U.S. CREDIBILITY ON LIBYA IS DAMAGED BY WHITE HOUSE CAMPAIGN OF DECEPTION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000707060049-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: October 6, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000707060049-2
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WALL STREET JOURNAL
6 October 1986
U.S. Credibility on Libya Is Dammed
By A~hite House Campaign of Deception
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WASHINGTON-The Reagan adminls?
tration's attempts to use psychological
warfare on Libya and then to explain it
away have made a shambles of U.S. credi-
bility as it tries to destabilize Libyan
leader Moammar Gadhafi and stop LiD-
yan-sponsored terrorism.
By mounting a campaign of deception
on Libya. and now, in effect, bragging
about their ability to distort the truth to
frighten Mr. Gadhafi, Secretary of State
George Shultz and other top administration
officials have removed world attention
from Libya's own actions, even some top
administration officials concede. Instead, '
interest now is focused on whether anyone
should believe anything the administration
says about Col. Gadhafl.
Two leading senators. speaking on tele-'
vision yesterday, condemned the deception
.plan and said it hurt U.S. credibility. On
the NBC-TV Program "Meet. the Press,"
Sen. Sam Nunn (D., Ga.) said, "I do think
this one was stupid and that it was carried
out in a very inept fashion." He added that
"now when we say that Gadhafi is up to
something, the American press and per-
haps the American people may not believe
us anymore.,'
On the same program, Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chairman Richard
Lugar (R., Ind.) said, "I agree with Sen.
Nunn that it was just simply stupid to be
involved with this type of thing at this
point."
Over the weekend, President Reagan
and his top aides continued to insist pub-
licly that there wasn't any official policy
adopted in August to lie to the U.S. press
about Libyan terrorist activities, Planned
U.S. responses. or Mr. Gad6afi's standing
Inside his country. as the Washington post
reported in a story last .
Falseh00ds Or EX~lgge'
But officials were conceditt~ that some
falsehoods or exaggerations were being
spread overseas and that some of them
were passed on to U.S. newspapers. start-
ing with a story in The Wall Street Journal
on Aug. 25. The Journal story was strongly
confirmed by the White House and re-
pealed in the Past and oNer news me-
dia.
On the AHC-TV program "This Week
with David Brinkley," Mr. Shultz yester?
d8~}- denied the administration deliberately
lied to the U.S. press. But he defended
again the Idea of putting out false inform~~
tion abroad to unnerve Mr. Gadhafl, even
if some of that material is also picked up
in the U.S. press. "To the extent that we
can keep Gadhatl off balance by one
means or another, including the possibility
that we might make another attack, I think
that's good," he said. '
FBI Investigation '~
One senior White House official con?
ceded to the Past and the New York Times
that the disclosure of the deception plan,
whatever its exact bounds, "hurt the hell
out of us" by damaging U.S. credibility.
The official said the Federal Bureau of
Investigation had been asked to find out ,
who provided Ne information for both the
Post story on the deception campaign and
the Journal's original story, which said the
U.S. believed Mr. Gadhafl was stepping up
support for terrorism and the U.S. was
moving toward a new collision with Libya
that might involve several options, includ?
ing a repeat of last April's U.S. bombing
attack.
In a statement, Norman Pearlstine,
managing editor of the Journal, said, "It
now seems clear that some high adminis-
tration officials misled us as to the likeli-
hood of employing some of these options.
We deplore any such attempt to mislead
the Journal and its readers."
He said the Journal remains "con?
vinced" that, as the story reported, the
U.S. believed Wbya had resumed its sup?
port for terrorism, and was considering op?
lions to deter the Libyan moves. "We re-
ported this based not on one source, but on
Information provided by a number of
sources here and abroad." the statement
said.
In yesterday's editions, the Post re-
ported that the campaign of disinformation
and deception had its roots in an Aug. 6
State Department memo. The Post said the
memo called for the spreading of false in-
formation overseas, partly to encourage "a
coup or assassination attempt." The White
House told the' Post the document had "no
standing as administration policy."
Divided Administration
The credibility problems add difficulties
to an already divided administration.
While some potlcy makers consider Libya
a cancer that must be removed by what-
ever means are needed, other officials be-
lieve that making Libya a high priority
only bolsters Col. Gadhafi.
What's more. onfllc in? opinions about
bvan suDOOrt for terrorism fl~r rhp
difficulties
f
t
o
ea
__erin?
concl ~cive
p~t?
Bence. These intelll nce
ve
been ?ro n? recen v.
or Instance. t e
vans. mta p n e cnn ac cav hay
stopped usin? their Peocles Bureau~as
terrorist comman nosts._an_ t__ev have
StoDDed 1_gc~~ Q t n tarmricte h~ra ore.
Hades traceable to Tripoli
By mid-Au pct tntnll aence a?encies
detected the arrival of aLibyan-connected
t e t erman . tis o c a s
noticed that a Li yan a r Her had made an
unscheduled stop to pick up passengers in
(.~+prus. after an attack on a British base
there. And in Togo, a terrorist was caught
with a bomb that was similar to those used
In Libyan training camps. Funds and peo-
pie were moving in patterns )inked to
Libya. But the evidence was circumstan-
tial..
Nevertheless, U.S. officials were con-
cerned enough about the evidence in Au?
gust to issue three alerts to U.S. embassies
and military posts warning of a possible
resumption of terrorism, backed by Libya,
Syria and Iran. The administration also
sent United Nations Ambassador Vernon
Walters to Europe with the same mes-
sage.
Rely on Tallt
Because of the disagreements about evi?
Bence of terrorism and about the use of
military force. the administration has been
unable to act decisively. Instead, it has
had to rely on talk to unnerve Col. Gad?
haft.
The talk, however, has backfired. The
damage to the administration's credibility,
coupled with the difficulty of finding hard
evidence of Libyan sponsorship of specific
terrorist acts, will probably make it even
harder to get cooperation from already re-
luctant allies.
For instance, news reports about U.S.
policy options, leaked in advance of the
Walters mission, effectively scotched any
chance of convincing the Europeans of the
need for tougher measures, officials say.
Similarly, news reports of a National
Security Council staff proposal to encour?
age the French to move against Libyan
forces in Chad, a plan that had been dis?
cussed only informally with a few French'
officials, prompted Paris to reject the idea
out?of?hand, senior officials concede.
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/19 :CIA-RDP90-009658000707060049-2