VICE PRESIDENT CONFIRMS BUCKLEY WAS TORTURED AND KILLED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302310058-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 12, 2012
• Sequence Number: 58
• Publication Date: January 21, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302310058-3
WASHING (UN INES
21 January 1987
-Vice President confirms Buckley was
tortured and killed
%) By Bill Gertz
THE VASHINGTON limes
4- Vice President George Bush last
night confirmed for the first time
that a U.S. Embassy official taken
hostage in Beirut in 1984 had been
tortured and killed.
He also reaffirmed the Reagan
administration's anti-terrorism
policy and said the United States was
prepared to "go the extra mile" to
free other Americans held hostage
in Lebanon.
In doing so, Mr. Bush told a meet-
ing of some 700 counter-terrorism
and security experts, "you should
know the concern the president
feels, that we all feel, when an Amer-
ican in terrorist hands is tortured
and, in the case of William Buckley,
killed."
Mr. Buckley reportedly the CIA's
top Middle East counterterrorist ex-
pert, was kidnapped by pro-Iranian
Shi'ite terrorists. According to pub-
lished accounts, he was tortured by
his captors and may have revealed
the identities of some CIA oersonnel
involved in counterterrorist activi-
ties.
Intelligence sources said the
agency erred in sending Mr. Buck-
ley to Lebanon since his cover had
been blown and his identity had been
revealed to pro-terrorist forces in
the Middle East.
Islamic Jihad, the group claiming
responsibility for kidnapping Mr.
Buckley, announced on Oct. 4, 1985,
that he had been executed.
The organization released a photo
it said showed Mr. Buckley's body
but the corpse was not found and his
death was not confirmed by U.S. of-
ficials.
Mr. Bush also sought to clarify the
administration's initiative to what he
called certain factions in Iran, and to
respond to criticism that President
Reagan had compromised princi-
ples by secretly selling arms to Teh-
ran in a deal to secure freedom for
American hostages.
Three Americans were released
from Lebanon following U.S. air
shipments of TOW anti-tank mis-
siles and spare parts for Iran's U.S.-
made anti-aircraft batteries.
". . . A widespread perception ex-
ists that this administratidn, ed
arms for hostages, thereby iating
our own strong policy of making no
concessions to terrorists," Mr Bush
told a conference on "Terrorism in a
Technological World."
"But the American people should
also know that the president is cer-
tain to this day that he did not autho-
rize 'arms for hostages:"
Mr. Bush, who headed a pres-
idential task foi ce on terrorism in
1985-86, said U.S. policy remains
firm: "We do not make concessions
to terrorists. We do not pay ransoms.
"I believe we must reaffirm our
policy with a better understanding
that there is a very thin and delicate
line between talking with terrorists
and negotiating with terrorists," he
said.
"Out of adversity comes opportu-
nity and we now have the opportu-
nity to restore the credibility of our
policy, give it new meaning and move
forward with renewed commitment
in our battle against the terrorist
threat."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/10/12 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000302310058-3