1986 : U.S. bombs Libya
On April 14, 1986, the United States launches air strikes against
Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against
American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7
p.m. EST (2 a.m., April 15 in Libya), involved more than 100 U.S. Air
Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military
targets and "terrorism centers" were hit, including the headquarters
of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.
During the 1970s and '80s, Qaddafi's government financed a wide
variety of Muslim and anti-U.S. and anti-British terrorist groups
worldwide, from Palestinian guerrillas and Philippine Muslim rebels to
the Irish Republican Army and the Black Panthers. In response, the
U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya, and relations between the two
nations steadily deteriorated. In 1981, Libya fired at a U.S. aircraft
that passed into the Gulf of Sidra, which Qaddafi had claimed in 1973
as Libyan territorial waters. That year, the U.S. uncovered evidence
of Libyan-sponsored terrorist plots against the United States,
including planned assassination attempts against U.S. officials and
the bombing of a U.S. embassy-sponsored dance in Khartoum, Sudan.
In December 1985, five American citizens were killed in simultaneous
terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. Libya was blamed,
and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered expanded sanctions and froze
Libyan assets in the United States. On March 24, 1986, U.S. and Libyan
forces clashed in the Gulf of Sidra, and four Libyan attack boats were
sunk. Then, on April 5, terrorists bombed a West Berlin dance hall
known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. One U.S. serviceman and a
Turkish woman were killed, and more than 200 people were wounded,
including 50 other U.S. servicemen. U.S. intelligence reportedly
intercepted radio messages sent from Libya to its diplomats in East
Berlin ordering the April 5 attack on the LaBelle discotheque.
On April 14, the United States struck back with dramatic air strikes
against Tripoli and Banghazi. The attacks were mounted by 14 A-6E navy
attack jets based in the Mediterranean and 18 FB-111 bombers from
bases in England. Numerous other support aircraft were also involved.
France refused to allow the F-111s to fly over French territory, which
added 2,600 total nautical miles to the journey from England and back.
Three military barracks were hit, along with the military facilities
at Tripoli's main airport and the Benina air base southeast of
Benghazi. All targets except one were reportedly chosen because of
their direct connection to terrorist activity. The Benina military
airfield was hit to preempt Libyan interceptors from taking off and
attacking the incoming U.S. bombers.
Even before the operation had ended, President Reagan went on national
television to discuss the air strikes. "When our citizens are abused
or attacked anywhere in the world," he said, "we will respond in
self-defense. Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we
shall do it again."
Operation El Dorado Canyon, as it was code-named, was called a success
by U.S. officials. Qaddafi's 15-month-old adopted daughter was killed
in the attack on his residence, and two of his young sons were
injured. Although he has never admitted it publicly, there is
speculation that Qaddafi was also wounded in the bombing. Fire from
Libyan surface-to-air missiles and conventional anti-aircraft
artillery was heavy during the attack, and one F-111, along with its
two-member crew, were lost in unknown circumstances. Several
residential buildings were inadvertently bombed during the raid, and
15 Libyan civilians were reported killed. The French embassy in
Tripoli was also accidentally hit, but no one was injured.
On April 15, Libyan patrol boats fired missiles at a U.S. Navy
communications station on the Italian island of Lamedusa, but the
missiles fell short. There was no other major terrorist attack linked
to Libya until the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie,
Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew of that flight were killed, and
11 people on the ground perished. In the early 1990s, investigators
identified Libyan intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and
Lamen Khalifa Fhimah as suspects in the bombing, but Libya refused to
turn them over to be tried in the United States. But in 1999--in an
effort to ease United Nations sanctions against Libya--Colonel Moammar
Gadhafi agreed to turn the suspects over to Scotland for trial in the
Netherlands using Scottish law and prosecutors. In early 2001,
al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, although he
continues to profess his innocence and work to overturn his
conviction. Fhimah was acquitted.
In accordance with United Nations and American demands, Libya accepted
responsibility for the bombing, though it did not express remorse. The
U.N. and U.S. lifted sanctions against Libya; the country then paid
each victim's family approximately $8 million in compensation. In
2004, Libya's prime minister said that the deal was the "price for
peace," implying that his country only accepted responsibility to get
the sanctions lifted, angering the survivors' families. He also
admitted that Libya had not really accepted guilt for the bombing. Pan
Am Airlines, which went bankrupt as a result of the bombing, is still
seeking $4.5 billion in compensation from Libya in civil court.
Qaddafi surprised many around the world when he became one of the
first Muslim heads of state to denounce al-Qaida after the attacks of
September 11, 2001. In 2003, he gained favor with the administration
of George W. Bush when he announced the existence of a program to
build weapons of mass destruction in Libya and that he would allow an
international agency to inspect and dismantle them. Though some in the
U.S. government pointed to this as a direct and positive consequence
of the ongoing war in Iraq, others pointed out that Qaddafi had
essentially been making the same offer since 1999, but had been
ignored. In 2004, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Libya, one of
the first western heads of state to do so in recent memory; he praised
Libya during the visit as a strong ally in the international war on
terror.
history.com/tdih.do
Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against
American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7
p.m. EST (2 a.m., April 15 in Libya), involved more than 100 U.S. Air
Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military
targets and "terrorism centers" were hit, including the headquarters
of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.
During the 1970s and '80s, Qaddafi's government financed a wide
variety of Muslim and anti-U.S. and anti-British terrorist groups
worldwide, from Palestinian guerrillas and Philippine Muslim rebels to
the Irish Republican Army and the Black Panthers. In response, the
U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya, and relations between the two
nations steadily deteriorated. In 1981, Libya fired at a U.S. aircraft
that passed into the Gulf of Sidra, which Qaddafi had claimed in 1973
as Libyan territorial waters. That year, the U.S. uncovered evidence
of Libyan-sponsored terrorist plots against the United States,
including planned assassination attempts against U.S. officials and
the bombing of a U.S. embassy-sponsored dance in Khartoum, Sudan.
In December 1985, five American citizens were killed in simultaneous
terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. Libya was blamed,
and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered expanded sanctions and froze
Libyan assets in the United States. On March 24, 1986, U.S. and Libyan
forces clashed in the Gulf of Sidra, and four Libyan attack boats were
sunk. Then, on April 5, terrorists bombed a West Berlin dance hall
known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. One U.S. serviceman and a
Turkish woman were killed, and more than 200 people were wounded,
including 50 other U.S. servicemen. U.S. intelligence reportedly
intercepted radio messages sent from Libya to its diplomats in East
Berlin ordering the April 5 attack on the LaBelle discotheque.
On April 14, the United States struck back with dramatic air strikes
against Tripoli and Banghazi. The attacks were mounted by 14 A-6E navy
attack jets based in the Mediterranean and 18 FB-111 bombers from
bases in England. Numerous other support aircraft were also involved.
France refused to allow the F-111s to fly over French territory, which
added 2,600 total nautical miles to the journey from England and back.
Three military barracks were hit, along with the military facilities
at Tripoli's main airport and the Benina air base southeast of
Benghazi. All targets except one were reportedly chosen because of
their direct connection to terrorist activity. The Benina military
airfield was hit to preempt Libyan interceptors from taking off and
attacking the incoming U.S. bombers.
Even before the operation had ended, President Reagan went on national
television to discuss the air strikes. "When our citizens are abused
or attacked anywhere in the world," he said, "we will respond in
self-defense. Today we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we
shall do it again."
Operation El Dorado Canyon, as it was code-named, was called a success
by U.S. officials. Qaddafi's 15-month-old adopted daughter was killed
in the attack on his residence, and two of his young sons were
injured. Although he has never admitted it publicly, there is
speculation that Qaddafi was also wounded in the bombing. Fire from
Libyan surface-to-air missiles and conventional anti-aircraft
artillery was heavy during the attack, and one F-111, along with its
two-member crew, were lost in unknown circumstances. Several
residential buildings were inadvertently bombed during the raid, and
15 Libyan civilians were reported killed. The French embassy in
Tripoli was also accidentally hit, but no one was injured.
On April 15, Libyan patrol boats fired missiles at a U.S. Navy
communications station on the Italian island of Lamedusa, but the
missiles fell short. There was no other major terrorist attack linked
to Libya until the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 747 over Lockerbie,
Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew of that flight were killed, and
11 people on the ground perished. In the early 1990s, investigators
identified Libyan intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and
Lamen Khalifa Fhimah as suspects in the bombing, but Libya refused to
turn them over to be tried in the United States. But in 1999--in an
effort to ease United Nations sanctions against Libya--Colonel Moammar
Gadhafi agreed to turn the suspects over to Scotland for trial in the
Netherlands using Scottish law and prosecutors. In early 2001,
al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, although he
continues to profess his innocence and work to overturn his
conviction. Fhimah was acquitted.
In accordance with United Nations and American demands, Libya accepted
responsibility for the bombing, though it did not express remorse. The
U.N. and U.S. lifted sanctions against Libya; the country then paid
each victim's family approximately $8 million in compensation. In
2004, Libya's prime minister said that the deal was the "price for
peace," implying that his country only accepted responsibility to get
the sanctions lifted, angering the survivors' families. He also
admitted that Libya had not really accepted guilt for the bombing. Pan
Am Airlines, which went bankrupt as a result of the bombing, is still
seeking $4.5 billion in compensation from Libya in civil court.
Qaddafi surprised many around the world when he became one of the
first Muslim heads of state to denounce al-Qaida after the attacks of
September 11, 2001. In 2003, he gained favor with the administration
of George W. Bush when he announced the existence of a program to
build weapons of mass destruction in Libya and that he would allow an
international agency to inspect and dismantle them. Though some in the
U.S. government pointed to this as a direct and positive consequence
of the ongoing war in Iraq, others pointed out that Qaddafi had
essentially been making the same offer since 1999, but had been
ignored. In 2004, U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Libya, one of
the first western heads of state to do so in recent memory; he praised
Libya during the visit as a strong ally in the international war on
terror.
history.com/tdih.do
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