Weatherization Department
The Friday Report Friday December 13,1996
FromWright Energy's
Weatherization Network Since 1984
970-349-0551 fax
970-349-0923 voice Mike@Weatherstrip.com email
WebSite
http://WrightEnergy.com
Updated 12/4/96
_______________________________
From the LA Times
The United States is planning possible punitive actions against Iran, including
retaliatory strikes on military targets, and could act if a Saudi theory
proves true--that Iran was responsible for a June 25 bombing that killed
19 American troops, sources say.
U.S. law enforcement and Pentagon officials
have tentatively concluded that Saudi Shiites were responsible. But they
cautioned that the conclusions are preliminary, noting that Iran and Syria
were tentatively thought responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan American
Airways Flight 103 over Scotland--a belief later found to be wrong. Two
Libyans have been named as suspects in that incident.
"A lot of people would like to bash Iran,
and the Saudi case fuels their desire to do it," a senior U.S. law
enforcement official said Wednesday. "But any conclusion, not to mention
any action, is very premature."
U.S. officials are saying they still lack
sufficient proof to support Saudi Arabia's contention that Saudi Shiites--trained,
supported, financed and armed by Iran--are behind the deadly attack on the
Khobar Towers military housing complex in Dhahran. The Saudis claim that
those responsible met with Iranian intelligence and traveled to
Iran.
Although the Pentagon always maintains contingency
plans for counterstrikes and defense of strategic interests, senior U.S.
officials said the current, "well-advanced" planning is for a
tailor-made reply to Iran's long record of sponsoring extremism in the region,
with the Khobar bombing in mind.
Ultimately, the president decides from a list
of options. But the current military list includes strikes on facilities
that would send "a powerful and specific" message to Tehran, the
sources added.
On the diplomatic front, the list includes
a call for the most punitive international sanctions imposed since the 1979-81
hostage ordeal, when Iran was ostracized and isolated by the outside world.
Among the recommendations is the proposal for a United Nations resolution
that would ban all arms sales and nuclear technology transfers to Iran and
reduce the number of personnel allowed at Iran's diplomatic missions abroad.
Officials said the plans support broader U.S.
objectives in dealing with Iran, specifically to weaken its military buildup
of weapons and to disrupt its propaganda and sabotage campaigns, which are
often run out of embassies.
As in previous terrorism cases, U.S. officials
said that the vague Iran link so far is indirect, tied more to Tehran's
influence on Shiite brethren in the adjoining Arab world than to direct
instigation of the attack. "We're a long way from saying that Iran
knew about the bombing in advance, ordered it or gave the green light,"
a Pentagon official said. "We have no evidence of that."
For weeks, Saudi Arabia has been trying to
persuade the U.S. that the powerful truck bomb was the work of Hezbollah,
the amorphous Party
of God that allegedly has loosely linked branches among Shiites in Lebanon,
West Africa and the Persian Gulf.
Saudi investigators--headed by Prince Nayif
ibn Abdulaziz, interior minister and brother of King Fahd--contended that
the movements of the bombers can be traced through Lebanon's eastern Bekaa
Valley, which is a
hotbed of Shiite activism, a base for Iranian Revolutionary Guards and under
the control of Syrian troops.
The critical difference between Washington
and Riyadh is evidence. The Saudi version of events is based largely on
information and alleged confessions obtained as a result of one of the kingdom's
largest sweeps of Shiite activists and suspected dissidents in 15 years,
U.S. officials said.
Hundreds of Shiites are believed to have been
picked up, mainly in Saudi Arabia's eastern province, wherelong-standing
tensions resulted in unrest in 1980-81. Several dozen are still being held,
U.S. officials said.
But both U.S. law enforcement and military
officials contended that much of the Saudi information, so far, is suspect
or inadequate. "The standards by which much of it was obtained are
questionable," said a leading counter-terrorism official. "If
you use certain methods, you can get anything you want."
Riyadh has often been criticized by U.S. and
human rights groups for torture, lack of due process, and mass and prolonged
detentions.
Meantime, the Air Force general in charge
of the base in Saudi Arabia where the airmen were killed has been cleared
of culpability in the terrorist bombing, a senior Pentagon official said
Wednesday. The finding on Brig. Gen. Terryl J. Schwalier was in a report
issued by Lt. Gen. James Record, who was given the authority to decide whether
Schwalier should be disciplined or face court-martial proceedings, the Associated
Press said.
Defense Secretary William J. Perry ordered
the probe in September, after the release of a report by retired Army Special
Forces Gen. Wayne Downing that criticized Schwalier for failing to take
action to protect his troops. _________________________
"Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually
right."___
The Original
Silicone Door Weatherstrip®
Try it You'll like it!
Call Mike
970-349-0551 fax
800-832-2992 Voice