New Approach to Mideast Terrorism

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Introduction

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Overview

On the morning of March 16, 1984, CIA station chief William F. Buckley left his Beirut apartment carrying two attaché cases containing classified documents. As he pulled out of his driveway, armed men grabbed him and forced him into the trunk of a white Renault. For the CIA, the kidnapping of their point man in the Middle East was a terrible blow. Under orders from William J. Casey, the director of central intelligence, dramatic efforts were undertaken to locate and rescue Buckley and three other American hostages—Frank Reiger of the American University of Beirut, Jeremy Levin of Cable News Network, and the Rev. Benjamin T. Weir. A special Hostage Task Force was created, FBI reconnaissance teams were sent to Beirut, and payoffs to Lebanese informants were stepped up. All of this failed.

In response to the kidnappings and other terrorist acts against Americans in Lebanon—the U.S. Embassy had been bombed in April 1983, and the barracks of the U.S. Marine peacekeeping force had been bombed in October 1983—the United States launched a highly audible campaign against international terrorism. The administration declared Iran a state sponsor of terrorism, thus limiting exports of technological and military items to Iran. (The move, however, had little practical effect because President Carter's 1979 arms embargo had never been lifted.) In April 1984 President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive (NSDD) No. 138, which approved pre-emptive military strikes against individuals or groups involved in terrorist acts. Secretary of State George P. Shultz embarked on a personal crusade against terrorism, repeatedly calling for “swift and sure” reprisals. “We cannot allow ourselves to become the Hamlet of nations, worrying endlessly over whether and how to respond.” Shultz said in a speech on Oct. 25, 1984. “We need to summon the necessary resources and determination to fight it and, with international cooperation, even totally stamp it out.”