U.S., CITING LIBYAN FIRE,
REPORTS ATTACKING A MISSILE SITE
AND SETTING 2 SHIPS ABLAZE
IN DISPUTED AREA
Libya Says It Downed 3 Jets, but Washington Reports No Losses
WASHINGTON, March 24 - American and Libyan forces clashed today in and around the disputed waters off the Libyan coast.
Libya
The Reagan administration announced that the encounter began in the Gulf of Sidra when Libyan ground batteries fired six missiles at American planes. It said United States Navy aircraft had retaliated by attacking two Libyan patrol boats and a missile site on Libyan soil.
It said one Libyan vessel was set afire and was "dead in the water" and the other was "severely damaged."
Missile Site 'Out of Action'
The damage to the missile site, according to Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger, was still being assessed, but he said the installations was "out of action."
Pres Reagan
Mr. Weinburger said that Navy warplanes had used long-range air-to-surface missiles to strike the Libyan missile site and the two Libyan vessels.
Earlier, the Libyan state television and the official Libyan press agency reported that three American jets had been shot down.
A 30-Ship Task Force
The incident occurred as a 30-ship Navy task force, led by three aircraft carriers, was conducting the maneuvers in the Mediterranean off Libya...
HINDSIGHT DEPARTMENT
Aided with the advantage of hindsight, what happened in the last week in March? In the interview, we stated that things should come to a head on Tuesday (the 25th), Wednesday (the 26th), and Thursday (the 27th), during the last full week in March (1986). As it turned out, it was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that last week in March, when the US Navy started blowing Libyan ships out of the water.
Click here to see the New York Times for Wed, March 26th, 1986.
