(2 of 9)
Last week's turmoil also signaled that the Reagan Administration's resolve to pursue its counterterror crusade is strong enough to outweigh a number of other regional or bilateral concerns, including tranquil relations with Italy and Egypt and the immediate fate of the Middle East peace process. This was reflected in the Administration's decision to emphasize its hunt for the hitherto obscure Abbas, with all the risks and diplomatic disruptions that it entailed, rather than be content with its relatively uncomplicated coup in capturing the four Palestinians who were aboard the ship. That decision and its consequences were bound to give graphic emphasis to any mention of the terrorism issue that Reagan makes at his meeting in New York City this week with West European leaders and at his summit next month with Soviet Chief Mikhail Gorbachev. America's antiterror policy, a State Department official predicted last week, "will now become more muscular." This new, combative antiterrorist line has been inspired by a number of factors. The first was the success of the EgyptAir interception. Not since the 1983 Grenada invasion have Americans been able to salute such dramatic and effective use of their armed forces. Unlike the 1983 bombing of U.S. Marine headquarters in Beirut or last June's TWA jetliner hijacking in the same city, the seizure of the Achille Lauro offered the U.S. the opportunity to hit back cleanly.
Such a deft success has, perhaps inevitably, engendered a more assertive confidence about America's ability to wield its might against elusive thugs. Indeed, some analysts feared that it could increase the pressure on a President to opt for a similar bold stroke during some future incident, perhaps one in which the target was not quite so clear nor the operation quite so hazardless. This cockiness about U.S. capabilities was reflected in the boast made last week by an aide to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger: "We had the planes, we had the intelligence, and we had the guts."
Amid the huzzahs, a few cautionary voices were raised by those who thought the interception of the Egyptian plane was a reflexive action in which the desire for short-term gratification overwhelmed more prudent long-term considerations. One caveat came from Robert Hunter, a fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies, who warned of "residual distress" in Italy as a result of the tensions incurred during the EgyptAir interception. Another warning came from Cesare Merlini, president of Rome's Institute for International Affairs, who argued that the bold U.S. military action set the wrong kind of challenge in front of other would-be terrorists. Said Merlini: "How many young Palestinians are now burning to emulate those four yokels who captured the attention of the world and caused an earthquake in America's relations with Egypt and with Italy?"