Prime-Time Terrorism

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The U.S. has no lack of firepower available should it choose to launch a retaliatory raid. The aircraft carrier Nimitz, with at least 60 fighter- bombers and an amphibious landing force of 1,500 Marines, sits just off the Lebanese coast. A Delta Force unit reportedly stands ready on Cyprus, 100 miles from Beirut. The 100-plus Delta operatives are highly trained, but they have been used only twice against terrorists -- both times unsuccessfully. The 1980 Iranian hostage-rescue attempt was aborted in the desert when two helicopters broke down; during the invasion of Grenada the Delta commandos failed to reach the Richmond Hill prison, where they were supposed to rescue political prisoners, and reportedly sustained casualties (the number and details remain classified). Though intended primarily to rescue hostages from terrorists, the Delta Force could presumably be used in a retaliatory attack, ferreting out and killing terrorists in their lairs.

"As far as I'm concerned, if you can identify the people responsible, then you should act against them," Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger told TIME last week. But he hastened to add, "I don't know if anybody has a clue who is responsible. That's probably your greatest problem in terms of fashioning a response." In the murky world of Middle Eastern terrorism, sorting out who is who and who is to blame is a difficult task. U.S. intelligence is notoriously poor in the region. The CIA has been unable to penetrate successfully the clannish and secretive extremist sects. Furthermore, if Berri does manage to deliver the American hostages, the U.S. might find it hard to turn around and kill Lebanese Shi'ites.

If the U.S. cannot decide whom to hit, then it might consider what. Beirut airport is a hijacker haven, offering provisions, protection, reinforcements and television cameras. Yet bombing the airport would be a clumsy blow, an act of war against Lebanon that asks killing innocents. An air strike on Kharg Island, Iran's oil port in the Persian Gulf, is tempting to some hawks, but it would only martyr Khomeini and further inflame his followers.

It is widely believed that both Iran and Syria support and condone terrorism. Weinberger, for instance, claims that the U.S. has discovered strong links between Hizballah and the Khomeini regime. "Can anyone seriously doubt that Syria's Assad has the means or the methods to shut down operations like the TWA hijacking?" asked the Wall Street Journal. "We should give him the incentive to do so" -- by bombing Syrian military targets. Nonetheless, the degree of control exercised by Iran and Syria is a matter of dispute in intelligence circles. Some experts feel that both countries have lately sought to restrain Shi'ite fanatics. This impression is reinforced by Assad's apparent cooperation last week and Iran's refusal to support the TWA hijackers, much less allow them to land in Tehran.