European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 columns the stars and stripes wednesday april 23,1986 James Reston right or Nof american people Are never wrong there s a popular notion almost a Rule in Washington that you can criticize anybody or anything except the american people. They would know what to do in any situation on Earth or even in outer space. George Gallup and Lou Harris who measured Public opinion have convinced most politicians that what is popular is right or anyway gets votes. Thus speaker o Neill in the Capitol and president Reagan downtown in the White House May be questioned. But the voice of the people it s said cannot be challenged without casting doubt on the democratic principle that the people know Best. Consider the recent events in Libya. At no time in recent memory has the United states been condemned by informed Opin Ion across the world As it has been for the bombing raid on Libya. Yet Public opinion at Home has encouraged the president to pronounce the raid a great Success in the american fight against International terrorism. For example after the raid the new York times lbs news poll indicated that 77 percent of the american people approved the strike and the same poll registered increased support for Reagan s handling of the nation s foreign policy in general from 51 percent to 71 per cent. At the same time another poll while supporting the president s decision indicated that the perception was that the raid would probably not reduce the terror but increase it. This contradiction however was no sur prise. Whenever the president takes bold military action abroad the people rally to his Side. Even president Kennedy s adventure against Castro in the Bay of pigs was pop ular at the beginning when he thought he could do it on the cheap but disastrous at the end. And the people supported president Johnson in Vietnam when he said he was t going to be the first . President to lose a War. But he lost it and the people finally ran him out of town. This is now Reagan s problem. He is supported by Public opinion but not by informed opinion either at Home or abroad and has to Deal with the consequences. Nobody doubts his objective to terrorize the terrorists but will it work he consulted the allies in Advance but the Mediterranean allies disagreed and refused to let his planes Fly Over their air space. He did t really consult with the Lead ers of the Congress about the Wisdom of the raid but merely informed them that the bombers were on their Way. He said this was an act of self defense justified by article 51 of the United nations charter but with the exception of Britain nobody agreed that his bombers were a proportionate response by a major nation to this posturing sawdust dictator in Tripoli. Did the president for instance consider the possible loss of life of his own pilots and Bombardier in their Long journey from Britain refuelling their planes around France Spain and Portugal into the Mediterranean or the loss of life after they hit their target or maybe More important even if they hit the target and killed Moa mar Kheda by what would Reagan do if Libya invited the russians to establish a naval base at Tripoli which is precisely what the joint chiefs of staff in the Pentagon have been trying to avoid for a generation so the russians Are delighted by this Reagan adventure. It has diverted world opinion from mos cow s military aggression to Washington s. They have cancelled their foreign min ister s meeting with Secretary of state George Shultz about another Reagan Gorbachev Summit meeting but that should not be taken seriously for they will not confuse khad Afy with arms control but will eventually set up another Summit meeting to discuss the Central question of nuclear arms control. Meanwhile the president glorying in his bombing Success and the support of the american people will have to try to work things out with the Congress and the allies and wonder if Public opinion As measured by the polls is a reliable guide. We must adopt the habit of thinking As plainly about the Sovereign people Walter Lippmann wrote 50 years ago As we do about the politicians they elect. It will not do to think poorly about the politicians and to talk with bated breath about the voters. No More than Kings be fore them should the people be hedged with divinity. Like All princes and rulers like All sovereigns they Are ill served by flattery and  c the new York times Andrew j. Glass fatal Accident to khad Afy would t be unwelcome whatever its Success in building american morale the . Air raid on Libya failed to get rid of libyan Leader Moa mar khad Afy. Ronald Reagan has no qualms Over see ing khad Afy dead. The president regards him rightly As a murderous dictator. Since seizing Power in a military coup khad Afy has sponsored worldwide terrorist hit squads while bankrolling others. He has also caused or prolonged a dozen wars in Africa. Khad Afy bears direct responsibility for thousands of deaths. Yet like Many tyrants who flaunt their contempt of the International order khad Afy at the same time seeks to wrest maximum leverage from the Laws which govern civilized nations. Two years ago khad Afy killers murdered a British policewoman in the heart of London in Broad Daylight before hundreds of people. Khad Afy brazenly invoked the Vienna convention. The gunmen were Able to leave without a probe in the Guise of diplomats. Still the notion of eliminating a head of state even a barbarous rogue such As Kha Day should t be undertaken lightly. If you strike at the King then kill him. In knowing How badly Reagan wants him dead khad Afy becomes a More sin ister menace to the Western world and to Reagan in particular. One unintended consequence of the watergate scandal was to unearth the Circum stances in which John Kennedy authorized the assassination of Cuba s Fidel Castro by Cia agents and their allies in the mob. It has t been shown that Castro presumably aware of Kennedy s plans paid him Back in bullets in Dallas in a Man Ner which would make it exceedingly difficult if not altogether impossible to Trace his murder Back to Havana. Still some respected High officials in Washington privately hold that View. Now that khad Afy to Reagan s Chagrin has survived the air raid Washington Hopes that his own military will get rid of him and end the crisis. This proposition however has always been a Dicey one. Like palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat khad Afy rarely sleeps in the same be twice. That accounts for his absence from his Home during the raid when members of his family suffered injury and death. Last september when khad Afy celebrated the 16th anniversary of the libyan revolution his entourage for the first time included East germans. They had trained khad Afy s personal Security service which accounts for the Avi Ary of unsavoury Buzzards who Roost at the libyan people s Bureau in East Berlin. Before the raid the Cia believed that disaffected forces in the libyan military were striving to unseat khad Afy and his entourage of zealous revolutionary committees so reminiscent of chairman Mao s red guards. But trying to get rid of khad Afy can prove dangerous to one s health. Take for example col. Hassan Mishkal a onetime popular professional Soldier who until last year served As the no. 3 Man in the libyan regime. As Mishkal s Power grew he acquired a Seaside Villa a big apartment and invest ments in Egypt which were supervised by the family of his second wife an egyptian. None of this sat Well with khad Afy. When the libyan Leader visited Moscow last october he took Mishkal along so that he could keep an Eye on him. Apparently Mishkal s Fate was sealed during that trip when khad Afy was shown a purloined Cia report that described Mishkal As a  a month later khad Afy called Mishkal from his dinner table for a crisis session. He died in route to the meeting in an automobile crash. Reagan would t mind if a similar Accident befell khad Afy. He has already survived at least seven assassination at tempts plus the . Bombing. Sooner or later however the Law of averages catches up with tyrants c Cox news service the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states govern ment