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University Daily Kansan
Confrontation with Libya
Friday, March 28, 1986
Clash may boost arms sales
United Press International
DALLAS - Arms manufacturers said yesterday that they expected sales to jump in world markets because of combat worthiness shown by the Navy in attacks on Libyan patrol boats and a missile base.
Navy Secretary John Lehman said it would help the financial interests of the arms manufacturers if the weapons performed well in battle. "There's no truer test for the equipment," he said.
When Argentina's planes destroyed a modern British ship with an Exocet missile during the Falklands War, sales of the French-made armament soared. When Israel knocked out an Iraqi nuclear plant using long-range F-18s carrying iron-tipped bombs, sales skyrocketed at General Dynamics, maker of the aircraft.
A hostile skirmish in which products match or exceed expectations is great advertising, said Jim Gilbert, who heads Dallas' LTVs division of the
A-7E Cosair, the Navy attack aircraft that led the carrier-based strike this week.
carrier based in the skirmish would aid sales of the aircraft abroad. "Our products did a beautiful job. It was certainly good press," he said.
Lehman, often a critic of government contract quality, praised each manufacturer at a conference of retired Navy officers yesterday. He termed performance of the missiles, aircraft and ships superlative and beyond expectations.
"When the reliability of a system is shown under war circumstances, it actually increases the credibility of our system," said Kathi McDonald, spokeswoman for McDonnell Douglas Astronautics of St. Louis, which produces the ship-destroving Harpoon, a type of cruise missile.
"From the standpoint of short-term orders the Libyan incident will probably have little effect. There's not enough time for the orders to come in. But the long-term view, yes indeed, we expect sales to increase significantly."
So too does Texas Instruments, the Dallas firm that produces some of the Harpoon's control components and makes the High-Speed Anti-Radar Missile, commonly known as HARM. The supersonic missiles, which home in on enemy radar, were used to knock out a shore-based missile launching site near the Libyan port of Sidra.
"We would, of course, love to see (HARM) become the weapon of choice among our NATO allies," said one source within the company who asked to remain anonymous. "This sort of performance is advertising you can't buy."
Legitimate sales of high-tech weapons often take years to consummate. Manufacturers in the United States must obtain permission from the State Department to sell abroad and then pursue a contract only after receiving formal expressions of interest from approved nations.
"The process takes anywhere from two to five years," said Gilbert.
Khadafy may not get Soviet backing
United Press International
MOSCOW — His confrontation with the United States has taught Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy that he cannot expect strong backing even from nominal friends such as the Soviet Union.
"They know he is out of his mind," one Western diplomat said.
Analysis
The Kremlin would not use those words, but it has taken a decidedly low-key response to the conflict this week between Libyan forces and the U.S. Sixth Fleet, which crossed Khadafy's line of death in the Gulf of Sidra.
ed aggression and aircraft carrier diplomacy, but there were no threats of reprisal against Washington and no promises of more aid to Tripoli.
The Soviets called the U.S. actions piracy, arm
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev denounced the United States and pledged solidarity with the Libyan people. He did not mention Khadafy.
"The Soviet Union is not going to get into a confrontation with Washington over Khadafy, not on something like this," the Western diplomat said.
The Soviet Union has been as cautious about the unpredictable Khadiya as have many other countries, East and West, Arab and non-Arab.
Three years ago the two countries announced an agreement to sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation, which never have appeared, and Khadafy bristled last fall when asked during a Moscow visit which side was blocking the agreement.
From the Kremlin's viewpoint, Khadafy is neither predictable nor unquestioning in his support of Soviet proposals. He backs Iran against pro-Moscow Iraq in the Persian Gulf War and has pro-crowned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
His support for terrorism is also a source of embarrassment to the Soviets. Moscow found out it also could be a victim when a Soviet diplomat was kidnapped and killed in Beirut last September.
Soviet publications reject the U.S. charges against Khadafy, but do not report Libyan praise of the freedom fighters who stage international terrorist attacks.
Despite the difficulties, Moscow will not cut ties to Khadafy. There are immediate benefits, including his value as a nuisance to the West and lavish arms purchases that pour dollars into Soviet coffers.
Broadcasts by Libya declare win in Gulf
The radio said Libyans had risen to the level of being a match for a superpower, the United States of America, which they fought and triumphed over.
United Press International
TRIPOLI, Libya — After the U.S. 6th Fleet withdrew from the Gulf of Sidra yesterday, Libya's state radio declared a victory over the United States in the clashes about Moammar Khadafy's self-declared line of death.
The radio, in a special broadcast marking the 16th anniversary of the expulsion of British forces, also said the Libyan people had scored a glittering victory over the imperialist invaders of the Gulf of Death, the Gulf of Sidra.
The television broadcast quoted the political editor of the state news agency, JANA, as saying the pro-Libyan stand against the U.S. aggression and provocations adopted by the whole world had
The declaration came hours after the United States announced it was ending 8th Fleet maneuvers through the disputed waters and air space off Libya. Those maneuvers led to the United States damaging two Libyan boats and knocking out a radar station.
In another broadcast, Libyan television said the decision to halt the maneuvers had been forced on the Pentagon by Libyan firmness and brave defiance.
About 1,500 Libyans, clad in military uniforms or swathed in white robes and chanting songs, gathered yesterday in Tripoli's Green Square to celebrate a national holiday remembering the expulsion of British forces from Libya.
played a decisive role in the cancellation.
The demonstration in the square, a huge plaza in the center of Tripoli painted green in honor of the Libyan revolution, was filled with singing revelers and bands.
Some protesters chanted anti-American slogans in a small demonstration in front of the Belgian Embassy. The embassy handles U.S. interests in Libya and has been downed down in 1890. That incident ended official U.S. presence in the country.
Libyans questioned in the street were friendly to an American reporter. They blamed the Reagan administration rather than the American people for the conflict in the gulf.
"If it was just our two peoples, the Libyan and the American people, we could work out this thing," said one young Libyan. "It is the Reagan administration I don't understand."
A Western diplomat, however, warned that despite the capital's festivity, skirms between the countries could escalate.
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