Operation El Dorado Canyon
Encyclopedia
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States
Air Force
, Navy
and Marine Corps
air-strikes against Libya
on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
.
Shortly after his inauguration in 1981, Libya was a strong priority for Ronald Reagan. Gaddafi was firmly anti-Israel and had supported extremist groups in Palestine and Syria. There were reports that Libya was attempting to become a nuclear power and his occupation of Chad, which was rich in uranium, was a major fear for the United States. Gaddafi's alignment with the Soviet Union and his ambitions to set up a federation of Arab and Muslim states in North Africa were also alarming to the US. Furthermore, then-Director of Central Intelligence and Secretary of State Alexander M. Haig Jr. wanted to take pro-active measures against Gaddafi because he had been using former Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) operatives to help set up terrorist camps.
After December 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks
, which killed 19 and wounded around 140, Gaddafi indicated that he would continue to support the Red Army Faction
, the Red Brigades
, and the Irish Republican Army
as long as the European governments supported anti-Gaddafi Libyans.
The Foreign Minister of Libya also called the massacres "heroic acts".
After years of occasional skirmishes with Libya over Libyan territorial claims to the Gulf of Sidra
, the United States contemplated a military attack to strike targets within the Libyan mainland. In March 1986, the United States, asserting the 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) limit to territorial waters according to international law, sent a carrier task force to the region. Libya responded with aggressive counter-maneuvers on March 24 that led to the Gulf of Sidra incident
.
On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed "La Belle" nightclub in West Berlin
, killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there. West Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany who were involved in the attack.
More detailed information was retrieved years later when Stasi
archives were investigated by the reunited Germany. Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were identified and prosecuted by Germany in the 1990s.
After several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, President
Ronald Reagan
ordered a strike on Libya on April 14. Eighteen F-111F
strike aircraft of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing
, flying from RAF Lakenheath
supported by four EF-111A Raven
s of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing
, from RAF Upper Heyford
in England
, in conjunction with fifteen A-6
, A-7
, F/A-18
attack aircraft and EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga
, USS America
and USS Coral Sea
on station in the Gulf of Sidra
, struck five targets at 02:00 on April 15, with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya's ability to support and train terrorists
. Reagan warned that "if necessary, [they] shall do it again."
The actual attack mission against Libya, had been preceded in October 1985 by an exercise in which the 20th TFW stationed at Upper Heyford airbase in the UK, which was equipped with F-111Es, received a top secret order to on October 18 launch a simulated attack mission, with ten F-111s armed with eight 500 lb practice bombs, against a simulated airfield located in Newfoundland, Canada
south of CFB Goose Bay
. The mission was designated Operation Ghost Rider. The mission was basically a full rehearsal for a long range strike against Libya. The mission was completed successfully, with the exception of one aircraft that had all but one of its eight bombs hang up on one of its wing racks. The lessons learned were passed on to 48th TFW which was equipped with the newer "F" models of the F-111.
Elements of the then-secret 4450th Tactical Group
(USAF) were put on standby to fly the strike mission against Libya. Over 30 F-117
s had already been delivered to Tactical Air Command (USAF) and were operating from secret bases in Nevada. Commanders in the North Africa/Mediterranean theaters knew nothing about the capabilities of the F-117, or that the aircraft even existed. Within an hour of the planned launch time for the F-117s, the Secretary of Defense scrubbed the stealth mission, fearing a compromise of the secret aircraft and its development program. The airstrike was carried out with conventional US Navy and US Air Force aircraft. The F-117 would remain completely unknown to the world for several months until it was unveiled in 1988 and featured prominently in media coverage of Operation Desert Storm
.
For the Libyan raid, the United States was denied overflight rights by France
, Spain
and Italy
as well as the use of European continental bases, forcing the Air Force portion of the operation to be flown around France, Spain and through the Straits of Gibraltar, adding 1,300 miles (2,100 km) each way and requiring multiple aerial refueling
s. The French refusal alone added 2,800 km total, and was imposed despite the fact that France itself had been the target of terrorism directed by the Gaddafi government in Libya. French president Mitterrand refused its clearance because the United States denied getting to French army all details about the operation and he did not want to authorize any foreign operation that couldn't be analysed by French authorities.
barracks in Tripoli. During the bombing of the Bab al-Azizia barracks, an American F-111 was shot down by a Libyan SAM
missile over the Gulf of Sidra
. Some bombs landed off-target, striking diplomatic and civilian sites in Tripoli
, while the French
embassy was only narrowly missed. Some Libyan soldiers abandoned their positions in fright and confusion, and officers were slow to give orders. Libyan anti-aircraft fire did not begin until after the planes had passed over their targets. Twenty-four A-6 Intruders and F/A-18 Hornets launched from aircraft carriers bombed radar and antiaircraft sites in Benghazi
before bombing the Benina and Jamahiriya barracks. A number of bombs missed their targets and hit residential areas, along with a number of Western embassies in Benghazi.
Covering Tripoli alone were:
Cold War International History Project
and his family rushed out of their residence in the Bab al-Azizia
compound moments before the bombs dropped. It was long thought that the call came from Malta
's Prime Minister, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
. However, Italian politician Bettino Craxi
was the person who actually warned Gaddafi, according to Giulio Andreotti
(the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy) and Abdel Rahman Shalgham
(Libya's Foreign Minister from 2000 until 2009).
According to medical staff in the nearby hospital, two dozen people arrived in military uniform and two without uniform. Total Libyan casualties are estimated at 60, including casualties at the bombed airbases. Among the casualties was an infant girl, whose body was shown to American reporters and who was claimed to be Gaddafi's recently adopted daughter. However, there was skepticism that she even existed. Twenty-five years later, during the 2011 Battle of Tripoli, after Gaddafi's residence was seized by the rebel forces, it was proven that there was such a daughter, but that she survived and was now a medical doctor. .
In July 2008, Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam announced that an agreement was being negotiated with the United States whereby Libya would make any future compensation payments to American victims of terror attacks conditional upon the settlement of claims by victims of the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986. On August 14, 2008 the resultant U.S.-Libya Comprehensive Claims Settlement Agreement was signed in Tripoli by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
, David Welch
, and by Libya's Secretary for American Affairs, Ahmad Fituri.
In October 2008 Libya paid US$1.5 billion, over three installments of US$300 million on October 9, 2008, US$600 million on October 30, 2008, and a final US$600 million October 31, 2008, into a fund which will be used to compensate relatives of the
To pay the settlement, Libya demanded US$1.5 billion from global oil companies operating in Libya's oil fields, under threat of "serious consequences" to their leases. Libya's settlement was at least partially funded by some companies, including some based in the U.S., that chose to cooperate with Libya's demand.
As a result, President George W. Bush
signed an executive order restoring the Libyan government's immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing all of the pending compensation cases in the United States.
and Paul F. Lorence
— were killed when their F-111 fighter-bomber
was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra
.
According to newspaper reports at the time, the U.S. fighter-bomber lost in the incursion had crashed due to "pilot disorientation" or "systems failure". Initially the U.S. military refused to admit the fighter-bomber had been shot down with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger suggesting that it could have experienced radio trouble or been diverted to another airfield. On 25 December 1988, Gaddafi offered to release the body of Lorence to his family through Pope John Paul II
. The body, returned in 1989, was identified as Ribas-Dominicci's from dental records. An autopsy conducted in Spain
confirmed that he had drowned after his plane was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra. Libya denies that it held Lorence's body. However, Lorence's brother said that he and his mother saw television footage of a Libyan holding a white helmet with the name "Lorence" stenciled on the back. Furthermore, William C. Chasey
, who toured the Bab al-Azizia barracks, claimed to have seen two flight suits and helmets engraved with the names "Lorence" and "Ribas-Dominicci", as well as the wreckage of their F-111.
In 2001, Theodore D. Karantsalis, a reference librarian
at Miami-Dade College, enlisted the aid of Congressman Wally Herger
's office to petition Libya to return Lorence's remains on behalf of his family and friends. Karantsalis also created a website and invited visitors to sign a petition to Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart
seeking the return of Capt. Lorence's remains. On 27 January 2005, Karantsalis filed a federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force
seeking "to know where Captain Paul Lorence's remains are located." Karantsalis had hoped to locate the remains before the 20th anniversary of Lorence's death.
The raids against the government had brought it to its the weakest point in 17 years.
missiles at a United States Coast Guard station
on the Italian
island of Lampedusa
which passed over the island and landed in the sea.
The Libyan government was alleged to have ordered the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73
in Pakistan
on September 5, 1986, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people. The allegation did not come to light until it was reported by The Sunday Times
in March 2004—days after British Prime Minister Tony Blair
paid the first official visit to Tripoli
by a Western leader in a generation.
In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya, claiming Libya sought to fuel violence in Australia and Oceania.
In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the MV Eksund, which was delivering 150 tons of Soviet arms from Libya to European terrorist groups.
In Beirut
, Lebanon
, two British hostages held by the Libyan-supported Abu Nidal Organization, Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, along with an American named Peter Kilburn, were shot dead in revenge. In addition, journalist John McCarthy
was kidnapped, and tourist Paul Appleby was murdered in Jerusalem, Israel
. Another British hostage named Alec Collett was also killed in retaliation for the bombing of Libya. Collett was shown being hanged in a video tape. His body was found in November 2009.
On December 21, 1988, came the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
, which exploded in mid-air and crashed on the town of Lockerbie
in Scotland after a bomb set by Libyan agents detonated, killing all 259 people aboard, and 11 people in Lockerbie. Iran
was initially thought to have been responsible for the bombing in revenge for the downing of the Iranian Airbus
by the USS Vincennes
, but in 1991 two Libyans were charged, one of whom was convicted of the crime
in a controversial judgement on January 31, 2001. The Libyan Government formally accepted responsibility for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing on May 29, 2002, and offered $2.7 billion to compensate the families of the 270 victims. However, the convicted Libyan, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was allegedly suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was released in August 2009 by the Scottish Executive on compassionate grounds. The extent and severity of al-Meghrahi's cancer have since come into serious doubt.
The Libyan Posts (General Posts and Telecommunications Company, GPTC) dedicated several postage stamps issues to the event, from 1986 until 2001. The first issue was released in 1986, July 13 (ref. Scott catalogue
n.1311 – Michel catalogue n.1699). The last issue was released in 2001, April 15 (ref. Scott catalogue
n.1653 – Michel catalogue n.2748–2763).
The Government of Libya
said that the United States had fallen prey to the arrogance and madness of power and wanted to become the world's policeman. It charged that any party that did not agree to become an American vassal was an outlaw, a terrorist, and a devil. A meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement said that it condemned the "dastardly, blatant and unprovoked act of aggression". The League of Arab States expressed that it was outraged at the United States aggression and that it reinforced an element of anarchy in international relations. The Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union in its declaration said that the deliberate attempt to kill Libyans violated the principles of international law. The Government of Iran asserted that the attack constituted a policy of aggression, gunboat diplomacy, an act of war, and called for an extensive political and economic boycott of the United States. Others saw the United States motive as an attempt to eliminate Libya's revolution.
China stated that the US attack violated norms of international relations and had aggravated tension in the region. The Soviet Union said that there was a clear link between the attack and U.S. policy aimed at stirring up existing hotbeds of tension and creating new ones, and at destabilizing the international situation. West Germany stated that international disputes required diplomatic and not military solutions, and France also criticized the bombing. Italy, Spain, and France all denied the US use of their airspace en route to Libya. This forced the USAF's F-111s, stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Great Britain, to circumnavigate continental Europe and approach Libya via the Strait of Gibraltar.
Some observers held the opinion that Article 51 of the UN Charter set limitations on the use of force in exercising the legitimate right of self-defense in the absence of an act of aggression, and affirmed that there was no such act by Libya. It was charged that the United States did not bother to exhaust the Charter provisions for settling disputes under Article 33. Others asserted that Libya was innocent in the bombing of the West Berlin discothèque.
The U.S. received support from the United Kingdom
, Canada
, Australia
, Israel
, and 25 other countries. Its doctrine of declaring a war on what it called "terrorist havens" was not repeated until 1998, when President Bill Clinton
ordered strikes on six terrorist camps in Afghanistan
. Margaret Thatcher
's approval of the use of Royal Air Force
bases led to substantial criticism, including an unprecedented story in The Sunday Times
suggesting the Queen
was upset by an "uncaring" Prime Minister. Widespread criticism of the raid caused a temporary rift in UK-US relations and American tourists stayed away from Britain during the spring. Gaddafi himself responded by saying "Thatcher is a murderer...Thatcher is a prostitute. She sold herself to Reagan."
Although the Soviet Union
was ostensibly in cooperation with Libya, it had, by the time of the Libya bombing, made its increasing ambivalence toward Libya apparent in public communications. Gaddafi had a history of verbally attacking the policy agendas and ideology of the Soviet Union, and he often engaged in various international interventions and meddling that conflicted with Soviet goals in a variety of spheres. During a period where the Soviet Union was apparently attempting to lead a subtle diplomatic effort that could impact its global status, close association with the whims of Gaddafi became a liability.
In the entire crisis, the Soviet Union explicitly announced that it would not provide additional help to Libya beyond resupplying basic armaments and munitions. It made no attempt to militarily intimidate the United States, despite the ongoing American operations in the Gulf of Sidra and its previous knowledge that the United States might launch an attack. The Soviet Union did not completely ignore the event, issuing a denunciation of this 'wild' and 'barbaric' act by the United States.
After the raid, Moscow did cancel a planned visit to the United States by foreign affairs minister Eduard Shevardnadze
. At the same time, it clearly signaled that it did not want this action to affect negotiations about the upcoming summer summit between the United States and the Soviet Union and its plans for new arms control agreements.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
, acting for Libyan citizens who had been killed or injured in the bombing raid by the U.S. using British air bases, brought suit under international law against the United States and the United Kingdom in U.S. federal court. The lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous. A subsequent appeal was denied, and monetary sanctions against Clark were allowed. Saltany v. Reagan, 886 F. 2d 438 (D.C. Cir. 1989).
of Ferdinandea
, near Sicily, for a Libyan submarine and dropped depth charges on it.
scheduled a declaration from the Organization of African Unity about the incident, but systematically deferred the discussion year after year until formally putting it aside (along with several other issues which had been similarly rescheduled for years) in 2005.
and Spanish tenor José Carreras
was held in front of Gaddafi's bombed house in Tripoli. Diplomats, businessmen and politicians were among the audience of what Libya dubbed the "concert for peace". The BBC reported Lionel Richie as telling the audience, regarding Gaddafi's supposed adopted daughter, "Hanna will be honored tonight because of the fact that you've attached peace to her name."
revealed that Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi
had warned Gaddafi two days before the attack that an American raid was coming. Italy had refused American use of its airspace for the strike. Giulio Andreotti
, Italy's foreign minister at the time, and Margherita Boniver
, foreign affairs chief of Craxi's Socialist Party, both confirmed Shalgham's statement.
On August 4, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Libyan Claims Resolution Act, which had unanimously passed Congress on July 31. The Act provides for the restoration of Libya’s sovereign, diplomatic, and official immunities before U.S. courts if the Secretary of State certifies that the United States Government has received sufficient funds to resolve outstanding terrorism-related death and physical injury claims against Libya.
On August 14, 2008, the United States and Libya signed a comprehensive claims settlement agreement. Full diplomatic relations were restored between the two nations.
, Colonel Gaddafi criticized American foreign policy and, quizzed as to what the difference was between al-Qaeda attacks and the US bombing of Tripoli in 1986 he commented: "If al-Qaeda
leader Osama Bin Laden
has no state and is an outlaw, America is a state with international rules."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
and Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
air-strikes against Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
The 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
.
Origins
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) operatives to help set up terrorist camps.
After December 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks
Rome and Vienna airport attacks
The Rome and Vienna airport attacks were two major terrorist strikes carried out on December 27, 1985.- The attacks :At 08:15 GMT, four gunmen walked to the shared ticket counter for Israel's El Al Airlines and Trans World Airlines at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport outside Rome, Italy, fired...
, which killed 19 and wounded around 140, Gaddafi indicated that he would continue to support the Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
, the Red Brigades
Red Brigades
The Red Brigades was a Marxist-Leninist terrorist organisation, based in Italy, which was responsible for numerous violent incidents, assassinations, and robberies during the so-called "Years of Lead"...
, and the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
as long as the European governments supported anti-Gaddafi Libyans.
The Foreign Minister of Libya also called the massacres "heroic acts".
After years of occasional skirmishes with Libya over Libyan territorial claims to the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
, the United States contemplated a military attack to strike targets within the Libyan mainland. In March 1986, the United States, asserting the 12 nmi (22.2 km; 13.8 mi) limit to territorial waters according to international law, sent a carrier task force to the region. Libya responded with aggressive counter-maneuvers on March 24 that led to the Gulf of Sidra incident
Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)
In the Action in the Gulf of Sidra, the United States Navy deployed aircraft carrier groups in the disputed Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea. Libya claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32° 30' N, with an exclusive fishing zone. Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi asserted this...
.
On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed "La Belle" nightclub in West Berlin
1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
The 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
, killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there. West Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany who were involved in the attack.
More detailed information was retrieved years later when Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
archives were investigated by the reunited Germany. Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were identified and prosecuted by Germany in the 1990s.
After several days of diplomatic talks with European and Arab partners, President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
ordered a strike on Libya on April 14. Eighteen F-111F
General Dynamics F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" was a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also filled the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s by General Dynamics, it first entered service in 1967 with the...
strike aircraft of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing
48th Fighter Wing
The 48th Fighter Wing is part of the United States Air Force Third Air Force, assigned to HQ Air Command Europe, and is based at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48 FW is the only F-15 wing based in Europe...
, flying from RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...
supported by four EF-111A Raven
EF-111A Raven
The General Dynamics/Grumman EF-111A Raven was an electronic warfare aircraft designed to replace the B-66 Destroyer in the United States Air Force...
s of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing
20th Fighter Wing
The 20th Fighter Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Shaw Air Force Base South Carolina. The wing is assigned to Air Combat Command's Ninth Air Force.-Mission:...
, from RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford
RAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. The base was brought into use for flying in July 1918 by the Royal Flying Corps. During World War II it was used by many units of the RAF, mainly as a training...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in conjunction with fifteen A-6
A-6 Intruder
The Grumman A-6 Intruder was an American, twin jet-engine, mid-wing attack aircraft built by Grumman Aerospace. In service with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps between 1963 and 1997, the Intruder was designed as an all-weather medium attack aircraft to replace the piston-engined A-1 Skyraider...
, A-7
A-7 Corsair II
The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-based subsonic light attack aircraft introduced to replace the United States Navy's Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, initially entering service during the Vietnam War...
, F/A-18
F/A-18 Hornet
The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic, all-weather carrier-capable multirole fighter jet, designed to dogfight and attack ground targets . Designed by McDonnell Douglas and Northrop, the F/A-18 was derived from the latter's YF-17 in the 1970s for use by the United States Navy and...
attack aircraft and EA-6B Prowler Electronic Warfare Aircraft from the aircraft carriers USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga (CV-60)
USS Saratoga , was one of four Forrestal- class supercarriers built for the US Navy in the 1950s. Saratoga was the sixth US Navy ship, and the second aircraft carrier, to be named for the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War.Commissioned in 1956, she spent most of her career in...
, USS America
USS America (CV-66)
The USS America was one of four Kitty Hawk-class super carriers built for the United States Navy in the 1960s. Commissioned in 1965, she spent most of her career in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but did make three Pacific deployments serving in the Vietnam War. She also served in operations...
and USS Coral Sea
USS Coral Sea (CV-43)
USS Coral Sea , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of the Coral Sea. She earned the affectionate nickname "Ageless Warrior" through her long career...
on station in the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
, struck five targets at 02:00 on April 15, with the stated objective that their destruction would send a message and reduce Libya's ability to support and train terrorists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. Reagan warned that "if necessary, [they] shall do it again."
The actual attack mission against Libya, had been preceded in October 1985 by an exercise in which the 20th TFW stationed at Upper Heyford airbase in the UK, which was equipped with F-111Es, received a top secret order to on October 18 launch a simulated attack mission, with ten F-111s armed with eight 500 lb practice bombs, against a simulated airfield located in Newfoundland, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
south of CFB Goose Bay
CFB Goose Bay
Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , is a Canadian Forces Base located in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador....
. The mission was designated Operation Ghost Rider. The mission was basically a full rehearsal for a long range strike against Libya. The mission was completed successfully, with the exception of one aircraft that had all but one of its eight bombs hang up on one of its wing racks. The lessons learned were passed on to 48th TFW which was equipped with the newer "F" models of the F-111.
Elements of the then-secret 4450th Tactical Group
4450th Tactical Group
The 4450th Tactical Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and operationally located at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. It was inactivated on 5 October 1989.-History:...
(USAF) were put on standby to fly the strike mission against Libya. Over 30 F-117
F-117 Nighthawk
The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force . The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983...
s had already been delivered to Tactical Air Command (USAF) and were operating from secret bases in Nevada. Commanders in the North Africa/Mediterranean theaters knew nothing about the capabilities of the F-117, or that the aircraft even existed. Within an hour of the planned launch time for the F-117s, the Secretary of Defense scrubbed the stealth mission, fearing a compromise of the secret aircraft and its development program. The airstrike was carried out with conventional US Navy and US Air Force aircraft. The F-117 would remain completely unknown to the world for several months until it was unveiled in 1988 and featured prominently in media coverage of Operation Desert Storm
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
.
For the Libyan raid, the United States was denied overflight rights by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
as well as the use of European continental bases, forcing the Air Force portion of the operation to be flown around France, Spain and through the Straits of Gibraltar, adding 1,300 miles (2,100 km) each way and requiring multiple aerial refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
s. The French refusal alone added 2,800 km total, and was imposed despite the fact that France itself had been the target of terrorism directed by the Gaddafi government in Libya. French president Mitterrand refused its clearance because the United States denied getting to French army all details about the operation and he did not want to authorize any foreign operation that couldn't be analysed by French authorities.
The raid
The attack began at 0200 hours (Libyan time), and lasted about twelve minutes, with 60 tons of munitions dropped. Eighteen F-111 bombers supported by four EF-111 electronic countermeasures aircraft flying from the United Kingdom bombed Tripoli airfield, a frogman training center at a naval academy, and the Bab al-AziziaBab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia was a military barracks and compound, situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi rebels on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan...
barracks in Tripoli. During the bombing of the Bab al-Azizia barracks, an American F-111 was shot down by a Libyan SAM
Surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...
missile over the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
. Some bombs landed off-target, striking diplomatic and civilian sites in Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
, while the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
embassy was only narrowly missed. Some Libyan soldiers abandoned their positions in fright and confusion, and officers were slow to give orders. Libyan anti-aircraft fire did not begin until after the planes had passed over their targets. Twenty-four A-6 Intruders and F/A-18 Hornets launched from aircraft carriers bombed radar and antiaircraft sites in Benghazi
Benghazi
Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, the main city of the Cyrenaica region , and the former provisional capital of the National Transitional Council. The wider metropolitan area is also a district of Libya...
before bombing the Benina and Jamahiriya barracks. A number of bombs missed their targets and hit residential areas, along with a number of Western embassies in Benghazi.
U.S. forces and targets
| Target | Planned | Actual | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft | Bombing | Aircraft | Hit | Miss | ||
| Bab al-Azizia Bab al-Azizia Bab al-Azizia was a military barracks and compound, situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi rebels on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan... barracks |
9× F-111F | 36× GBU-10 GBU-10 Paveway II American Paveway-series laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 84 general-purpose bomb, but with laser seeker and wings for guidance. Introduced into service c. 1976. Used by USAF, US Navy, US Marine Corps, RAAF and various NATO air forces.... 2000 lb (907.2 kg) LGB |
3× bombed 1× missed 4× aborts 1× lost |
13 | 3 | |
| Murat Sidi Bilal camp | 3× F-111F | 12× GBU-10 2,000 lb LGB | all bombed | 12 | - | |
| Tripoli airfield (fmr. Wheelus Air Base Wheelus Air Base -See also:*List of airports in Libya-External links:*****... ) |
6× F-111F | 72× Mk 82 Mark 82 bomb The Mark 82 is an unguided, low-drag general-purpose bomb, part of the U.S. Mark 80 series. The explosive filling is tritonal.-Development and deployment:... 500 lb (226.8 kg) RDB |
5× bombed 1× abort |
60 | - | |
| Jamahiriyah (Benghazi) barracks | 7× A-6E | 84× Mk 82 500 lb RDB | 6× bombed 1× abort on deck |
70 | 2 | |
| Benina airfield | 8× A-6E | 72× Mk 20 500 lb CBU 24× Mk 82 500 lb RDB |
6× bombed 2× aborts |
60× Mk 20 12× Mk 82 |
- | |
| Air defense networks |
Tripoli | 6× A-7E | 8× Shrike AGM-45 Shrike AGM-45 Shrike is an American anti-radiation missile designed to home in on hostile antiaircraft radars. The Shrike was developed by the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake in 1963 by mating a seeker head to the rocket body of an AIM-7 Sparrow. It was phased out by U.S... 16× HARM AGM-88 HARM The AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as a replacement for the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM system... |
all aircraft fired | 8× Shrike 16× HARM |
|
| Benghazi | 6× F/A-18 | 4× Shrike 20× HARM |
all aircraft fired | 4× Shrike 20× HARM |
||
| Totals | 45 aircraft | 300 bombs 48 missiles |
35 bombed 1 missed 1 lost 8 aborts |
227 hits 5 misses 48 homing missiles |
||
Libyan air defenses
The Libyan air defense network was extensive, and included:- 4 Long range SA-5 Vega anti-aircraft missile units with 24 launchers.
- 86 SA-2S-75 DvinaThe S-75 Dvina is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude, command guided, surface-to-air missile system...
Volchov and SA-3S-125The Isayev S-125 Neva/Pechora Soviet surface-to-air missile system was designed to complement the S-25 and S-75. It has a shorter effective range and lower engagement altitude than either of its predecessors and also flies slower, but due to its two-stage design it is more effective against more...
Neva anti-aircraft missile units with 276 launchers.
Covering Tripoli alone were:
- 7 SA-2S-75 DvinaThe S-75 Dvina is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude, command guided, surface-to-air missile system...
Volchov anti-aircraft missile units with 6 missiles launchers per unit giving 42 launchers. - 12 SA-3S-125The Isayev S-125 Neva/Pechora Soviet surface-to-air missile system was designed to complement the S-25 and S-75. It has a shorter effective range and lower engagement altitude than either of its predecessors and also flies slower, but due to its two-stage design it is more effective against more...
Neva anti-aircraft missile units with 4 missiles launchers per unit giving 48 launchers. - 3 SA-6 Kub anti-aircraft missile units with 48 launchers.
- 1 SA-89K33 OsaThe 9K33 OSA is a highly mobile, low-altitude, short-range tactical surface-to-air missile system. "9K33" is its GRAU designation. Its NATO reporting name is SA-8 Gecko.-Description:...
Osa-AK anti-aircraft regiment with 16 launch vehicles. - 2 Crotale IICrotale missileThe Crotale EDIR is an all-weather short-range anti-air missile, which can be used to intercept low-flight anti-ship missiles and aircraft...
anti-aircraft units 60 launch pads
Cold War International History Project
Libyan
The attacks failed to kill Gaddafi. Forewarned by a telephone call, Libyan leader Muammar GaddafiMuammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
and his family rushed out of their residence in the Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia
Bab al-Azizia was a military barracks and compound, situated in the southern suburbs of Tripoli, the capital of Libya. It served as the main base for the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi until its capture by anti-Gaddafi rebels on 23 August 2011, during the Battle of Tripoli in the Libyan...
compound moments before the bombs dropped. It was long thought that the call came from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
's Prime Minister, Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici
Carmelo Bonnici was the Prime Minister of Malta from 1984 to 1987. He is a member of the Labour Party. He studied law at the University of Malta and is known to be an expert in industrial relations law.-Early politics:Mifsud Bonnici was from a family that staunchly supported the Partit...
. However, Italian politician Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
was the person who actually warned Gaddafi, according to Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
(the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy) and Abdel Rahman Shalgham
Abdel Rahman Shalgham
Abdel Rahman Shalgam is a Libyan politician. He was Foreign Minister of Libya from 2000 to 2009.From 1984 to 1995, before taking the office of Foreign Minister, Abdel Rahman Shalgham was Secretary of Libya's People's Bureau to Rome, Italy.From 1998 to 2000 he was appointed Secretary of Foreign...
(Libya's Foreign Minister from 2000 until 2009).
According to medical staff in the nearby hospital, two dozen people arrived in military uniform and two without uniform. Total Libyan casualties are estimated at 60, including casualties at the bombed airbases. Among the casualties was an infant girl, whose body was shown to American reporters and who was claimed to be Gaddafi's recently adopted daughter. However, there was skepticism that she even existed. Twenty-five years later, during the 2011 Battle of Tripoli, after Gaddafi's residence was seized by the rebel forces, it was proven that there was such a daughter, but that she survived and was now a medical doctor. .
In July 2008, Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam announced that an agreement was being negotiated with the United States whereby Libya would make any future compensation payments to American victims of terror attacks conditional upon the settlement of claims by victims of the U.S. bombing of Libya in 1986. On August 14, 2008 the resultant U.S.-Libya Comprehensive Claims Settlement Agreement was signed in Tripoli by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the American Department of State. The Assistant Secretary guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in various countries of North Africa and the Middle East and advises...
, David Welch
David Welch
Charles David Welch is an American diplomat who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs in the United States Department of State from 2005 through 2008...
, and by Libya's Secretary for American Affairs, Ahmad Fituri.
In October 2008 Libya paid US$1.5 billion, over three installments of US$300 million on October 9, 2008, US$600 million on October 30, 2008, and a final US$600 million October 31, 2008, into a fund which will be used to compensate relatives of the
- Lockerbie bombingPan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
victims an additional US$2 million each, after having paid them US$8 million earlier; - American victims of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing1986 Berlin discotheque bombingThe 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
; - American victims of the 1989 UTA Flight 772UTA Flight 772UTA Flight 772 of the French airline Union des Transports Aériens was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Paris CDG airport in France....
bombing; and, - Libyan victims of the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi.
To pay the settlement, Libya demanded US$1.5 billion from global oil companies operating in Libya's oil fields, under threat of "serious consequences" to their leases. Libya's settlement was at least partially funded by some companies, including some based in the U.S., that chose to cooperate with Libya's demand.
As a result, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed an executive order restoring the Libyan government's immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing all of the pending compensation cases in the United States.
American
Two U.S. Air Force captains — Fernando L. Ribas-DominicciFernando L. Ribas-Dominicci
Major Fernando Luis Ribas-Dominicci , was an F-111F pilot in the United States Air Force. He was killed in action during Operation El Dorado Canyon, the April 15, 1986 U.S. air raid on Libya.-Early years:...
and Paul F. Lorence
Paul F. Lorence
United States Air Force Captain Paul F. Lorence , a Weapon Systems Officer , was killed when his F-111F fighter-bomber, callsign Karma 52, was shot down in action off the coast of Libya, on April 15, 1986.-Biography:...
— were killed when their F-111 fighter-bomber
Fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fixed-wing aircraft with an intended primary role of light tactical bombing and also incorporating certain performance characteristics of a fighter aircraft. This term, although still used, has less significance since the introduction of rockets and guided missiles into aerial...
was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
.
According to newspaper reports at the time, the U.S. fighter-bomber lost in the incursion had crashed due to "pilot disorientation" or "systems failure". Initially the U.S. military refused to admit the fighter-bomber had been shot down with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger suggesting that it could have experienced radio trouble or been diverted to another airfield. On 25 December 1988, Gaddafi offered to release the body of Lorence to his family through Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. The body, returned in 1989, was identified as Ribas-Dominicci's from dental records. An autopsy conducted in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
confirmed that he had drowned after his plane was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra. Libya denies that it held Lorence's body. However, Lorence's brother said that he and his mother saw television footage of a Libyan holding a white helmet with the name "Lorence" stenciled on the back. Furthermore, William C. Chasey
William C. Chasey
William Carman “Bill” Chasey is the founder and President of the Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility in Warsaw, Poland. He is an educator, author, research scientist, inventor, and served as a senior campaign advisor to President Ronald Reagan.Chasey founded the Foundation for Corporate...
, who toured the Bab al-Azizia barracks, claimed to have seen two flight suits and helmets engraved with the names "Lorence" and "Ribas-Dominicci", as well as the wreckage of their F-111.
In 2001, Theodore D. Karantsalis, a reference librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
at Miami-Dade College, enlisted the aid of Congressman Wally Herger
Wally Herger
Walter William "Wally" Herger, Jr. , American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1987, representing the California's 2nd congressional district. The second district is physically large...
's office to petition Libya to return Lorence's remains on behalf of his family and friends. Karantsalis also created a website and invited visitors to sign a petition to Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Lincoln Diaz-Balart
Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart was the U.S. Representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and the Florida Senate...
seeking the return of Capt. Lorence's remains. On 27 January 2005, Karantsalis filed a federal lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) against the Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force
Department of the Air Force
The Department of the Air Force is one of the three Military Departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America...
seeking "to know where Captain Paul Lorence's remains are located." Karantsalis had hoped to locate the remains before the 20th anniversary of Lorence's death.
Gaddafi's response
Gaddafi announced that he had "won a spectacular military victory over the United States" and the country was officially renamed the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah". However, his speech appeared devoid of passion and even the "victory" celebrations appeared unusual. Criticism of Gaddafi by ordinary Libyan citizens became more bold, such as public defacing of Gaddafi posters.The raids against the government had brought it to its the weakest point in 17 years.
Libyan retaliation
Libya responded by firing two ScudScud
Scud is a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and exported widely to other countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name SS-1 Scud which was attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies...
missiles at a United States Coast Guard station
LORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa
LORAN-C transmitter Lampedusa is the X-Ray secondary station of the Mediterranean Sea LORAN-C Chain .It uses a transmission power of 325 kW....
on the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
island of Lampedusa
Lampedusa
Lampedusa is the largest island of the Italian Pelagie Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The comune of Lampedusa e Linosa is part of the Sicilian province of Agrigento which also includes the smaller islands of Linosa and Lampione. It is the southernmost part of Italy. Tunisia, which is about ...
which passed over the island and landed in the sea.
Later Libyan-connected terrorism
There was only limited change in Libyan-connected terrorism.The Libyan government was alleged to have ordered the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73
Pan Am Flight 73, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan, by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization...
in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
on September 5, 1986, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people. The allegation did not come to light until it was reported by The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
in March 2004—days after British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
paid the first official visit to Tripoli
Tripoli
Tripoli is the capital and largest city in Libya. It is also known as Western Tripoli , to distinguish it from Tripoli, Lebanon. It is affectionately called The Mermaid of the Mediterranean , describing its turquoise waters and its whitewashed buildings. Tripoli is a Greek name that means "Three...
by a Western leader in a generation.
In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya, claiming Libya sought to fuel violence in Australia and Oceania.
In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the MV Eksund, which was delivering 150 tons of Soviet arms from Libya to European terrorist groups.
In Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, two British hostages held by the Libyan-supported Abu Nidal Organization, Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, along with an American named Peter Kilburn, were shot dead in revenge. In addition, journalist John McCarthy
John McCarthy (journalist)
John Patrick McCarthy CBE is a British journalist, writer and broadcaster, and one of the hostages in the Lebanon hostage crisis...
was kidnapped, and tourist Paul Appleby was murdered in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Another British hostage named Alec Collett was also killed in retaliation for the bombing of Libya. Collett was shown being hanged in a video tape. His body was found in November 2009.
On December 21, 1988, came the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103
Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
, which exploded in mid-air and crashed on the town of Lockerbie
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a town in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. It lies approximately from Glasgow, and from the English border. It had a population of 4,009 at the 2001 census...
in Scotland after a bomb set by Libyan agents detonated, killing all 259 people aboard, and 11 people in Lockerbie. Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
was initially thought to have been responsible for the bombing in revenge for the downing of the Iranian Airbus
Iran Air Flight 655
Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War...
by the USS Vincennes
USS Vincennes (CG-49)
The fourth USS Vincennes is a U.S. Navy Ticonderoga class Aegis guided missile cruiser. On July 3, 1988, the ship shot down Iran Air Flight 655 over the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 civilian passengers on board, including 38 non-Iranians and 66 children.The ship was launched 14 April 1984 and...
, but in 1991 two Libyans were charged, one of whom was convicted of the crime
Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial
The Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial began on 3 May 2000, 11 years, 4 months and 13 days after the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988...
in a controversial judgement on January 31, 2001. The Libyan Government formally accepted responsibility for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing on May 29, 2002, and offered $2.7 billion to compensate the families of the 270 victims. However, the convicted Libyan, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was allegedly suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was released in August 2009 by the Scottish Executive on compassionate grounds. The extent and severity of al-Meghrahi's cancer have since come into serious doubt.
Libya
Gaddafi quashed an internal revolt, the organization of which he blamed on the United States, although Gaddafi appeared to have left the public sphere for a while in 1986 and 87.The Libyan Posts (General Posts and Telecommunications Company, GPTC) dedicated several postage stamps issues to the event, from 1986 until 2001. The first issue was released in 1986, July 13 (ref. Scott catalogue
Scott catalogue
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Co, a subsidiary of Amos Press, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the entire world which its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in six large volumes and is also produced in...
n.1311 – Michel catalogue n.1699). The last issue was released in 2001, April 15 (ref. Scott catalogue
Scott catalogue
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Co, a subsidiary of Amos Press, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the entire world which its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in six large volumes and is also produced in...
n.1653 – Michel catalogue n.2748–2763).
International response
The attack was condemned by many countries. By a vote of 79 in favor to 28 against with 33 abstentions, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 41/38 which "condemns the military attack perpetrated against the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 15 April 1986, which constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law."The Government of Libya
Politics of Libya
The politics of Libya are currently in a phase of transition.As a result of the collapse of the Gaddafi government in August 2011 due to the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libya is under de facto administration of the National Transitional Council...
said that the United States had fallen prey to the arrogance and madness of power and wanted to become the world's policeman. It charged that any party that did not agree to become an American vassal was an outlaw, a terrorist, and a devil. A meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement said that it condemned the "dastardly, blatant and unprovoked act of aggression". The League of Arab States expressed that it was outraged at the United States aggression and that it reinforced an element of anarchy in international relations. The Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union in its declaration said that the deliberate attempt to kill Libyans violated the principles of international law. The Government of Iran asserted that the attack constituted a policy of aggression, gunboat diplomacy, an act of war, and called for an extensive political and economic boycott of the United States. Others saw the United States motive as an attempt to eliminate Libya's revolution.
China stated that the US attack violated norms of international relations and had aggravated tension in the region. The Soviet Union said that there was a clear link between the attack and U.S. policy aimed at stirring up existing hotbeds of tension and creating new ones, and at destabilizing the international situation. West Germany stated that international disputes required diplomatic and not military solutions, and France also criticized the bombing. Italy, Spain, and France all denied the US use of their airspace en route to Libya. This forced the USAF's F-111s, stationed at RAF Lakenheath in Great Britain, to circumnavigate continental Europe and approach Libya via the Strait of Gibraltar.
Some observers held the opinion that Article 51 of the UN Charter set limitations on the use of force in exercising the legitimate right of self-defense in the absence of an act of aggression, and affirmed that there was no such act by Libya. It was charged that the United States did not bother to exhaust the Charter provisions for settling disputes under Article 33. Others asserted that Libya was innocent in the bombing of the West Berlin discothèque.
The U.S. received support from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and 25 other countries. Its doctrine of declaring a war on what it called "terrorist havens" was not repeated until 1998, when President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
ordered strikes on six terrorist camps in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's approval of the use of Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
bases led to substantial criticism, including an unprecedented story in The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
suggesting the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
was upset by an "uncaring" Prime Minister. Widespread criticism of the raid caused a temporary rift in UK-US relations and American tourists stayed away from Britain during the spring. Gaddafi himself responded by saying "Thatcher is a murderer...Thatcher is a prostitute. She sold herself to Reagan."
Although the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was ostensibly in cooperation with Libya, it had, by the time of the Libya bombing, made its increasing ambivalence toward Libya apparent in public communications. Gaddafi had a history of verbally attacking the policy agendas and ideology of the Soviet Union, and he often engaged in various international interventions and meddling that conflicted with Soviet goals in a variety of spheres. During a period where the Soviet Union was apparently attempting to lead a subtle diplomatic effort that could impact its global status, close association with the whims of Gaddafi became a liability.
In the entire crisis, the Soviet Union explicitly announced that it would not provide additional help to Libya beyond resupplying basic armaments and munitions. It made no attempt to militarily intimidate the United States, despite the ongoing American operations in the Gulf of Sidra and its previous knowledge that the United States might launch an attack. The Soviet Union did not completely ignore the event, issuing a denunciation of this 'wild' and 'barbaric' act by the United States.
After the raid, Moscow did cancel a planned visit to the United States by foreign affairs minister Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
. At the same time, it clearly signaled that it did not want this action to affect negotiations about the upcoming summer summit between the United States and the Soviet Union and its plans for new arms control agreements.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark
Ramsey Clark
William Ramsey Clark is an American lawyer, activist and former public official. He worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, which included service as United States Attorney General from 1967 to 1969, under President Lyndon B. Johnson...
, acting for Libyan citizens who had been killed or injured in the bombing raid by the U.S. using British air bases, brought suit under international law against the United States and the United Kingdom in U.S. federal court. The lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous. A subsequent appeal was denied, and monetary sanctions against Clark were allowed. Saltany v. Reagan, 886 F. 2d 438 (D.C. Cir. 1989).
Bombing of Ferdinandea
In 1986, US warplanes mistook the undersea shoalShoal
Shoal, shoals or shoaling may mean:* Shoal, a sandbank or reef creating shallow water, especially where it forms a hazard to shipping* Shoal draught , of a boat with shallow draught which can pass over some shoals: see Draft...
of Ferdinandea
Ferdinandea
Ferdinandea is a submerged volcanic island which forms part of the underwater volcano Empedocles, south of Sicily, and which is one of a number of submarine volcanoes known as the Campi Flegrei del Mar di Sicilia. Currently a seamount, eruptions have raised it above sea level several times...
, near Sicily, for a Libyan submarine and dropped depth charges on it.
United Nations response to anniversary
Every year, between at least 1994 and 2006, the United Nations General AssemblyUnited Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
scheduled a declaration from the Organization of African Unity about the incident, but systematically deferred the discussion year after year until formally putting it aside (along with several other issues which had been similarly rescheduled for years) in 2005.
First anniversary
On the first anniversary of the bombing, April 1987, European and North American left-wing activists gathered to commemorate the anniversary. After a days of social and cultural networking with local Libyans, including a tour of Gaddafi's bombed house, the group gathered with other Libyans for a commemoration event.20th anniversary
Early on April 15, 2006 – to mark the 20th anniversary of the bombing raid – a concert involving U.S. singer Lionel RichieLionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...
and Spanish tenor José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
was held in front of Gaddafi's bombed house in Tripoli. Diplomats, businessmen and politicians were among the audience of what Libya dubbed the "concert for peace". The BBC reported Lionel Richie as telling the audience, regarding Gaddafi's supposed adopted daughter, "Hanna will be honored tonight because of the fact that you've attached peace to her name."
Revelation of warning
In October 2008, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman ShalghamAbdel Rahman Shalgham
Abdel Rahman Shalgam is a Libyan politician. He was Foreign Minister of Libya from 2000 to 2009.From 1984 to 1995, before taking the office of Foreign Minister, Abdel Rahman Shalgham was Secretary of Libya's People's Bureau to Rome, Italy.From 1998 to 2000 he was appointed Secretary of Foreign...
revealed that Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto Craxi was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.-Political career:...
had warned Gaddafi two days before the attack that an American raid was coming. Italy had refused American use of its airspace for the strike. Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
, Italy's foreign minister at the time, and Margherita Boniver
Margherita Boniver
Margherita Boniver is an Italian politician.Until 1962 she lived abroad, in places such as Washington, D.C., Bucharest and London. In Italy she founded the Italian section of Amnesty International which she led from 1973 to 1980....
, foreign affairs chief of Craxi's Socialist Party, both confirmed Shalgham's statement.
Settlement
On May 28, 2008, the United States began negotiations with Libya on a comprehensive claims settlement agreement to resolve outstanding claims of American and Libyan nationals against each country in their respective courts.On August 4, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Libyan Claims Resolution Act, which had unanimously passed Congress on July 31. The Act provides for the restoration of Libya’s sovereign, diplomatic, and official immunities before U.S. courts if the Secretary of State certifies that the United States Government has received sufficient funds to resolve outstanding terrorism-related death and physical injury claims against Libya.
On August 14, 2008, the United States and Libya signed a comprehensive claims settlement agreement. Full diplomatic relations were restored between the two nations.
Recent events
In June 2009, during a visit to ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Colonel Gaddafi criticized American foreign policy and, quizzed as to what the difference was between al-Qaeda attacks and the US bombing of Tripoli in 1986 he commented: "If al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
leader Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
has no state and is an outlaw, America is a state with international rules."
See also
- Operation Odyssey DawnOperation Odyssey DawnOperation Odyssey Dawn was the U.S. code name for the US part of the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973. during the initial period of 19–31 March 2011, which continued afterwards under NATO command as Operation Unified Protector...
- 2011 bombing of Libya - Egypt–Libya Campaign
- Ouadi Doum air raid
- 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing1986 Berlin discotheque bombingThe 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing was a terrorist attack on the La Belle discothèque in West Berlin, Germany, an entertainment venue that was commonly frequented by United States soldiers...
- Crypto AGCrypto AGCrypto AG is a Swiss company specialising in communications and information security. With headquarters in steinhausen, the company is a long-established manufacturer of encryption machines and a wide variety of cipher devices...
- Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)In the first Gulf of Sidra incident, 19 August 1981, two Libyan Su-22 Fitter attack aircraft were shot down by two American F-14 Tomcats off of the Libyan coast.-Background:...
, U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
–LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n air engagement over territorial claim, two Libyan jets shot down - Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)In the Action in the Gulf of Sidra, the United States Navy deployed aircraft carrier groups in the disputed Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea. Libya claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32° 30' N, with an exclusive fishing zone. Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi asserted this...
Naval battle between Libyan and US forces before the April bombing campaign - Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)Gulf of Sidra incident (1989)The second Gulf of Sidra incident occurred on 4 January 1989 when two US F-14 Tomcats shot down two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger-Es that gave all appearances of attempting to engage them, as had happened seven years prior in the first Gulf of Sidra incident ....
, U.S.-Libyan air engagement over territorial claim, two Libyan jets shot down - Pan Am Flight 73Pan Am Flight 73Pan Am Flight 73, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 747-121, was hijacked on September 5, 1986, while on the ground at Karachi, Pakistan, by four armed men of the Abu Nidal Organization...
- Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103Pan Am Flight 103 was Pan American World Airways' third daily scheduled transatlantic flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport...
- Iran Air Flight 655Iran Air Flight 655Iran Air Flight 655 was a civilian jet airliner shot down by U.S. missiles on 3 July 1988, over the Strait of Hormuz, toward the end of the Iran–Iraq War...
- Operation Attain DocumentFreedom of NavigationFreedom of Navigation is a principle of customary International Law that, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law, ships flying the flag of any state shall not suffer interference from other states. This right is now also codified as article 87a of the 1982 United Nations...
related to operations by U.S. Naval Forces in 1986. - Second Battle of SirteSecond Battle of SirteThe Second Battle of Sirte was a naval engagement in which the escorting warships of a British convoy to Malta frustrated a much more powerful Regia Marina squadron. The British convoy was composed of four merchant ships escorted by four light cruisers, one anti-aircraft cruiser, and 17 destroyers...
, World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
naval battle between Regia MarinaRegia MarinaThe Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
and Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. - UTA Flight 772UTA Flight 772UTA Flight 772 of the French airline Union des Transports Aériens was a scheduled flight operating from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, via N'Djamena in Chad, to Paris CDG airport in France....
- List of military strikes against presumed terrorist targets
- Coalition intervention in Libya
External links
- Flashback: 1986 Bombing of Libya - slideshow by Life magazine
- Margaret Thatcher's statement on US bombing of Libya
- Operation El Dorado Canyon from Air Force Association magazine
- Excerpt from Victor Ostrovsky's The Other Side of Deception HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
1994 - The Libyan Strike: How The Americans Did It (Operation El Dorado Canyon) at Air Power Australia (c) July 1986