Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 03:52:19 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: FARMING FROM 6,000 YEARS AGO
http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=156622&command=displayContent&sourceNode=156618&contentPK=18789712&folderPk=87030
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

Beirut Death Toll at 161 Americans; Reagan Insists Marines Will Remain

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: Beirut Death Toll at 161 Americans; Reagan Insists Marines Will Remain  (Read 78 times)
0 Members and 81 Guests are viewing this topic.
Aphrodite
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4607



« on: October 23, 2009, 07:07:42 am »

Report Spam   Logged

"He who controls others maybe powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” - Lao Tsu

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Aphrodite
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4607



« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2009, 07:08:44 am »

Beirut Death Toll at 161 Americans; French Casualties Rise in Bombings; Reagan Insists Marines Will Remain
BUILDINGS BLASTED Truck Loaded With TNT Wrecks Headquarters of a Marine Unit

By Thomas E. Friedman
Special to The New York Times

RELATED HEADLINES

Attack Is Assailed:U.S. Says Terrorists Tied to Iran May Have Set Off the Lethal Blast

Marines' Security Raises Questions:Reagan Sends Commandant to Lebanon to Investigate

'Don't Leave Us,' Trapped Men Cry:Survivors Recount the Horror of Scene at Marine Base

Washington, Oct. 23 - President Reagan, voicing outrage over the ''despicable'' destruction of the Marine Corps headquarters in Lebanon, called on the nation today to be more determined than ever to keep a force in that country and resist ''the bestial nature of those who would assume power.''

The President, plunging into a day of emergency strategy meetings on the bombing, denounced the unidentified forces behind the attack and said the nation ''must be more determined than ever that they cannot take over that vital and strategic area of the earth.''

Administration officials, emphasizing that there would be no change in the United States' military role in Lebanon, said there was ''circumstantial evidence'' that fanatic terrorists aligned with Iran may have been responsible for the truck bomb that razed the four-story Marine Corps headquarters in Beirut, leaving 161 dead and 75 wounded.

The White House spokesman, Larry Speakes, said this evening that the Administration was also ''looking into'' Syria's possible role in the incident, but he did not cite any evidence.

No Dramatic Moves Anticipated

Official spokesmen stressed that no dramatic countermoves by the military were anticipated.

In the aftermath of the attack, legislators from both parties said the Administration must redefine and clarify the role of its troops and their long-range mission in the Middle East.

The troops, who were fired on by snipers even as they rescued the wounded at the Marine headquarters, have been drawing sniper fire from areas near their base at the Beirut airport for weeks. There have been reports that Palestinian guerrillas who have returned to the Beirut area were responsible.

The bombing put the Administration at crisis alert, with Secretary of State George P. Shultz postponing a trip Monday to Brazil and El Salvador.

''There is much that points to the direction of Iran,'' Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger declared after the first of two emergency briefings of the President by his national security advisers. The White House said, however, that the Administration had no conclusive findings and that the President had ordered additional intelligence investigations.

The President directed the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. P. X. Kelley, to go to Beirut to inspect the scene and make recommendations on how to provide stronger protection for American troops. His order was announced after the second national security meeting, lasting three hours this evening, at which Mr. Reagan made additional decisions that will be announced in coming days, according to the White House.

''We also intend to respond to this criminal act when the perpetrators are identified,'' Mr. Speakes declared after the meeting. Mr. Reagan himself expressed sorrow and grief earlier in the day.

''There are no words that can express our sorrow and grief over the loss of those splendid young men and the injury to so many others,'' the President said gravely this morning, standing in the rain outside the White House after a hurried return from a golfing weekend in Augusta, Ga.

Replacements Sent to Lebanon

''There are no words to properly express our outrage and, I think, the outrage of all Americans at the despicable act,'' he said, grasping Mrs. Reagan's hand as the two stood under umbrellas, looking stricken.

While the President and his advisers conferred on how to deal with the bombing, official spokesmen said the Administration would maintain its 1,600-man commitment to the international force in Lebanon, and would seek new ways to better protect it from the terrorism and sectarian warfare engulfing that nation. Marine replacements left Camp Lejeune, N.C., for Lebanon although officials declined to say how many were being flown there.

The Pentagon began formally notifying next of kin of the dead servicemen this evening, according to the White House.

''There is no change in our commitment,'' Mr. Speakes declared at midday at the White House. ''We're exploring ways to reduce the vulnerability of our forces in Lebanon.''

Defense officials said, however, that there was no way to fully prevent the type of ''suicide attack'' and explosion that destroyed the headquarters. Administration officials said the White House was conferring with representatives of the other three members of the multinational force, Italy, France and Britain.

The initial suspicion that Iranian fanatics might have made the attack was rooted in intelligence reports, according to Mr. Speakes, who did not offer any details. Both he and Mr. Weinberger referred to pro-Iranian terrorists, based behind Syrian lines in Lebanon, saying they had been suspected in the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut last spring.
Report Spam   Logged

"He who controls others maybe powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” - Lao Tsu
Aphrodite
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4607



« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 07:09:24 am »

'Circumstantial Evidence'

Aside from a general suspicion about the Iranian group, Mr. Speakes referred to more specific ''circumstantial evidence'' concerning the latest bombing. ''We do have intelligence reports that point to this incident,'' he said without elaboration.

Robert C. McFarlane, the President's new national security adviser, notified Mr. Reagan of the bombing at 2:27 A.M. today as he slept in the Eisenhower Cottage at Augusta Nathen conferred for more than two hours with Mr. Shultz, a member of the golfing party, and spoke by phone with General Kelley.

Congressional leaders of both parties were briefed by telephone soon after, according to Mr. Speakes. The President was back at the White House by 8:38 A.M. today, after little sleep.

The President, who has been preparing for an apparent re-election campaign next year, has been under increasing pressure, reflected in public opinion polls, to justify his use of the Marines in Lebanon. The pressure intensified after the first Marine deaths by sniper fire in Beirut, and it is expected to increase as a result of the bombing.

There was immediate speculation that marines might be shifted either to a stronger land base or to the American naval task force led by the battleship New Jersey that is stationed off Lebanon.
Report Spam   Logged

"He who controls others maybe powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” - Lao Tsu
Aphrodite
Administrator
Superhero Member
*****
Posts: 4607



« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 07:09:40 am »

Complaints on Syria's Role

In their briefings, Administration officials complained anew over the roles of Syria and the Soviet Union in the Middle East turmoil. ''The Soviets love to fish in troubled waters,'' Mr. Weinberger said without directly blaming the Russians for the bombing. Similarly, Mr. Speakes did not refer to the bombing in complaining again that the Syrians had not yet agreed to withdraw their military forces from Lebanon and so were maintaining a ''stumbling block'' to peace.

The President, who has been increasingly critical lately of Soviet military support for Syria, spoke in general terms in denouncing the perpetrators of the bombing.

''I think we should all recognize that these deeds make so evident the bestial nature of those who would assume power, if they could have their way and drive us out of that area,'' he said. ''We must be more determined than ever that they cannot take over that vital and strategic area of the earth or, for that matter, any other part of the earth.''


Back to the top of this page.
Back to today's page.
Go to another day.
Front Page Image Provided by UMI
   
   
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Children's Privacy Notice
Report Spam   Logged

"He who controls others maybe powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” - Lao Tsu
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy