On April 15, 1986 a bombing raid on Libya was followed through by the Untied States in response to then recent terrorist attacks. There have been a lot of theories and point of views on why and how this event took place. Two interesting perceptions on this subject were expressed by the New York Times and a book about American imperialism called Rouge State by William Blum. These two descriptions on this incident differ from each other in many ways.
Under the code name Operation El Dorado Canyon, the Regan administration ordered a number an American aircrafts to drop bombs on specific targets in Libya intended to weaken their ability to support terrorist groups even without significant evidence that they were. This was the United States answer to a number of well documented terrorist attacks in Europe that the Regan administration claimed was encouraged by Libyan leadership. These bombing raids resulted in a lot casualties and extreme damage of property on the intended targets.
English: Author William Blum at an anti-war protes...
Regan VestThe United States also backed up these bombings with economic sanctions that haven't been lifted to over a decade after they were opposed on the country. These sanctions didn't end until recently when the Libyan government was forced to pay over millions of dollars to the families that lost relatives in the PamAm 103 flight bombing back in 1988. Libya was accused by the United States government of orchestrating the bombing of the jet.
The New York Times description of these events were very complex and in depth. They went through all aspects of what happen and how this came to be. They begin was stating the Regan administration claimed intentions of the raid saying that it impaired Libya's ability "to direct and control the export of international terrorism." They also go on to explain how...