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From: dimitrov@csd2.UUCP (Isaac Dimitrovsky)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Libya: Let's not Bomb 'em
Message-ID: <3630048@csd2.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 15-Jan-86 17:13:00 EST
Article-I.D.: csd2.3630048
Posted: Wed Jan 15 17:13:00 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Jan-86 20:59:30 EST
Organization: New York University
Lines: 80

[]
Chedley's latest:
> After all, if the US is really serious about doing the job for
> the israelis by attacking countries who help anti-israeli
> terrorists, at least a half dozen countries should be attacked.
> Among them, Syria, Irak, Lebanon, Iran, Bulgaria,....

If I remember correctly, only a quarter or so of the casualties in
the recent airport attacks were Israeli citizens.

> The european countries have a more level headed reaction.
> Italy and Austria ,where the recent actions took place, and
> other european countries recognize that the objective of the
> palestinian's actions was Israel's airline company.

And if they kill or maim a few Europeans in the process, that's
understandable, eh? Level headed indeed.

> Terrorism is only a symptom, not the cause of the Middle-East
> problem.

What does this elegant but somewhat obscure statement mean?
The giveaway here is the use of the singular *the* Middle East
program. Any objective observer would realize that there are
many problems causing tension in the Middle East. The "problem"
Mr. A. refers to is the existence of Israel, and the statement
says that rather than treat the symptom of this problem, terrorism,
one should directly treat this problem. To sum it up in one line:
Give the terrorists what they want and hope they go away.
If I'm misreading you, Chedley, please say what you actually meant.

My personal opinion on what we should do about Libya:

I don't think we should attack Qaddafi with military force,
since this would only allow him to pose as the virile fighter
for the great Arab nation against the American Satan.
More reasonable Arab governments such as Egypt would be hurt.

I think measures to damage Libya's economy and to increase
security against terrorists would be better. I agree with
the ending of trade with Libya, the freezing of Libya's
assets in the US, and requiring US citizens to leave.
I think we should also try to reduce European trade with
Libya, both by applying pressure on European countries
and by trying to depress the world oil market and counter
the influence of OPEC (this would have other benefits as
well). One thing we should do immediately is enact an oil
import fee to reduce our foreign oil consumption (and our
deficit as well). If European countries are unwilling to
end trade with Libya, we should at least try to get them
to make it less attractive for their citizens to work there.
For example, they could tax earnings in Libya at a high rate.
This would perhaps be easier politically to do than ending
trade, and the Libyan economy is quite dependent on the
foreign citizens working there. We should also increase
security at obvious targets like airports, bus stations,
etc. We should publicize places that are not secure (i.e.
Athens airport) to put economic pressure on these places
to beef up security.

For those people suffering from severe bloodlust for whom
these steps aren't satisfying enough, consider that poetic
justice is quite likely in Qaddafi's case without any
intervention by us. The Libyan military is apparently mucho
pissed off by Qaddafi's idealistic aim of eventually eliminating
the armed forces (to be replaced by people's militias).
There have been a couple of assasination attempts this past
year. Just last November, the third most powerful man in
Libya's government, a proponent of the military, was killed.
Showing that they haven't lost their delightful sense of
humor, the Libyan government variously attributed his death
to a car accident and suicide (the body had been shot six times).

Isaac Dimitrovsky
allegra!cmcl2!csd2!dimitrov   (l in cmcl2 is letter l not number 1)
251 Mercer Street, New York NY 10012     (212) 674-8652

You know the great thing about tv? If something important happens anywhere at
all in the world, no matter what time of the day or night, you can always
change the channel - Jim Ignatowski