SHULTZ BLOCKED LIBYA INVASION, OFFICIALS SAY

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Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP99-01448R000301270043-9
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RIFPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 27, 2016
Document Release Date: 
June 4, 2013
Sequence Number: 
43
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
February 22, 1987
Content Type: 
OPEN SOURCE
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PDF icon CIA-RDP99-01448R000301270043-9.pdf103.96 KB
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Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/06/05: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301270043-9 7/14- - ARTICLE APPEARED " ON PAG 1 Proposed by NSC Shultz Blocked Libya Invasion, Officials Say -j By NORMAN KEMPSTER and DOYLE.Mr-MATIUS,--- Times Staff Writers WASHINGTON?The National Security Council staff proposed a joint U.S.-Egyptian invasion of Libya in 1985, but -Secretary of State George P. Shultz, joined by other State Department and De- fense Department officials, blocked the plan, Administration officials said Friday. The officials said the plan, origi- nally suggested to the /4gC by Deputy CIADirector-E? called for Egyptian troops -to-in- vade Libya with U.S. air support to topple Libyan leader goammar Kadafi. The-Proposal was approved by Robert ,McFarlane, White House national security adviser at the time; his deputy, Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, and Donald Fortier, then the NSC's third-ranking offi- cial, before Shultz was able to derail it. Nicholas A. Veliotes, then U.S. ambassador in Cairo, was called home to help marshal argu- ments against the plan, Confirmation Issue A State Department official said Friday that a contingency plan for an invasion of Libya remains in the Administration's files, "but we haven't given it any serious consid- eration." The report came at a particularly VilbsirTaltaglitatfOLGALU-Presi- dent Reas.s nominee to succeed William L Casey as CIA director. Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Eyrd (D-W.Va.) said th-F="--late might delay a confirmation vote for as long as a month to see if any other problems come to the sur- face. --77 is Unfortunate that the Ad- ministration has sought to nomi- nate Mr. Gates," Byrd said. "I don't have anything against Mr. Gate^. personally, but the fact that he was LOS ANGELES TIMES 21 February 1987 the No. 2 man fat the CIA) and was nominated almost immediately af- ter the resignation of Mr. Casey does not look well. "Having to vote on the nomina- tion before all of the facts are out puts me in a very difficult posi- tion." he said, "We're Put in the position of voting for someone who, as the facts unravel down the road, may have been iniaicated to the exteulthat we'll all be sorry." However. Byrd said he did not believe that the nomination should be held UD uch more than a mon,t,h_br?,c. aze the CIA needs a, p_ermanent director to start re-.. building its credibility. Gates was not available for com- ment. The Administration officials said the Libya invasion plan, drafted after the June, 1985, hijacking of TWA Flight 847 by terrorists thought to be backed by Kadafi, was never presented to Reagan for approval. They added that Egyp- tian President Hosni Mubarak was never asked to approve it either. The plan was first revealed by the Washington Post in its Friday editions. White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater sidestepped questions ? about the report. Replying to ques- tions at the daily press briefing, he refused to talk about whether the NSC staff had proposed such an invasion. He limited himself to denying that the President had approved the plan or that it had been carried out. Fitzwater said there was "no decision directive on invading Lib- ya. . . . There was no policy or plan to do that that was put in motion." State Department spokeswoman Phyllis Oakley said. "I have noth- ing to add beyond what the White House said this morning." - Gates suggested the U,S.-Egvp- tian attack in a memo orepare.d in July. 1985. Casey, then CIA direc- tor, ordered a study a Libyan military targets that might be hit in the early days of such an attack. Administration officials said McFarlane, Poindexter and Fortier ultimately devised a plan calling for Egyptian troops to capture half of Libya's territory, moving under cover of U.S. close air support. They said Shultz summoned Ve- liotes back to Washington to ex- plain Egypt's probable reaction to such a proposal and to underline the disadvantages of the approach. Veliotes suggested replacing the plan. for immediate military action against Libya with a contingency plan that could be put into effect if hostilities broke out later. It is that plan which remains on the books, one official said. The officials said Reagan ap- proved a visit to Cairo by Poindex- ter and Fortier in the late summer ? of 1985. However, they were in- structed to discuss the issue only in generalities with Mubarak, not to suggest a joint military operation. Mubarak made it clear that if Egypt took military action against Libya, it would be for Egyptian reasons only, not because of U.S. interests, the officials said. The State Department objections ? to the joint invasion were under- lined by the Defense Department. In addition, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said such a plan could eventually . involve up to six U.S. combat divisions, draining troops from Eu- rope and other U.S. areas around the globe. Veliotes, now chief of the Assn. - of American Publishers, did not return telephone calls Friday. Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/06/05: CIA-RDP99-01448R000301270043-9