The Reagan Administration refused to rule out today the possibility that it may still retaliate for the bombing of its marine headquarters in Beirut last month in which 239 American marines and sailors were killed.
White House spokesman Larry Speakes repeated the 10-day old Administration policy not to comment on retaliation. But when he was asked specifically whether it can be ruled out, Speakes said, “No, I won’t say that.”
Speakes said that Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger’s comment today in which he accused the Syrians of being behind the attack “certainly reflects U.S. policy.”
Weinberger told a press conference here that the perpetrators of the bomb attack “were basically Iranians, with the sponsorship, knowledge and authority of the Syrian government.” He also said that he did not interpret past statements by President Reagan as indicating that the U.S. would stage a retaliatory strike against positions in Lebanon held by those alleged to be responsible for the bombings.
Reagan, in his October 26 nationally televised address to the nation on Grenada and Lebanon, promised the U.S. retaliatory strike once the identity of those who committed the bombing attack was determined. “Those who directed this atrocity must be dealt justice,” Reagan declared. “They will be.”
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