Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ut-ngp.UTEXAS Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!whuxlm!harpo!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!ut-sally!ut-ngp!cgeiger From: cgeiger@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (charles s. geiger) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: Re. Reagan's response Message-ID: <1883@ut-ngp.UTEXAS> Date: Mon, 24-Jun-85 10:50:53 EDT Article-I.D.: ut-ngp.1883 Posted: Mon Jun 24 10:50:53 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 26-Jun-85 05:54:16 EDT References: <2828@decwrl.UUCP> Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas Lines: 28 > The distinction that has been made between today in Beirut and > yesterday in Iran is quite clear. There WAS a government policy > involved and an identified group of officials, persons and property > - an entire nation! - to address with 'force'. There is nothing > like that today in Beirut. This isn't the way I remember the Iranian situation at all, nor is it the way things are in Lebanon. First of all, during the Iranian incident, the government officially insisted at all times that the students who seized the embassy were in control, not they. The government said that they were acting only as mediators. Of course, this probably wasn't true, but, although anti-Americanism was official policy, taking the hostages wasn't. Second, I don't know if you are aware of this, but Berri is saying exactly the same thing now: that he doesn't have control of the hostages; instead, he is just acting as a mediator between whomever and the hijackers, and that he *persuaded* the hijackers to move the hostages as a precaution for the hostages' safety, him fearing that a rescue attempt would wind up with the hostages getting killed. Again, his claims may not be true, but it sounds almost *exactly* the same, especially considering that Berri is Minister of Justice in the official government and de facto head of another. Charles S. Geiger University of Texas