COL. QADDAFI AND THE POST (CONT'D.)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250032-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 32
• Publication Date: November 15, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250032-1
i. .
WASHINGTON POST
15 November 1985
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Col. Qaddafi and The Post (Cont'd.)
I was disappointed to read the nega-
tive reactions [letters, Nov. 8] to The
Post's decision to publish details of the
CIA's plan to overthrow Libyan leader
Muammar Qaddafi ["CIA Anti-Qaddafi
Plan Backed," Nov. 31.
The critics' argument, including
that of a "none-too-subtle Democrat,"
is that Bob Woodward's story under-
mines the CIA's plot to depose a lead-
ing figure in state-supported terrorist
operations.
Are these critics forgetting that it is
illegal for the United States to assassi-
nate or promote the assassination of
the leader of a sovereign country? Do
they think-the United States can just
start targeting people, without regard
for U.S. or international law?
Even if the U.S. operation were
legal (I think most Americans, includ-
ing myself, at least sympathize with
the CIA's aim), I see no historical evi-
dence to uphold the contention that The
Post's disclosure of the plan undermines
its execution. It didn't seem to bother
the CIA when the House and Senate
openly debated its role with the contras
who are trying to overthrow the Sandin-
ista government in Nicaragua. And I
seriously doubt that CIA officials are
spending late nights rewriting the blue-
prints for toppling Qaddafi.
Considering, too, that the CIA, ac-
cording to The Post, is supporting a
weak and illegitimate Libyan opposition
force, I highly commend The Post for
forewarning the American people of an-
other U.S. foreign policy fiasco looming
in the near future.
SARAH E. ALEXANDER
Washington
The letters to the editor protesting
The Post's publication of U.S. plans to
undermine Qaddafi were remarkable for,
ignoring the many valid reasons for pub-
lishing the story.
The most important reason is that
our system requires an informed citi-
zenry to work. There are many cases in
recent history where the American pub-
lic was kept in the dark to the detriment
of the nation's (people's) interests. One
such example is Iran.
Instead of being informed of the Ira-
nian general strike and the slaughter of
10,000 Iranians in 1978, the American
public was led to believe that the shah's
U.S.-sponsored government had wide-
spread popular support and was being
undermined by the Soviets. Instead of
being in an informed position to lobby
our representatives for a change in poli-
cy, we went our merry ways while our
government sent weapons, "advisers'"
and not control equipment to the shah
to use against Iranians with whom the
Shah's "cleptocracy" was anything but
popular.
The consequences of this ignorance
include Ayatollah Khomeini, the hos-
tages and a United States perceived as
"the Great Satan" by millions of people.
After the fact, it was revealed that some
U.S. leaders (notably Sens. Frank
Church and Hubert Humphrey) had pre-
dicted the shah's fall as early as 1961.
In the aftermath of the fiasco, Amer-
icans died, and the nation was humili-
ated in the eyes of the world.
Letter writer George Packard as-
serted "we can assume" there are no
journalists in the Soviet Union or Libya
informing their citizens, as Bob Wood-
ward's article did. Perhaps not. But if
the objective is to imitate Libya and the
Soviet Union, what's the Cold War
about?
Vietnam is another example of the
cost of public ignorance. Approximately
60,000 Americans and several hundred
billion dollars are gone forever because
we reacted to what was described to the
American public as two "unprovoked"
attacks on the high seas. Of course we
now know that the second attack never
happened, and the first was most cer-
tainly provoked.
If our perceived enemies use covert
operations to destabilize the world and
we have knowledge of it, why not ex-
pose it?
In the meantime, Bob Woodward and
The Post should be praised for bringing
the truth to their readers because we
most certainly live in a world governed
by the natural law of "truth or conse-
JAMES R. GRANGER JR.
Columbia
^
Those who have criticized The Post's
story on the CIA's latest plan would
have us believe that Col. Qaddafi was
unaware, until informed by The Post,
that the CIA was out to get him. Come,
now. Col. Qaddafi, although born in
Libya, was not born yesterday.
The crux of The Post's story was,
that members of the House and Senate
select committees on intelligence fear
that President Reagan's executive order
prohibiting the CIA from direct or indi-
rect involvement in assassinations is
being subverted by the CIA This is a
question of public policy and is, there-
fore, a matter of legitimate interest to
the American people. It means either
that the president does not know what
is going on or that he does know and is
deceiving the public about the validity of
his own executive order.
JAMES DEAKIN
Bethesda
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Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000505250032-1