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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Don't be so sure Iran won't attack A letter Monday, "Provoking a war with Iran," asserted that "Iran is not about to attack anyone. " How does the writer know this fact? Does she have a mole in the CIA giving her this information? Are the recent bombings in India and Africa, and the arrest of five Iranians who were in possession of bomb-making material in Thailand, just a rehearsal for further attacks? Neither Israel nor the United States is engaged in saber- rattling. Quite the contrary, it has been the U.S. policy these past three years to attempt negotiations and sanctions rather then any military action.

WASHINGTON - Targeting Iran's economy, the U.S. ordered tough new penalties yesterday to further pinch the country's financial system and encourage Israel to give sanctions more time before any military action against Iran's nuclear program. The new, stricter sanctions, authorized in legislation that President Obama signed in December, will be enforced under an order he signed only now. They give U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions imposed by the U.S. and Europe.

Early this month, the top U.S. military officer was asked whether he thought Israel would alert the United States ahead of time if it attacked Iran's nuclear program. "I don't know," said Gen. Martin Dempsey, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs, in a blunt assessment. In other words, our military is unsure whether our closest Mideast ally would give us advance notice of an act that could drag us into another Mideast war. I'm aware that Dempsey's remarks might have been a bit of psychological warfare.

JERUSALEM - An Israeli official said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to persuade his cabinet to authorize a military strike against Iran's suspected nuclear-weapons program - a discussion that comes as Israel successfully tested a missile believed capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to Iran. It remained unclear whether Israel was genuinely poised to strike or was saber-rattling to prod the international community into taking a tougher line on Iran. Israeli leaders have long hinted at a military option, but they always seemed mindful of the practical difficulties, the likelihood of a furious counterstrike, and the risk of regional mayhem.

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.

WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to bar military aid to Libyan rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi but stopped short of prohibiting funds for U.S. involvement in a NATO-led mission now in its fourth month. Sending a muddled message in the constitutional challenge to President Obama, House Republicans and Democrats signaled their frustration with American participation in a stalemated civil war but also showed their unwillingness to end the operation. The congressional unrest stems in large part from Obama's decision not to seek congressional consent for a third war in addition to years-long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Is the Libya war legal? Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, it is not. President Obama has exceeded the 90-day period to receive retroactive authorization from Congress. But things are not so simple. No president should accept - and none since from Nixon on has accepted - the constitutionality of the law, passed over a presidential veto. On the other hand, every president should have the constitutional decency to get some congressional approval when he takes the country to war. The model for such constitutional restraint is George W. Bush.

LONDON - America's new cyber czar said Wednesday that international law and cooperation - not another treaty - were enough to tackle cybersecurity issues for now. Christopher Painter, coordinator for cyber issues for the State Department, declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report suggesting that the Pentagon was considering a policy to classify some cyberattacks coming from another country as acts of war. He said most of the reports were...

OSAMA BIN LADEN probably was the most influential person of the 21st century, until his death Sunday at the hands of U.S. forces. Whether he remains so depends on what the United States does now that his body rests at the bottom of the sea. During his late-night announcement on Sunday, President Obama reminded Americans that bin Laden was by no means a Muslim leader. Not at all. Muslims made up the overwhelming majority of al Qaeda's victims. And the Arab Spring, in which ordinary citizens across the Middle East are risking their lives, are demanding freedom and democracy - not allegiance to al Qaeda and bin Laden, who are irrelevant in that revolution.