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This week Secretary of State William Rogers, at President Richard Nixon's request, will launch a diplomatic drive at the U.N. for some kind of international agreement providing that:
>Terrorists of any kind will be prosecuted or promptly extradited after capture.
> No government will harbor them or offer financial assistance.
>Any nation doing so will be subject to international boycott.
Washington has no illusion that such an agreement can be easily reached, and it is pressuring individual nations bilaterally. Many European countries, however, are hesitant about offending oil-producing Arab states, and African diplomats point out that one side's "terrorist" might be another's "freedom fighter."
The Arabs argued that there are varieties of terror—and as one example they cited the 36-hour Israeli invasion of Lebanon that ended last week. It was the third massive thrust so far this year into Lebanon, and the heaviest by far: the raiders killed 60 fedayeen, took 17 prisoners and blew up or bulldozed 112 houses and damaged 200 others that fedayeen were suspected of using. According to the Beirut government, they also killed 15 Lebanese soldiers and 200 civilians.
Hero's Story. The raids were in line with Israel's policy of carrying the war to the fedayeen, and were intended to clear out the guerrillas from southern Lebanon. But the raids may merely have made more enemies. TIME Correspondent Gavin Scott drove in a taxi from Beirut to the scene. Lebanese army checkpoints had been abandoned and Scott was able to keep going until he made contact with the retiring Israelis. He found villages along the Israeli route empty and burning. At Jouaya, where fedayeen resistance prompted a pitched fight and nine-hour occupation, the hills were still afire from napalm airstrikes. A tank column had literally run over at least half a dozen cars, Scott was told; one of them held a family of seven.
The Israelis lost three dead, six wounded and two tanks disabled. Back home, they made a hero of one commander, identified only as Lieutenant Shaul, 28. He and his eight men had become separated from the Israeli column and lost, without a working radio. Shaul bluffed his way through three armed roadblocks without firing a shot, "borrowed" a radio from a Lebanese officer, captured six Lebanese soldiers, whom he released at the border, and made it home with five fedayeen and one jeep. "Have you ever heard a war story like that?" marveled Defense Minister Moshe Dayan when informed of Shaul's exploits.
Lebanon declared an open-ended state of emergency in the wake of the raid. "Since 1948 we have been in a state of truce with Israel," declared former President Camille Chamoun. "Today we are in a state of war." Premier Saeb Salam, who had long avoided a showdown with the guerrillas, laid down a set of 14 demands to Fedayeen Leader Yasser Arafat. Their purpose was to hamper any guerrilla movements and prevent further Israeli revenge.