SHULTZ JUSTIFIES SCARING QADDAFI BY USE OF PRESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000606120044-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 44
• Publication Date: October 3, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000606120044-0
ARTICLE
ON PAGE
Shultz Justifies
Scaring-Qladdafir
By Use of~'ress
By 29111NA11V OWRlSTZIBAN
SpecW to no New York rims
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y., Oct 2 -
Q
Secretary of State Georp P. Shultz
said today that Washington was free to
take whatever actions might cause
trouble for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi
because the United States was "pretty
darn close" to a state of war with
Libya.
In a news conference, Mr. Shultz
refused to comment on a report that
the Reagan Administration had en-
gaged in a campaign of deception
NEW YORK TIMES
3 October 1986
"14mow of no decision to have people He declined to confirm th
go obt and tell lies," he said. "[ ta, stsayift
atements
however, it there are ways to think, -I have so comment b stew not
Qaddafi nervous, why shouldn't we?" there may who Probably was not
Mr. Shultz, who has taken the lead a attribute to
witt#n the Government in urging the somebody who was s tug there."
use of force against Libya, seemed to At one point, a journalist said that
take}the offensive during the news con. the report of a decision to disinform
fereace, was "a very serious charge.'.
Calls Qaddafi a 'Menace'
Sneaking of Colonel Qaddafi, Mr.
said:
Car as he is concerned, we think
he is a menace. And we want to see the
activities of Libya stop. So exactly
shown that we have applied a very
As an Shultz sai& the
t the Dress
hems for the Libyan leader. -J -', ^091%M& L& a.A.
"You people in the news business enjoy
Although Mr. Shultz did not explicitly jnot al of wing the U.S. to do anything in
confirm or deny the existence of a "dis- secret if you can help it.
information" campaign, the tone of his "So if the fleet moves from one place
remarks conflicted with statements by to another. you ar-eNgrinumn to re-
White House officials, who said the port it even thouan we m t want to
Government had not planted any false ave it operate secretly. is very
reports in American newspapers. cult or that to happen. So we can abso.
Mr. Shultz said the United States was hum Y ton the fact that if the fleet
does something
able to carry out any deception be. ,
scream. Qaddai o will hear other it, you will
and the
cause of what he described as a tend- fleet may, or may not, be getting ready
ency in the American press to exagger- to do something."
ate the importance of naval move- In August, one of the concerns of
ments off Libya. Colonel Qaddafi were naval maneuev-
"Frankly, I don't have any problems ers by the United States with Egypt off
Washington
with a little psychological warfare Lib a.
against Qaddafi," Mr. Shultz said. Washington Post quoted Mr.
on Shultz as having said in jest at one
"We do have various thin
s
oin
g
g
g
that are difficult for him to know ex- point that he hoped Colonel Qaddafi i
actly what they mean, that perhaps might get AIDS.
keep him off balance," he said.
Mr. Shultz said there were signs that
Libya was responsible for the hijacking
of or Pan American World Airways
plane in Karachi. Pakistan, last month.
In, discussing relations with Libya,
Mr. Shultz compared the situation to
World War II and quoted Winston
Chutchill as having said "Insiime of
war, the truth is so precious, it must be
atiepded by a bodyguard of lies."
The quotation became the title of a
boob "Bodyguard of Lies," by Anthony
Cave-Brown, about the use of deception
in World War 11.
When a reporter remarked that Mr,
Shudz's remarks seemed, in effect, a
declaration of war, the Secretary said,
"I think that insofar as Qaddafi is corn
icerned, we don't have a declaration of
war, but we have something pretty
darn close to it"
"Why is that a charge?" Mr. Shultz
replied "If I were a private citizen
reading about it, and I read that my
Government was trying to confuse
1somebody who was conducting terror-
iist acts and murdering Americans, I
don't Ey. I hope it is true.' I
:charge;,, why you think this Is a
He said that although he knew of "no
decision to have people go out and tell 1
lies," he had nothing against taking
$tops to make Colonel Qaddaft "nerv-
It there are ways in which we can.
make Qaddafi nervous, why shouldn't
we?" he said "And I described one of
them.. That is not deceiving you, but
just using Your predictable tendencies
to report things that we try to keep so-
cret.
"So we label it a big secret and you
will find out about it and you with r.n...*
So you are predictable in that set e." "
Approved For Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000606120044-0