Military Action

Panamanians despise drug-dealing dictator Manuel Noriega, but may resent just as strongly the American military assault on their country, some experts say. Others argue that Panama's new U.S.-installed democratic government might take root and have Panamanians thanking President Bush for the invasion that removed Noriega from power. That was a cross-section of the early reaction yesterday as U.S. forces moved to consolidate control in Panama - and searched for the elusive Noriega.

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A suicide car bomb exploded near Somalia's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, killing at least four people even as Somalian and Kenyan leaders met and agreed to cooperate on military action against Islamist insurgents. The blast rattled central Mogadishu and killed at least three passersby and the suicide bomber, police official Ali Hassan said. Six people were wounded and taken to the hospital, he said. The explosion did not damage the ministry building but did take down a stone wall in front of it. "The car bomb blew up among people and cars passing down the street," said Mohamed Nor Siyaed, an eyewitness.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said yesterday that President Reagan should consider military action in the latest kidnapping of three Americans in Beirut if the hostage-takers carry out a threat to kill the U.S. citizens. Sen. Claiborne Pell (D., R.I.) said Reagan should take "pretty hard" action against Iran if there is "clear evidence" that Iran is behind the latest kidnapping, which occurred Saturday. However, Pell added, "if it's a group without any government connection, then . . . there really is no good solution.

Yesterday, as American troops streamed into the Persian Gulf, as the political rhetoric sharpened and diplomatic movement intensified, President Clinton had an obligation to explain why the United States isn't backing down from its confrontation with Iraq. That he did, in a forthright public defense of his administration's assessment that Saddam Hussein's refusal to comply with U.N. weapons inspections poses a dire threat to national interests and world stability. Mr. Clinton was less convincing that the best way to confront the rogue Iraqi leader is with unilateral military action.

Once again - this time in Yugoslavia - Americans are being asked to rally 'round the flag for the sake of our young men and women in harm's way. And once again, as in Iraq, we have no choice but to support the military action, even if we are uneasy about why our young men and women are in harm's way. It's a terrible dilemma . . . And a tragic irony. In Yugoslavia, the only apparent alternative to NATO military action is to stand by and let thousands of people be massacred - something we cannot do. There are similarities between the U.S. positions in Iraq and Yugoslavia.

Growing unease about new U.S.-led attacks on Iraq, and the resulting civilian casualties, is dividing the coalition allied against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Leaders in Britain, France, Italy, Russia and the Netherlands yesterday expressed concern about the renewed bombing of Iraq, and the Vatican, criticizing allied "overreaction," said it would ask the United Nations to halt military action. Iraq says at least 46 people have been killed in the raids. In Britain, which has been the United States' staunchest ally in the Persian Gulf, Prime Minister John Major told Parliament yesterday that the allies would use only "the minimum necessary force.

In the short term, days or even months, President Reagan's decision to impose sanctions against Libya may deter Moammar Khadafy and the terrorists he allows to train and live on Libyan soil, intelligence analysts here believe. But in the long term, they say, the sanctions are meaningless unless they are backed up by direct military or covert action against the Khadafy regime and the organizations of terrorists such as Abu Nidal. Israeli military and intelligence sources interviewed here this week argue that the elimination of Abu Nidal would be the most efficient and best use of force, but they caution that a strike at Libya and the terrorists it harbors would be impossible without risking all-out war. The U.S. sanctions as well as repeated Israeli warnings of retaliation against Libya are a direct response to the Palestinian terrorist attacks at airports in Rome and Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 27. The attacks, which resulted in 19 deaths, have been blamed by Israel and the United States on Abu Nidal, whose whereabouts and methods of operation remain largely a mystery.

The Clinton administration is provoking more opposition than approval among other nations as it explores the possibility of using military force to oust Haiti's military rulers, diplomats said yesterday. The United States has nonetheless found support for action from Caribbean nations and Argentina, where diplomats argue that human rights concerns and Haitians' right to self-determination should outweigh anti-interventionist sentiments. But France, Canada and other key U.S. allies in the drive to restore democracy to Haiti warn against military action.

President Bush has decided to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power and ordered the CIA, the Pentagon and other agencies to devise a combination of military, diplomatic and covert steps to achieve that goal, senior U.S. officials said yesterday. No military strike is imminent, but Bush has concluded that Hussein and his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs are such a threat to U.S. security that the Iraqi dictator must be removed, even if U.S. allies do not help, said the officials, who all spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United States plans to send up to 3,000 additional Army soldiers to Kuwait to shore up defenses here and discourage Iraq from attempting any retaliatory attack in the event of U.S. and British air strikes, a senior American military official reported yesterday. The announcement marked the latest in a sudden series of fresh deployments to the Persian Gulf region, signaling intensified preparations for military action even as U.S. officials continue to hold open the prospect of a diplomatic solution to the confrontation with Iraq over access by U.N. inspectors to suspected weapons sites.

WASHINGTON - A panel of White House advisers warned President Obama in a secret report that U.S. spy agencies were paying inadequate attention to China, the Middle East and other national security flash points because they had become too focused on military operations and drone strikes, U.S. officials said. Led by influential figures including new Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and former Sen. David Boren (D., Okla.), the panel concluded in a report last year that the roles of the CIA, the National Security Agency, and other spy services had been distorted by more than a decade of conflict.

WASHINGTON - Seeking to reassure anxious Israelis and their American supporters, Vice President Biden vowed Monday that the United States would not back down from its pledge to use military action to thwart Iran's nuclear program should all other options fail. "President Barack Obama is not bluffing," he said. In a prelude to Obama's forthcoming trip to Israel - his first as president - Biden told a powerful pro-Israel lobby that the United States doesn't want a war with Iran, but that the window for diplomacy is closing.

U.N. authorizes action in Mali UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. Security Council on Thursday authorized military action to wrest northern Mali from the control of al-Qaeda-linked extremists but demanded progress first on political reconciliation, elections, and training of African troops and police. A resolution adopted unanimously by the United Nations' most powerful body stressed that there must be a two-track plan, political and military, to reunify the country, which has been in turmoil since a coup in March.

AKCAKALE, Turkey - Turkey sanctioned further military action against Syria on Thursday and bombarded targets across the border with artillery for a second day, raising the stakes in a conflict that increasingly is bleeding outside Syrian territory. Although both sides moved to calm tensions, Turkey's parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill allowing the military to conduct cross-border operations into Syria - making clear that Ankara has options that do not involve its Western or Arab allies.

JERUSALEM - Israeli officials said Tuesday they are in close discussions with the United States over how to deal with the Iranian nuclear program, seeking to ease tensions that have emerged between the two allies over a possible Israeli military strike against Iran. The dialogue, in which Israel is looking for President Obama to take a tough public position against Iran, suggests the odds of an Israeli attack in the near term have been reduced. Israel, convinced that Iran isn't taking seriously U.S. vows to block it from acquiring nuclear weapons, believes that time to stop the Iranians is quickly running out. A series of warnings by Israeli officials in recent weeks has raised concerns that Israel could soon stage a unilateral military strike.

Either Israel is engaged in the most elaborate ruse since the Trojan Horse, or it's on the cusp of a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. What's alarming is not just Iran's increasing store of uranium or the growing sophistication of its rocketry. It's also the increasingly menacing, annihilationist threats emanating from its leaders. Israel's existence is "an insult to all humanity," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. "Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist regime.

This year marks the bicentennial of a war that is largely forgotten but almost tore the United States apart. Most of us remember incidents from the war — the burning of Washington; Dolley Madison saving the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington; and the writing of "The Star-Spangled Banner. " But ask Americans in which conflict those incidents took place, and you can bet many will say the Revolutionary War. In reality, it was the War of 1812, which to many is as obscure as the Gadsden Purchase.

WASHINGTON - The Syrian government's shootdown of a Turkish fighter jet has served as a stark warning that its military is capable of mounting a sophisticated defense against potential enemies, complicating a Libyan-style intervention. Turkey has said that it has no immediate plans to respond to the incident with military action. But the Turkish prime minister warned Tuesday that he had ordered commanders along the country's southern border to treat any Syrian military approach as a threat, escalating concerns that Turkey - along with the United States and its allies - could be drawn into a regional war. Details of the downing along the Syrian coast are still emerging, but officials said that Syria's air defenses have been beefed up by purchases from Russia since Israeli fighter jets destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in the Syrian desert nearly five years ago. As a result, U.S. military officials said that, at least on paper, the Syrian air defenses appear to be far more robust than those encountered by NATO in Libya and stronger than even Iran.

From one point of view, the connection between our troubles with Syria and Iran is straightforward. Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime is Iran's closest ally and link to the Arab Middle East. Syria has provided the land bridge for transport of Iranian support to Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Without Syria, Iran's pretensions to regional hegemony and ability to challenge Israel would be crippled. It follows that, as U.S. Central Command chief Gen. James N. Mattis testified to Congress in March, the downfall of Assad would be "the biggest strategic setback for Iran in 25 years.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The U.N. humanitarian chief toured the shattered Syrian district of Baba Amr on Wednesday but found most residents had fled after a bloody military siege, while activists accused the government of trying to cover up evidence of atrocities there. The monthlong crackdown on the rebellious Homs neighborhood brought international condemnation, and the top U.S. military leader said Wednesday that President Obama had asked the Pentagon for a preliminary review of military options in Syria.