Lebanon Invasion: The High Cost of Friendship

Israel's attack poses new problems for the Reagan Administration

Once again, U.S. foreign policy was on the defensive. Israel's bold strike into Lebanon last week broadcast an embarrassing message to the world: Washington was either powerless to restrain its headstrong Middle East client or tacitly approved of the military operation. It was a no-win diplomatic situation that raised serious questions about U.S. policy and leadership at the very moment when President Ronald Reagan and Secretary of State Alexander Haig were on a European tour that was intended to burnish the Administration's image abroad. Even...

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