U.S. IS NOW FACING LEBANON DECISION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640036-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 36
• Publication Date: November 18, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640036-1
ARTICLE EARED
ON PAGE
NEW YORK TIMES
18 November 1983
U.S. IS NOV FACING
LEBANON DECISION
Aides Say a 'Judgment Call' Is
Due on Avenging Marines
By BERNARD GWERTZMAN
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 ? Now that
Israel and France have attacked the
pro-Iranian group that is believed re-
sponsible for the terrorist attacks on
their troops and the American marines
in Lebanon, the time has come for the
Reagan Administration to decide
whether it will do the same, high-rank-
ing officials said today.
The White House had vowed at the
time the 239 servicemen were killed
Oct. 23 that those responsible would be
punished. Since then, the United States
has increased its strength in the east-
ern Mediterranean to some 40 ships, in-
cluding 3 carrier task forces with 300
planes.
Reportedly No Decision
Administration officials said there
was more than enough firepower if the
decision were made to carry out the
threat to retaliate. But they said the
decision was still being considered
even though one had to be made soon.
"Up to now, we have put off a deci-
sion for many reasons," an Adminis-
tration official said, "including not
wanting to have an American attack in-
terfere with the President's Asian trip.
But now, we have to make a judgment
call whether we should follow the Is-
raeli and French over Lebanon."
A senior State Department official
said today that "there is a readiness"
within the highest levels of the Admin-
istration to order carrier-based A-7
fighter jets into action against the
Baalbek area, which has been attacked
on consecutive days by Israeli and
French fighter-bombers.
Intelligence Agencies Agree
By the end of October, American and
French intelligence officials said they
were convinced that the Shiites around
Baalbek had played the key role in the
attacks on their positions. The Israelis
joined in that assessment after the ex-
plosion in Tyre at an Israeli installation
on Nov. 4.
; Several Arab countries, such as
Egypt, urged Washington to temper its
response, so as not to inflame anti-
American passions among Arabs. In
deciding on what to do, the Administra-
tion stopped talking about retaliation
for the bombing, but started saying
that any military action would be "de-
fensive" and intended to prevent an-
other such terrorist attack.
The French accepted this approach,
and in justifying the attack today the
French Defense Ministry said it was
carried out "to prevent new terrorist
attacks." American officials said that
if American bombers were sent, the
same justification would be offered.
A White House official said he could
not say what the United States would
do, but he offered what he said was the
"philosophical framework" in which
any decision will be made.
;The Reagan Administration is con-
cerned about a rise in terrorism and in
pdrticular, state-sponsored terror-
ism," he said. "The United States op-
poses terrorism wherever it may be.
There is a general feeling that one
should not be passive before or after an
attack."
American officials said they were
aware that military strikes against
Shiite positions in the Bekaa, the valley
in eastern Lebanon, could result in re-
taliation against the American ma-
rines, as well as against the French and
the Israelis.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640036-1