published on front page a story announcing that Congress approved a covert-action program against Libya. The recent terrorist events provided a nice excuse to set off the on-going shouting match between Reagan and Khaddafy, and to hype up the public opinion against Libya. AND THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANTI TERRORISM. The US just wants to settle an old score with a radical arab leader. After all, if the US is really serious about doing the job for the israelis by attacking countries who help anti-israeli terrorists, at least a half dozen countries should be attacked. Among them, Syria, Irak, Lebanon, Iran, Bulgaria,.... The european countries have a more level headed reaction. Italy and Austria ,where the recent actions took place, and other european countries recognize that the objective of the palestinian's actions was Israel's airline company. That these palestinians may be helped by Libya or other countries does not change the fact that they were after Israel, not the US or Europe. The bottom line : Terrorism is only a symptom, not the cause of the Middle-East problem. However, it seems handy in providing pretexts to settle international scores among countries. Chedley Aouriri ITT-ATC, Shelton, CT.
mr@homxb.UUCP (M.RINDSBERG) (01/13/86)
> > Personally, I can't think of anything > > truly meaningful he could do to stop Quadhafi's antics, short of a > > declaration of war and blowing Libya off the map; but that could > > have most undesirable repercussions. Maybe if we repealed the law > > forbidding covert assasination plots?Or perhaps made an exception this > > one time? :-) > > > > Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave) > > The trouble is that COVERT actions against Libya are not covert > any more; they are OVERT and therefore miss their covert target. > A couple months ago, the Washington Post published on front > page a story announcing that Congress approved a covert-action > program against Libya. This country has enacted some very stupid legislation due to democracy-screamers in the limelight. (i.e. Some freedom of information legislation should be dropped) > > The recent terrorist events provided a nice excuse to set off > the on-going shouting match between Reagan and Khaddafy, and > to hype up the public opinion against Libya. > AND THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANTI TERRORISM. The US just wants > to settle an old score with a radical arab leader. > After all, if the US is really serious about doing the job for > the israelis by attacking countries who help anti-israeli The US is doing a "job" for themselves. Remember, US citizens are killed by the terrorists, and the US has the right and obligation to protect their citizens. > terrorists, at least a half dozen countries should be attacked. > Among them, Syria, Irak, Lebanon, Iran, Bulgaria,.... And they should be attacked equally to Libya. Libya's actions are the most known and recent therefore they will have to take the heat first. (maybe just a little heat, warmth :-) > The european countries have a more level headed reaction. Yes, as in "do nothing" ??? > Italy and Austria ,where the recent actions took place, and > other european countries recognize that the objective of the > palestinian's actions was Israel's airline company. But wasn't accomlished. > That these palestinians may be helped by Libya or other countries > does not change the fact that they were after Israel, not the US or > Europe. I don't think that they (the terrorists) are only after Israel exclusively. They take a few cracks now and then at purely American or European countries. > The bottom line : > Terrorism is only a symptom, not the cause of the Middle-East > problem. > However, it seems handy in providing pretexts to settle international > scores among countries. > Chedley Aouriri > ITT-ATC, Shelton, CT.
orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) (01/14/86)
> The US is doing a "job" for themselves. Remember, US citizens > are killed by the terrorists, and the US has the right and obligation > to protect their citizens. > Funny, I didn't see any calls to bomb El Salvador when four nuns were killed by death squads there. Nor has there even been any *mention* save the back pages of the NYTimes (and probably Washington Post) of the American journalist who has been missing in Guatemala for months now. One of the thousands of "missing" in Guatemala over the past few years. When some people said enough was enough they finally banded together to form a Committee for Missing Persons to publicize such cases. Curious thing was in a matter of months two of the four founders of this Committee were also "missing". The other two got the message and decided if they valued their lives they had better disband the Committee before they wound up "missing". So in fear for their lives they did disband this Committee. Needless to say, their friends never returned from the "missing". The point is that the US govt *decides* when it is politically convenient for it to "protect citizens" and likewise to publicize such events. The media follows the government's lead. When the Witness for Peace group was taken hostage for a short time in Nicaragua the media was decidedly unsympathetic. First off it was called an "alleged kidnapping" (did you ever see "alleged" attached to any other hostage taking?). Then the headlines in the paper here said, "Discrepancies in Kidnap Account" or some such planting the suggestion that the Witness for Peace group staged the kidnapping themselves (I know one of them, he is a Quaker who would do no such thing) and their story was somehow fabricated. In fact the "discrepancies" were whether 3 shots were fired or one and whether there were 15 journalists present or 13 - i.e. insignificant discrepancies to say the least. However it was embarrassing for the US to lose control of its terrorists and having them kidnap Americans as well as Nicaraguans. tim sevener whuxn!orb