![]() They," he said, pointing over his shoulder towards the Pentagon, "will never let it get through the bureaucracy." He was right. Unfortunately, they'll never make it to his office. The president," he continued, "is not afraid to take action. ![]() When we were done, however, Hickey leaned back in his chair, reflected for a moment and then said, "You know, if the president knew about your recommendations, he would order them to be done. His questions were insightful, his comments on target, and we felt that perhaps there was a chance that some of our work would not be wasted. We met in Hickey's offices in the White House East Wing, where he and a senior military assistant listened intently as we talked about our mission and recommendations. Some six weeks after our return, convinced that our recommendations had been smothered in the Pentagon, two of us gained an informal appointment with Ed Hickey, director of the White House Military Office and a deputy assistant to President Reagan. Response to our efforts was, at best, bureaucratic, and, at worst, almost antagonistic. We returned to Washington in early January, buoyed by the support we had received in Europe. I hope those people back in Washington will listen to what you're saying." So did we. At the conclusion he leaned forward, slammed his fist down on his desk, and said, "Goddamn it. The deputy commander, a tough, four-star Air Force general who had earned the nickname "The Shark," listened quietly for nearly an hour as we briefed him on our mission and our recommendations. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany - were also optimistic. Senior officials in the command responsible for Lebanon - the U.S. As we prepared to leave Beirut, Bill Buckley was upbeat about our mission. None, however, included specific recommendations that could have caused casualties to innocent civilians. Others involved the precise use of military force against selected targets. Some involved highly sensitive intelligence operations to penetrate the terrorists' sanctuaries. As part of our assigned missions, we developed a comprehensive list of military options which our Beirut experience indicated were possible. Throughout, however, we coordinated daily with William Buckley, the CIA's station chief in Beirut who was later captured and murdered by pro-Iranian terrorists. We finally left for Beirut in early December, some six weeks after the Marines had been bombed! Once in Beirut, we settled in and began working quietly among the population. Meanwhile, our team awaited permission to depart while ranking military and civilian leaders in the Pentagon debated whether we should go and then, following their approval, while the bureaucracy worked through an agonizingly slow coordination and approval process. Three days later, when terrorists used a similar truck bomb to attack an Israeli barracks, the Israelis too responded immediately with air strikes against terrorist positions. The next day, French aircraft struck at known terrorist bases in Lebanon. On the day the Marines were bombed, a French military compound in Beirut was also bombed, killing 56 French soldiers. One of our missions was to investigate retaliatory options against those who had bombed the compound, killing 241 American servicemen. In 1983, I was a member of a small, select military team sent to Beirut following the bombing of the U.S. I can attest to this sorry situation from first-hand experience. It will happen because the system which directs and oversees them is cumbersome, ill-defined and managed by individuals with neither expertise nor experience in special operations. If retaliation fails, it won't be because the forces aren't capable. If his desired list of options includes military action by precision special-operations forces, I hope the Pentagon can deliver in a timely and appropriate fashion. SHOULD THE identity of those responsible for last December's bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 be determined, President Bush will face immediate calls for swift retribution.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |