The aerial victory over the Gulf of Sidra generated an avalanche of media attention and produced an outburst of national pride. Newspapers throughout the country carried photographs of the four aviators, and Americans from all walks of life cheered the outcome of the sixty-second dogfight. Countless fast food restaurants and car washes decorated their outdoor signs with messages that read “USA-2, Libya-o” or “Navy-2, Libya-o.” After years of frustration the United States had scored a resounding victory over an international rogue.106
Despite the public euphoria, the reaction of the Reagan administration to the shoot down was positive but restrained. The State Department issued the following statement: “The U.S. Government is protesting, through diplomatic channels, this unprovoked attack which occurred in international airspace approximately sixty nautical miles from the nearest land.” At a Pentagon press briefing Caspar Weinberger regretted “that the Libyans took this action and brought about these consequences.” He commended the skill and professionalism of the aircrews and emphasized that they followed the ROE governing this type of situation and were not required to seek higher approval for their actions.107 Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci sought to bring immediate closure to the incident. As he put it, “We filed our protests; our ships are moving out of the area; the exercise is over; and we consider the incident closed.”108
Following up its earlier statement the State Department sent a formal note of protest to the Libyan government. It stated that Libyan aircraft had carried out an “unprovoked attack against American naval aircraft operating in international airspace.” The Belgian government, which handled U.S. interests in Libya in the absence of diplomatic relations between Washington and Tripoli, informed the United States that the Libyan government refused to accept the note.109
On 20 August Reagan took time from his vacation at Rancho del Cielo, his ranch near Santa Barbara, to visit the aircraft carrier USS Constellation (CV-64) while it was stationed off the coast of California.110 Although the visit had been arranged long before the Gulf of Sidra incident, the timing was remarkable. Using the carrier’s public address system from the navigation bridge Reagan praised the crew of the Constellation, although his words could have applied to every American man and woman in uniform: “This ship represents a powerful force in an uncertain world, and we all sleep a little better at night knowing that you’re on duty. Everything we as Americans hold dear is safer because of what all of you are doing.”
During an impromptu press conference on the navigation bridge Reagan commented on the significance of the incident of the previous day. “Libya .. . created an artificial line, claiming waters that are actually international waters,” he said. “We decided it was time to recognize what are the international waters and behave accordingly. . . . We responded as we will respond . . . when any of our forces are attacked. They’re going to defend themselves.” Reagan then left the navigation bridge and went down to the flight deck to observe a demonstration of naval striking power. Sitting in an armchair under a bright sunny sky, he watched F-14s scream by at near supersonic speed and felt the concussions of live bombs dropped into the dark blue water by A-6E Intruders.
After lunch Reagan addressed the Constellation’s crew assembled in the hangar deck. He again praised them and sent a stern message to the enemies of freedom: “You all make me very proud to be able to say I’m the commander in chief of all of you. The demonstration of firepower and efficiency by the air wing was . . . impressive to the enemies of freedom in the world. And we had an example of that just night before last on the carrier Nimitz. . . . You are ensuring peace just by doing what you’re doing, because any potential enemy has to see the price of aggression is . . . more than he might want to pay, and that’s the greatest service that can be performed.”111 The crew burst out in cheers several times during his brief remarks.
Perhaps the most significant development following the air battle was the absence of second-guessing of the actions of the fighter crews by administration officials. If there were any doubts that the aircrews had acted properly, Reagan put those doubts to rest. He fully supported their split-second decision and reiterated his complete confidence in the talent and judgment of his armed forces. His “hands-off” approach to military operations attained its first success.
In his autobiography, An American Life, Reagan reflected on the message that the United States delivered to Qaddafi courtesy of the Sixth Fleet: “We weren’t going to let him claim squatters’ rights over a huge area of the Mediterranean in defiance of international law. I also wanted to send a message to others in the world that there was a new management team in the White House, and that the United States wasn’t going to hesitate any longer to act when its legitimate interests were at stake.”112
While Reagan Slept
Immediately after the shootdown a flash message was sent from the Nimitz to the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe located in London, then forwarded to the headquarters of the European Command in Stuttgart, West Germany, and finally sent to the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. It took less than six minutes for the message to travel from the Nimitz up the chain of command to the Pentagon command center. Lt. Gen. Philip J. Gast, USAF, director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was on duty in the command center, immediately notified Weinberger and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. David Jones, USAF. Weinberger called National Security Adviser Richard V. Allen, who a few minutes later notified Counselor to the President Edwin Meese III. Both Allen and Meese were with Reagan at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Weinberger’s call to Allen came in around 2300 Pacific Daylight Time. By that time Reagan had gone to bed. Meese decided to wait for a complete report on the incident from Weinberger before waking Reagan. Five hours later Meese and Allen had enough information. Shortly before 0430 the two aides woke Reagan and informed him of the incident. Reagan asked about the condition of the American aviators, he stated that he regretted the Libyan action, and he expressed his approval of the fleet’s response. Satisfied that the situation was in good hands he went back to sleep.113
In the wake of the sixty-second air battle with Libya some journalists tried to stir up controversy when they learned that Reagan’s staff had waited nearly five and a half hours before waking him and informing him of the dogfight. Reagan reacted to the “scandal” with his characteristic good humor: “There was no decision to be made or they would have . . . awakened me. . . . If our planes were shot down, yes, they’d wake me up right away; if the other fellow’s [planes] were shot down, why wake me up?”114 Besides, he quipped, “4:30 in the morning, California time, is as early as I want to be awakened.”115
Libyan and International Reaction
The Libyans reacted to the incident with disinformation and venomous rhetoric. The Jamahiriyya Arab News Agency reported that the LAAF had combated eight F-14s and shot down one. A few thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi to shout anti-American slogans, but they seemed to be chanting from rote and lacked conviction.116 At a rally in Aden Qaddafi charged that the United States threatened peace by “persisting in its provocations and terror.”117 A few days later in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Qaddafi accused the United States of “wanton provocation, an act of international terrorism, brigandage and brinksmanship.”118 He called on the Arab world to “declare a state of mobilization to face imperialist-Zionist and reactionary challenges,” and he boasted that his country was “ready to defend the Gulf of Sidra even if it means a third world war.”119 “We are ready to die for the Gulf of Sidra,” Qaddafi told a crowd celebrating the twelfth anniversary of the Libyan revolution. “We will make the Gulf of Sidra into a new Red Sea with our blood.”120
The PLO and a number of radical Arab states such as Syria, South Yemen, and Algeria denounced the United States and expressed support for Libya. PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat, whom Qaddafi condemned for being too moderate in the struggle against Israel, called the incident “the beginning of a new phase in the conspiracy against Libya and the Arab nation.”121 In an illusory showing of Arab unity, several moderate Arab governments such as Saudi Arabia and Tunisia and the