ray (07/30/82)
#R:watmath:-307600:uiucdcs:10600004:000:1085 uiucdcs!ray Jul 30 12:35:00 1982 Ah, but Mr. Soreff, you forget one important fact. Our fleet was operating in international waters at the time. Virtually no one recognizes Kadaffi's claim to the Gulf of Sidra. He has no more right to claim that as territorial waters than we would to try and claim the Gulf of Mexico. We've had warships in that gulf before just as the Soviets occasionally send warships into the Gulf of Mexico. Furthermore, the Lybian pilots had buzzed our fleet for days with no more response than a scramble of our planes and an escort away from the ships. It wasn't until they actually attacked that our pilots defended themselves and shot down the planes. I would expect Soviet pilots would do the same if we were stupid enough to attack their task force in international waters. And last, but not least, the president expressed his sorrow over the (unfortunate but certainly unavoidable) death of the enemy pilot. Has Hinkley expressed similar remorse over his attempt to kill the president (and not in self defense but in cold blood)? I think not. A. Ray Miller pur-ee!uiucdcs!ray