U.S. HAS REACHED 'LIMITS' ON TERRORISM, REAGAN SAYS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920038-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 8, 2012
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: June 21, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
I Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920038-7
ARTICLE VPALM
ON PAGI -
WASHINGTON POST
21 June 1985
U.S. Has Reached `Limits'
On Terrorism, Reagan Says
President Hints Military Response May Be Considered
By David Hoffman
Warhin/Wn Pat Std( Wnter
President Reagan, frustrated by the hijack-
ing of Trans World Airlines Flight 847 and
recent terrorist attacks in El Salvador and
West Germany, declared yesterday that "our
limits have been reached" and warned that
the United States would consider re-
sponses-"military and otherwise"-to end
the violence.
White s okesman Larry Speakes
read a statement in which Reagan announced
that he was rushing intelligence, law enforce-
ment and military assistance to va or in
the wake of a shooting attack that
people, including six Americans.
But Reagan took a more restrained ap-
proach to the crisis in Beirut where 40 Amer-
icans are being held hostage. He announced
that Vice President Bush would form sinew
task force to deal with international terrorism
and that Bush would make the issue a key
item of discussion during his trip to Europe
next week.
The United States is still hoping to arrange
a staggered swap-immediate release of the
40 Americans to be followed soon afterward
by Israeli release of more than 700 Shiite
Moslems held in an Israeli prison. U.S. offi-
cials have conveyed this hope to other friend-
ly governments, administration officials said
yesterday.
Late yesterday, Alexandre Hay, president
of the International Committee of the Red
Cross, told Reagan in an Oval Office
meeting that the organization is
"standing ready" to help in the Bei-
rut hostage crisis if "all sides ask us
to do something," Hay said after the
meeting. But he said that had not
happened.
A White House official said Rea-
gan did ask Hay if his organization
would attempt to check on the
"treatment, status and health" of
the Americans held captive, and the
president described the broadcast
he had seen of the Beirut news con-
ference involving some of the hos-
tages. The official said Hay re-
sponded that he'was "happy to do
that," that some effort had already
been made to get permission from
Nabih Berri, leader of the Shiite
Amal movement, but that Berri had
not provided "a final answer."
Meanwhile, the administration
criticized a tumultuous news con-
ference in Beirut involving five hos-
tages from TWA Flight 847.
Speakes denounced it as a "cynical
exploitation of the hostages" by
their captors. A State Department
spokesman, Pete Martinez, said,
"The hostages clearly were speak-
ing under duress."
Reagan reiterated yesterday that
the United States would not capit-
ulate to terrorist demands. The
president's strongly worded state-
ment came after a high-level meet-
ing of his defense and foreign-policy
advisers in the White House Situ-
ation Room.
"By our very nature, we are slow
to anger and magnanimous in help-
ing those in less fortunate circum-
stances," Reagan's statement said.
"No nation on earth has been more
generous to others in need. But we
also have our limits-and our limits
have been reached. We cannot al-
low our people to be placed at risk
simply because they are blessed
with being citizens of this great Re-
public." Reagan said terrorists are
waging a war "against all of civilized
society' in which "innocent civilians
are intentional victims and our ser-
vicemen have become specific tar-
gets."
"This cannot continue," he said.
"We must act against those who
have so little regard for human life
and the values we cherish." But
Reagan said Americans should not
respond "in pointless anger" and
called for "reasoned responses to
lawless actions by those who do not
abide by the norms of civilized so-
ciety." He did not specify what
those responses should be, but said
they should be "appropriate and
proportionate to the criminal acts
which have been taken against our
citizens."
Asked whether Reagan was sug-
gesting a response in-kind to ter-
rorist acts, Speakes said, "Let those
who are responsible for it wonder."
Speakes said Reagan was "drawing
the line, laying out a specific plan of
action."
In El Salvador. Speakes said, the
administration is looking to the gov-
ernment
Leon Duarte to "find and o unish the
terrorists" with U.S. military, law
enforcement and intelligence assilt-
4ppe, He ruled out any direct U.S.
mita actions however.
In Lebanon, the White House
continued to follow its approach of
the past several days of taking a
firm line against the hijackers in
public comments while seeking a
diplomatic solution to the impasse.
Speakes said the administration is
"redoubling our diplomatic efforts
there, in order to bring pressure to
bear on those who might have in-
fluence .... "
The president has all but ruled
out military action to free the hos-
tages, but . Speakes yesterday
seemed to suggest that did not pre-
clude possible retaliatory strikes af-
ter they are released.
"We certainly have always main-
tained our military options as far as
going to the heart of terrorism,"
and possibly striking "in a preven-
tive fashion, if we feel that's nec-
essary-and there is always the op-
tion of preventing further incidents
of this type, if we know where
we're going." Speakes said the ad-
ministration's "first priority" was
securing the safe return of the hos-
tages, adding, "What happens after
that remains to be seen."
The spokesman said "we cannot
draw the conclusion yet" of any con-
nection between the Beirut and El
Salvador terrorist acts. National se-
curity affairs adviser Robert C.
McFarlane said the incidents indi-
cated that "it's a time for testing.
This kind of thing is not unprece-
hued
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 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920038-7
dented in El Salvador, but it's the
kind of thing that may be seen in
the current climate as a time to test
the United States .... "
Reagan continued to carry on a
full regular schedule, including a se-
ries of honors presentations yester-
day, and he plans to travel to Dallas
today to push his tax revision plan.
He refrained from mentioning the
Lebanon and El Salvador crises in
his public appearances yesterday.
The written statement read by
Speakes was prepared before the
uation Room meeting and approved
by the participants, including Sec-
retary of State George P. Shultz,
Defense Secretary Caspar W. Wein-
berger and McFarlane, among oth-
ers, officials said.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP90-00965R000402920038-7