“I cannot rule out that Libya, in some way, is responsible for the ‘La Belle Disco’ bombing. But I must say that such hasty blame regarding Rome and Vienna, for which Libya had immediately been made responsible, did not prove to be correct.”

Christian Lochte — Head of the Hamburg Branch of the BfV (April 1986)

January 7 2022 — On January 7 1986, President Ronald Reagan announced economic sanctions against Libya and called on the European allies to join with the U.S. in isolating Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi. This story is a good reminder that playing dirty didn’t start yesterday.  Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

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“We used to look at them as kind of discrete events, not tied to each other, and seen in a vacuum. But from a distance, I think we can see more of a pattern.”

CIA Vincent Cannistraro

UPDATE (January 7 2022) — Sometimes you just want to stay in bed and watch the ceiling… Just take a look at this timeline. And think!

May 17 1985 — The Fuller memorandum — CIA officer Graham Fuller suggests that it would be wise to use Libya as a geopolitical punching bag (Nothing to fear and nothing to lose) while playing nice with the Iranian Ayatollah. “The study was instrumental in persuading some top-ranking Reagan Administration policy makers to begin considering covert contacts with Iranian leaders. It eventually led to the covert sale of United States weapons to Tehran in what became the Iran-contra affair.” [New York Time, 15 February 1988]

January 7 1986 — President Ronald Reagan announced economic sanctions against Libya. Despite major diplomatic efforts, all European countries refuse to join the US as they see no evidence of Libya’s involvement.

January 17 1986 — Reagan Approves Covert Arms Sales to Iran . Under the Presidential Finding — which CIA director William Casey and CIA General Counsel Stanley Sporkin helped Colonel Oliver North put together — the U.S. Army sold the TOW missiles to the CIA, who in turn passed them on to general Secord, who then delivered them to Iranian agents. Crazy enough? The Reagan administration then used the proceeds of the arms sale to fund terrorists in Central America. This is not Fake News. This is History.

April 14 1986 — Ronald Reagan ordered a series of bombings directed against Libya under “Operation El Dorado Canyon. No evidence. All European countries opposed the operation, except Lady Thatcher..

July 23 1986 — The campaign of disinformation about Libyan terrorism reaches new high… [New York Times — August 11 1986] The MST-13 Timer appears…

October 2 1986 — Bob Woodward (Washington Post) published an extraordinary story: “Gadhafi Target of Secret U.S. Deception Plan”.

November 3 1986 — The Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa exposed the Iran–Contra scandal. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo.

December 21 1988 — N739PA — the Boeing 747 aircraft operating the transatlantic leg of Pan Am Flight 103 — broke up in flight over Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew died as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie. PT/35(b) – a fragment of the MST-13 timer — is ‘evidence’ of Libyan terrorism.

END of UPDATE

“Your White House, specifically your national security adviser, constructed an operation whereby the free press in this country was going to be used to convey a false story to the world, namely that Qaddafi was planning new terrorist operations.”

New York Times (October 3 1986)

UPDATE (January 7 2021) — On December 21 2020 (15:30 GMT), Attorney General William Barr, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers, and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Michael Sherwin, announced new charges against a former Libyan intelligence operative.

The US DoJ believes that there is enough evidence to prosecute Abu Agela MASUD for his role in building the bomb that killed 270 individuals in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on Dec. 21, 1988.

Although this press conference received considerable coverage in the media, few have noticed that the AFFIDAVT also contains some information related to the bombing of the La Belle Discothèque on April 5 1986.

The text of the affidavit submitted by FBI agent Rachel F. Otto reads:

39. MASUD stated that he worked in the Technical Department of the ESO, which was a section that had several sub-sections. During MASUD’s time with the Technical Department, he handled Semtex explosives and built bombs on behalf of that department.

40. When asked whether he had participated in any operations in Libya or outside of Libya, MASUD initiated a response that he had participated in the “Lockerbie airplane bombing,” among others. MASUD then continued explaining his involvement in narrative form.

41. One of the other operations MASUD admitted to committing was the bombing of the La Belle Discotheque, which took place in Berlin, West Germany, shortly after midnight on April 5, 1986.5 MASUD explained that he was asked by a Libyan intelligence official to travel to East Berlin to meet with the security officer at the Libyan embassy. When MASUD met with this person at the embassy, he informed MASUD that MASUD was to build an explosive device to be used against an American target. MASUD prepared the explosive device from plastic explosive “dough,” as well as a detonating fuse and a timing device that were present at the embassy. MASUD then instructed the embassy official on how to set the timer. He did not know who had actually placed the device at the nightclub. MASUD said that the nightclub was chosen for attack because it was frequented by American military officers. (…)

According to Greg Miller [The intelligence coup of the century — Washington Post  (Feb. 11, 2020)], US President Ronald Reagan appears to have jeopardized the Crypto AG operation after Libya was implicated in the 1986 bombing of a West Berlin disco popular with American troops stationed in West Germany.

Like the CIA & the NSA, ‘Operation Rubicon’ [CRYPTO AG] provided German Intelligence Services with direct access to all Libyan communications.

And, in the aftermath of the 1986 La Belle Discotheque bombing, various German officials stated very clearly that there was NO evidence of Libya involvement in this attack.

Obviously, something is not quite right… So far, there appears to be no signs of interest in Germany for this amazing new development.

PS — As soon as I read the piece of Greg Miller on the MINERVA FILES in February 2020, I expected and predicted that new charges would follow regarding both Lockerbie and the La Belle Discotheque bombing. This was not a lucky guess as a new Lockerbie trial would demonstrate very clearly. And I have one piece of information for the conspiracy theorists and warmongers who blame Tehran for Lockerbie. In the late 80’s, Iran was still using the CRYPTO AG machines. And there is not a single communication pointing to an involvement of Tehran in that tragedy.

END of UPDATE

There is a wonderful book that you might read… And the title of it is from a quote from Winston Churchill: “In time of war, the truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

Secretary of State George P. Shultz (Oct. 3 1986)

Addressing a national television audience at his first White House news conference in nearly four months, President Ronald Reagan said there was irrefutable evidence of Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi’s involvement in the December 27, 1985 airport massacres in Rome and Vienna.

“…On December 27th terrorists, as we know, attacked Rome and Vietnam [Vienna] international airports. It was the latest in a series of atrocities which have shocked the conscience of the world. It’s clear that the responsibility for these latest attacks lies squarely with the terrorist known as Abu Nidal and his organization. The number of his victims increased by 19, among them 5 Americans, including Natasha Simpson, an 11-year-old girl. Many others from around the world were wounded. And we shall make every effort to bring Abu Nidal and other terrorists to justice.

But these murderers could not carry out their crimes without the sanctuary and support provided by regimes such as Colonel Qaddafi’s in Libya. Qaddafi’s longstanding involvement in terrorism is well documented, and there’s irrefutable evidence of his role in these attacks… (…)

Our differences are not with the people of Libya, but with Colonel Qaddafi and his regime. We’ve taken these steps after much reflection and in full awareness of the economic consequences which the United States stands to incur as a result. Civilized nations cannot continue to tolerate in the name of material gain and self-interest the murder of innocents. Qaddafi deserves to be treated as a pariah in the world community. We call on our friends in Western Europe and elsewhere to join with us in isolating him. Americans will not understand other nations moving into Libya to take commercial advantage of our departure. We will consult with all our key allies to pursue the goal of broader cooperation.

Italy’s Prime Minister Craxi, in whose country one of the recent attacks occurred, properly emphasized the necessity not only of coping with terrorists but identifying “those states that guarantee terrorist protection and the possibility to arm and organize themselves to carry out their bloody raids.” Qaddafi’s Libya is such a nation, and we call upon other nations to join us in denying it the normal economic and diplomatic privileges of the civilized world. If these steps do not end Qaddafi’s terrorism, I promise you that further steps will be taken.”

On October 2 1986, Bob Woodward (Washington Post) published an extraordinary story: “Gadhafi Target of Secret U.S. Deception Plan”.

Under orders from the White House, the US Intelligence Community was planting false information in the US media.

In the evening of October 3 1986, Secretary of State George P. Shultz spoke to reporters at a Press Briefing:

There is a wonderful book that you might read… And the title of it is from a quote from Winston Churchill: “In time of war, the truth is so precious, it must be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

On November 3 1986, the Lebanese magazine Ash-Shiraa exposed the Iran–Contra scandal. Senior administration officials secretly facilitated the sale of arms to Iran, which was the subject of an arms embargo. They hoped, thereby, to fund the Contras in Nicaragua while at the same time negotiating the release of several U.S. hostages.

Under the Boland Amendment, further funding of the Contras by the government had been prohibited by Congress. This affair is usually regarded as one of the most important scandals in US modern history.

President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya

REFERENCES

US Reagan News Conference, Sanctions Against Libya — AP Archive
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On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya(January 7 1986)

On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya(January 7 1986) [2020]

On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya (January 7 1986) [2021]

On This Day — President Ronald Reagan announces economic sanctions against Libya (January 7 1986) [UPDATE : Just a Timeline…]