World News Tonight (ABC) - 1983-10-24

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] Diana is talking about her cooking.

[0:01] That's it. We'll see you tonight.

[0:03] Morning. The nation mourns the loss of

[0:05] its fighting men, peacekeepers in

[0:07] Lebanon.

[0:08] It is another day of waiting. Families

[0:10] wait to be sure their loved ones are

[0:12] alive or dead.

[0:14] It's been a day of questions. What next

[0:16] for the United States in the Middle

[0:18] East? October 24th, 1983.

[0:21] From ABC, this is World News Tonight

[0:25] with Peter Jennings. Good evening. The

[0:28] Pentagon now says that 191 Marines or

[0:30] Navy personnel are known to have died in

[0:32] yesterday's attack on Marine

[0:33] headquarters in Beirut.

[0:35] 23 French soldiers died and 35 are still

[0:38] missing as the result of an identical

[0:40] attack.

[0:41] President Reagan says again the Marines

[0:43] will not leave Lebanon. Another

[0:45] organization claims responsibility for

[0:47] all the death and devastation.

[0:49] We begin in Beirut itself where as

[0:51] senior correspondent Richard Threlkeld

[0:53] has witnessed, it has been another day

[0:55] of digging.

[0:58] One new jagged scar in a city that is

[1:01] full of them. One new horror piled upon

[1:04] all the other Beirut atrocities. This

[1:06] time it wasn't the Lebanese who

[1:08] suffered. This time it was us, our guys.

[1:11] Yesterday's kids from Texas and Illinois

[1:14] and California. Marines and sailors

[1:16] who'd come over here to try to do some

[1:18] good because this wasn't training, this

[1:21] was it. They had just 26 days in a

[1:24] wake-up as they call it before they were

[1:26] going home. It was Sunday dawn, sack

[1:29] time.

[1:30] A big Mercedes dump truck crashed

[1:32] through a couple of gates and into the

[1:34] foyer of the barracks. The driver and

[1:36] everything else went up in the blast of

[1:38] a ton of high explosive.

[1:41] Lance Corporal Robert Calhoun of San

[1:43] Antonio was on the roof. We got up and

[1:46] since we stepped off, there was like

[1:48] you hear about a thousand people it

[1:50] seemed like screaming, "Help me. God

[1:51] help me." The Marine Corps is a small

[1:54] town. Everybody knows everybody. And

[1:56] today, as if their community had been

[1:58] ravaged by some natural calamity, the

[2:01] Marines were tearing the rubble apart

[2:03] hoping this friend or that one might

[2:05] still be alive. But this disaster was

[2:08] man-made, the work of some fanatic. The

[2:10] best guess, and it's only a guess, is

[2:12] that it was somebody from a leftist

[2:14] radical group. Major Bob Jordan who's

[2:17] been a Marine 30 years surveyed the

[2:19] rubble today wondering what a lot of

[2:21] Americans were wondering. How could it

[2:23] happen? He answered his own question. If

[2:26] the guy's willing to pay the price

[2:29] that kind of a mission,

[2:31] he's got a pretty good chance of

[2:32] success. Hindsight,

[2:35] yeah, there were things we can do, but

[2:36] with our mission,

[2:38] there's no way we can have a 100%

[2:40] guarantee. The Marines had a companion

[2:42] in sorrow today. French President

[2:44] François Mitterrand visited them after

[2:46] seeing the French contingent. Another

[2:49] truck bomb yesterday killed a number of

[2:51] French soldiers. Life went on today in

[2:53] the rest of Beirut as if nothing had

[2:55] happened down the road. Not that Beirut

[2:57] didn't care, just that it's become

[2:59] accustomed to tragedy. And the US

[3:02] Marines have become just one more

[3:03] faction here along with the Druze and

[3:06] the Christians and all the others. And

[3:08] the Marines cannot understand why. After

[3:11] all, they'd come here to help. You could

[3:13] see the confusion, the despair, the

[3:16] agony on their faces.

[3:19] Of course they'll stay until somebody

[3:21] tells them different. They've been the

[3:23] always faithful instrument of American

[3:25] foreign policy for 200 years and they've

[3:27] had more than their share of nasty jobs.

[3:30] What's so awful about this job is that

[3:33] as every Marine knows, what happened

[3:35] here yesterday could happen tomorrow.

[3:37] The Marines came here as peacekeepers.

[3:40] Instead, they've become victims. It was

[3:42] nothing personal. Tennyson would have

[3:44] understood it. Theirs not to reason why,

[3:47] theirs but to do and die. Richard

[3:50] Threlkeld, ABC News, Beirut.

[3:53] The first group of Marine replacements

[3:54] for those who did die in the bombing

[3:56] passed through the same airbase in

[3:57] Germany today where many of the wounded

[3:59] have been taken for treatment.

[4:01] The replacements had left Camp Lejeune,

[4:03] North Carolina early last night.

[4:05] 75 of those wounded were airlifted to US

[4:08] military hospitals in Western Europe.

[4:10] The majority are being treated at US

[4:11] military hospitals in West Germany.

[4:14] For families across the nation, it has

[4:16] been another long day of waiting. Many

[4:18] of them do not yet know whether their

[4:20] loved ones are alive or dead. Records

[4:22] were buried under all that rubble. Many

[4:24] men were asleep and some had removed

[4:26] their dog tags.

[4:28] The process of identification has been

[4:29] difficult. Steve Shepard reports on the

[4:31] many emotions being faced by the

[4:34] families tonight.

[4:36] 19-year-old Lance Corporal Guillermo San

[4:39] Pedro dreamed of being a Marine since he

[4:41] was 15 years old. This morning in

[4:43] Hialeah, Florida, Guillermo's Cuban-born

[4:45] parents learned he would not be coming

[4:47] home from Beirut.

[4:49] I always were I was so proud of him and

[4:54] I am very proud

[4:56] of him.

[4:57] Uh

[4:58] he died for his country.

[5:00] He always always wanted to be a Marine

[5:03] since he was 16 years old.

[5:06] At regional notification centers like

[5:08] this one in Chicago, Marine casualty

[5:10] officers spent this day breaking grim

[5:12] news to the families of dead or injured

[5:14] sailors and Marines. In Minneapolis,

[5:17] Mrs. Teresa Stewart had been looking

[5:19] forward to December. Her son, Marine

[5:21] Sergeant John Tishmack, was due back

[5:23] home for the holiday season.

[5:26] And I'll be home December 21st. We'll be

[5:30] coming in with the Iwo Jima ship

[5:32] December 7th.

[5:36] A day after your your birthday, Mother.

[5:39] He said, "Yeah."

[5:41] There won't be no Christmas.

[5:53] For other families, the news was better.

[5:56] In Randolph, Massachusetts, Mrs. Mary

[5:58] Wells learned that her son, Lance

[6:00] Corporal John LaRue, was injured but

[6:02] alive and recuperating in a hospital in

[6:04] Cyprus. While she was relieved, she was

[6:06] also angry. Once the Marines started

[6:09] getting fired on, their mission, as far

[6:11] as I'm concerned, wasn't what it was

[6:12] originally supposed to be.

[6:14] They should be out of there. There

[6:15] should be no more going over and the

[6:16] ones that are there should be out.

[6:18] That anger was felt by many families.

[6:21] Celina Foster has been waiting

[6:22] throughout the day in Chicago for any

[6:24] news of her son, Marine John Foster.

[6:26] Shown in these videotapes as he worked

[6:28] out last month in the building flattened

[6:30] by yesterday's explosion.

[6:33] And in first place, what are they doing

[6:35] there?

[6:36] Sitting ducks. I don't feel like they

[6:38] need to be there and if left to me, they

[6:40] wouldn't be there.

[6:42] Some few fortunate families learned that

[6:44] their relatives were alive because they

[6:46] saw them on TV reports or in newspaper

[6:48] photographs.

[6:50] That's him right there. This guy right

[6:52] here.

[6:54] Others thought they could identify a

[6:56] relative but could not be sure.

[6:58] He's right there. Stop right there.

[7:00] Right there. Right there.

[7:02] Mr. and Mrs. Jack Young were joined by

[7:04] other family members to review a news

[7:06] tape which may have included a shot of

[7:08] son, 22-year-old Jeffrey Young, a Marine

[7:10] Corporal. It sure looks like him. It

[7:13] really does. You know, I don't know if

[7:15] it's cuz I want it to, but it does.

[7:17] But for most families, this was a long

[7:19] day of waiting, of fearing that an

[7:21] officer would show up at the front door

[7:23] and tell them that a son or brother,

[7:25] father or husband was among the dead in

[7:27] Beirut. Steve Shepard, ABC News,

[7:30] Washington.

[7:32] Once again, the president has said the

[7:33] Marines will not be withdrawn from

[7:35] Lebanon. To remove them now, said Mr.

[7:36] Reagan, would undermine American

[7:38] credibility throughout the world.

[7:40] The president is under pressure from a

[7:42] nation which appears to be frustrated as

[7:44] well as angry and sad. Sam Donaldson is

[7:47] at the White House.

[7:49] President Reagan, aware of the political

[7:51] backlash he faces on Lebanon, raised the

[7:53] subject himself today at a White House

[7:55] luncheon for regional editors and

[7:56] broadcasters. And in making his case for

[7:59] keeping the Marines in place, he seemed

[8:01] to raise the stakes for US involvement

[8:03] there. Many Americans are wondering why

[8:05] we must keep our forces in Lebanon.

[8:08] Well, the reason they must stay there

[8:10] until the situation is under control is

[8:11] quite clear.

[8:13] We have vital interests in Lebanon.

[8:16] And our actions in Lebanon are in the

[8:18] cause of world peace. World peace, said

[8:21] the president. Not just a mission of

[8:22] maintaining stability in Lebanon while

[8:24] foreign forces withdraw, the original

[8:26] premise, but a mission of preventing the

[8:28] Soviet Union and Moscow's allies from

[8:30] taking over the entire Middle East. It

[8:33] would be a disaster if

[8:36] a force took over the Middle East and a

[8:39] force is ready to do that. The free

[8:41] world cannot stand by and see that

[8:44] happen. The president left open the

[8:46] possibility of increasing the size of

[8:48] the Marine force in Lebanon, but not of

[8:50] giving it a combat role. Enlarging their

[8:53] forces, if it would help with the

[8:55] mission they're performing,

[8:56] would be one thing.

[8:58] But

[9:00] to

[9:01] join in to the combat

[9:03] and become a part of part of the

[9:05] combating force, we would be fighting

[9:07] against uh

[9:08] Arab states.

[9:10] And that is not the road to peace. The

[9:13] president conferred today with the

[9:14] Pentagon Joint Chiefs and Marine

[9:16] Commandant P. X. Kelly left for Beirut

[9:18] to see to tighter security measures for

[9:19] his men. But the essential message of

[9:21] the day is this. The Marines will stay

[9:23] in Lebanon but continue their role of

[9:25] passive defense from fixed positions. In

[9:28] other words, the president is proposing

[9:29] the status quo against a rising tide of

[9:32] complaints that after yesterday, the

[9:34] status quo is unacceptable.

[9:36] Sam Donaldson, ABC News, the White

[9:38] House.

[9:40] This is Brit Hume. The men who lead the

[9:41] majorities on Capitol Hill moved today

[9:44] to support the president and calm the

[9:45] atmosphere. The main thing as I go to

[9:48] this house this afternoon is to make

[9:50] sure

[9:51] in my opinion that this doesn't turn

[9:52] into a partisan issue. For the time

[9:54] being, what I intend to do is keep my

[9:56] mouth shut and urge others to do the

[9:58] same. But it was no use.

[10:00] The administration has never defined the

[10:02] justifications for our being there.

[10:05] Peacekeeping force were not keeping the

[10:06] peace. We're Our boys are sitting ducks.

[10:09] If their presence is all that's

[10:11] required, and that's what the State

[10:12] Department tells us then let them put

[10:13] 1,600

[10:15] uh stripe pants diplomats, and let them

[10:18] sit out on the end of the runway. The

[10:20] United States uh Senate and Congress

[10:22] uh order repeal the 18-month

[10:26] blank check authorization that we gave

[10:28] to the President of the United States.

[10:29] Either we give our Marines an achievable

[10:32] mission for which they are trained, or

[10:35] we get them out.

[10:37] Lebanon,

[10:40] Reagan's Vietnam.

[10:42] But there were some besides Baker and

[10:43] O'Neill who spoke up for the Reagan

[10:45] policy. There should be no immediate uh

[10:48] withdrawal of forces

[10:50] uh by the United States, the French, or

[10:52] the Italians, because this would simply

[10:54] signal that terrorism does pay. The

[10:56] legitimate peacekeeping, peace seeking

[11:00] mission of our country remains the same.

[11:03] But Secretary of State Shultz ran into

[11:05] heavy weather during a closed afternoon

[11:07] briefing for House members. Several

[11:09] reportedly told him, "You're wrong, and

[11:11] your policies are wrong." Congress has

[11:13] authorized the Marines mission for 18

[11:15] months and probably won't undo that. But

[11:18] legislative authority is one thing,

[11:20] political support is something else.

[11:23] Brit Hume, ABC News, on Capitol Hill.

[11:26] The Secretary of State will fly to

[11:27] Europe before the end of the week for an

[11:29] emergency foreign ministers meeting with

[11:30] representatives from the other nations

[11:32] that have troops in the multinational

[11:33] force.

[11:35] And French President Mitterrand

[11:36] returning to France tonight after his

[11:38] day-long visit to Beirut, said French

[11:40] troops will remain on duty as

[11:42] peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.

[11:45] We'll be back and continue this report

[11:47] in just a moment.

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[12:55] On Wall Street today, stocks closed

[12:57] mixed. The Dow Industrials almost

[12:59] unchanged after having been down as much

[13:01] as 16 points this morning because of

[13:02] nervousness over the events in Beirut

[13:04] and last Friday's jump in the money

[13:06] supply.

[13:07] World News Tonight will continue.

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[14:10] President Reagan said again today that

[14:12] every effort will be made to find the

[14:13] criminals responsible for the bombing.

[14:15] This despicable act, he said, will not

[14:17] go unpunished.

[14:19] Well, we don't know with certainty who

[14:20] planned or carried out the attack.

[14:22] Yesterday, a group called the Free

[14:24] Islamic Revolution Movement said it was

[14:26] responsible. Today, another group, the

[14:28] Islamic Holy War, claims the credit. One

[14:31] point about the Middle East. Sometimes

[14:33] what people believe is more important

[14:35] than what they can prove. People act on

[14:37] their beliefs. Shortly after the attack

[14:39] on the Marines and the French, the

[14:41] finger-pointing began. Mike Lee in

[14:43] Beirut on the leading suspects. These

[14:46] Revolutionary Guards of Ayatollah

[14:48] Khomeini are widely believed to have

[14:49] trained and supplied an extremist

[14:51] Lebanese Shiite group known as Jihad.

[14:53] And Jihad is believed to have been

[14:54] responsible for the 1982 kidnapping of

[14:57] David Dodge, acting president of the

[14:58] American University of Beirut, along

[15:01] with the May '82 bombing of the French

[15:02] Embassy in Beirut. And Jihad is thought

[15:05] by many here to have been behind the

[15:06] April '83 bombing of the American

[15:08] Embassy in Beirut.

[15:10] Based on the available evidence, the

[15:12] group which claimed responsibility for

[15:13] the Beirut Airport bombing of US

[15:15] Marines, the Free Islamic Revolutionary

[15:17] Movement, appears to be part of the same

[15:19] Lebanese Shiite branch which is allied

[15:21] itself with those Iranian commandos

[15:23] based in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

[15:26] It does not appear likely that such an

[15:27] operation could have been staged from

[15:28] the Bekaa Valley unless the Syrians at

[15:30] least acquiesced, something the Syrian

[15:32] government has not been confirmed nor

[15:34] denied. As to the motive, Iran has

[15:37] threatened to retaliate against the

[15:38] French government for furnishing Super

[15:40] Etendard fighters and Exocet missiles to

[15:42] Iraq in the Gulf War.

[15:44] And Ayatollah Khomeini has threatened to

[15:46] strike out against the United States for

[15:48] America's pledge to keep the Strait of

[15:49] Hormuz open in the event that Iran tries

[15:52] to block oil shipping out of the Persian

[15:54] Gulf. Mike Lee, ABC News, Beirut.

[15:57] And we note that the Iranian government

[15:59] denies any involvement. Well, we know

[16:01] what happened when the truck was driven

[16:03] into Marine headquarters. Many people

[16:04] are still asking, however, how did the

[16:06] truck get there? The truck first

[16:08] traveled down the main road from the

[16:10] center of Beirut to the airport. The

[16:11] Lebanese army at the one checkpoint

[16:13] waved the truck through.

[16:15] Examinations at such checkpoints are

[16:17] often casual.

[16:19] Just before the main terminal, the

[16:20] driver turned left into the parking lot

[16:22] of the aviation safety building. That's

[16:25] where the Marine headquarters are.

[16:27] Suddenly picking up speed, the truck

[16:29] ripped through a barbed wire fence,

[16:30] raced around another checkpoint, a

[16:33] bunker where Marines are stationed.

[16:35] According to the Marines at this point,

[16:37] one guard shouted a warning that a truck

[16:39] was bearing down. Another Marine

[16:41] reportedly threw himself at the truck.

[16:44] The truck burst through the iron gate

[16:46] outside headquarters heading for the

[16:47] center entrance.

[16:49] According to the Marines, they began

[16:51] firing. But the driver, we are told, got

[16:53] through a protective row of sandbags,

[16:56] crashed through the Marine sentry box,

[16:58] and came to a halt

[17:00] in the main lobby of the headquarters

[17:01] building.

[17:02] The driver set off his explosives,

[17:04] taking his own life, and bringing the

[17:07] four-story structure folding down on

[17:09] itself.

[17:11] That's the outline of what did happen.

[17:12] The question is now, can it be prevented

[17:14] from happening again?

[17:16] John McWethy says officials at the

[17:17] Pentagon have spent the day reviewing

[17:19] the Marine security.

[17:22] This is the Marine battalion

[17:23] headquarters as it looked before the

[17:25] terrorist bomb blast yesterday. It was

[17:28] the center of the American area of

[17:29] responsibility around Beirut Airport, a

[17:32] piece of real estate that Pentagon

[17:33] sources say no military commander, given

[17:36] a choice, would ever choose to defend.

[17:38] It is low ground with mountains on one

[17:40] side, mountains bristling with hostile

[17:42] artillery. All around the airport are

[17:45] residential areas, refugee camps. Almost

[17:47] daily, shots ring out from these

[17:49] buildings, shots sometimes aimed at

[17:51] American Marines. The task now before

[17:54] Pentagon planners is how to reduce the

[17:56] vulnerability of this very vulnerable

[17:58] position. At least three approaches are

[18:00] being considered. First, tightening

[18:02] physical security around the perimeter

[18:04] of Marine positions, stronger

[18:06] containment fences and walls, more

[18:08] guards who would be more heavily armed.

[18:11] Second, changing the rules of

[18:12] engagement. This would mean allowing the

[18:14] Marines to more aggressively deal with

[18:17] threats. Instead of waiting to be fired

[18:19] upon, they would be able to shoot if it

[18:21] appeared they were in danger. It might

[18:23] also mean a quicker, more brutal

[18:25] response to attacks. And finally, reduce

[18:28] the force actually on land. Pentagon

[18:30] sources say there is a good chance that

[18:32] the new headquarters operation for the

[18:34] Marines will be moved to a ship off the

[18:36] coast, and that Marines who are off duty

[18:39] could be physically shuttled back to the

[18:41] ship to sleep and relax. Pentagon

[18:43] officials are quick to admit that even

[18:45] if they adopted all of these measures,

[18:47] it would still not provide absolute

[18:49] protection for American forces. They say

[18:51] the Marines will continue to do their

[18:53] job and be at risk as long as they stay

[18:56] in Lebanon.

[18:57] John McWethy, ABC News, The Pentagon.

[19:00] So how does the American public view the

[19:01] continuing US involvement in Lebanon? To

[19:04] get a sense of that feeling, ABC News

[19:05] talked to 505 men and women, 18 years or

[19:09] older. Sander Vanocur looks at the

[19:11] results of our latest ABC News survey.

[19:14] The bombings have not produced an

[19:16] immediate dramatic shift in public

[19:17] opinion. Nearly half of those polled say

[19:19] the Marines should be pulled out of

[19:21] Lebanon. That's up 8% since last

[19:23] September.

[19:24] The poll shows most Americans are unsure

[19:26] about what the Reagan administration is

[19:28] trying to accomplish. More than half,

[19:30] 52% of those polled, said the

[19:32] administration has no clear goals for

[19:34] the Marines stationed there.

[19:36] 60% believe what happens in Lebanon is

[19:38] not important enough for the US to

[19:40] become engaged in a war there.

[19:42] An overwhelming 62% of the women polled

[19:45] want the Marines withdrawn. Only 34% of

[19:48] the men felt that way. At the end of

[19:50] September, 57% said Reagan was handling

[19:53] the situation as well as any president

[19:55] could. But now less than half, 46%, feel

[19:58] that way. The poll reinforces what White

[20:01] House political strategists already

[20:02] know, that Lebanon could become a major

[20:04] political liability for the president.

[20:07] Sander Vanocur, ABC News, Washington.

[20:10] And we'll have the rest of the day's

[20:11] news in just a moment.

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[20:31] been with American 18 years, but he

[20:33] still comes back here twice a year. We

[20:35] taught Captain Roberts a lot, but some

[20:37] things we didn't have to teach him. Hi.

[20:40] We're American Airlines,

[20:43] doing what we do best.

[20:47] There are multivitamins

[20:50] and there are multivitamins.

[20:52] Vitamins that are flaky, bumpy, crispy,

[20:54] crunchy and taste oh so good. It's new

[20:57] Kellogg's Product 19.

[20:59] More vitamin nutrition than any other

[21:01] cereal, but you'd never know by tasting

[21:04] because Product 19 goodness comes from

[21:06] corn, oats, wheat and rice. Delicious.

[21:08] New Kellogg's Product 19 cereal. Flaky,

[21:11] bumpy, crispy, crunchy Mhm.

[21:15] Vitamin.

[21:17] GM today reported record third quarter

[21:19] profits thanks to strong sales of both

[21:21] the last of its 1983 models and the

[21:23] first of the '84s. World News Tonight

[21:25] will continue.

[21:27] My most embarrassing moment with my

[21:29] dentures? Last year's family reunion.

[21:32] They were taking pictures and when I

[21:33] said, "Cheese." my dentures nearly fell

[21:36] out. They even got it on film.

[21:39] Then Aunt Ruth told me about Super

[21:40] Poligrip. Super Poligrip gives a real

[21:43] firm hold and helps keep food from

[21:45] getting under your dentures and

[21:47] irritating your gums. Now I always use

[21:49] Super Poligrip. Super Poligrip helps

[21:52] keep food out, dentures in. I don't want

[21:55] to be camera shy.

[22:03] A colorful breakthrough. Canon's 270F.

[22:06] It lets you make up to 27 copies a

[22:09] minute, reduces, enlarges, can even feed

[22:12] and collate automatically. But the 270F

[22:14] does more. It lets you communicate in

[22:17] color at a price that keeps you in the

[22:19] black. The Canon NP-270F.

[22:23] For information, call toll-free.

[22:28] Anti-nuclear protests continued in

[22:30] various parts of this country today. The

[22:32] message, like similar demonstrations in

[22:33] Europe, no new American missiles should

[22:36] be deployed.

[22:37] Today the Soviet Defense Ministry

[22:39] announced plans to deploy new Soviet

[22:40] missiles in East Germany and

[22:41] Czechoslovakia. If the NATO deployment

[22:44] proceeds, Barry Dunsmore is at the State

[22:46] Department.

[22:48] The Soviet Defense Ministry announcement

[22:50] comes as no surprise as Moscow has been

[22:52] making vague threats of this nature for

[22:54] months. According to today's statement,

[22:56] because of the planned deployment of

[22:58] American medium-range missiles in

[23:00] Europe, the Soviet Union and its allies

[23:02] were {quote} compelled to adopt

[23:04] additional measures to ensure their own

[23:06] security.

[23:07] Thus new tactical missiles will be

[23:09] deployed in East Germany and

[23:11] Czechoslovakia.

[23:12] American analysts say the missiles the

[23:14] Soviets are talking about are not the

[23:15] SS-20s, which can already hit every

[23:18] target in Europe, but short-range newer

[23:20] model missiles. According to American

[23:22] intelligence, the Soviets currently have

[23:25] more than 500 older model Frog and Scud

[23:27] missiles in Eastern Europe, which have

[23:29] been there since the mid-'60s. In fact,

[23:31] they've already started to replace them.

[23:34] American analysts do not consider these

[23:35] new Soviet missiles significant

[23:37] militarily. They see them as a political

[23:40] statement, which they hope will

[23:41] backfire. It's reasoned that usually the

[23:44] Soviets deploy their weapons secretly,

[23:46] but by making a public threat, Moscow

[23:48] may remind many European protesters that

[23:51] the arms race is two-way.

[23:53] Barry Dunsmore, ABC News, the State

[23:55] Department.

[23:56] Lawyers for the former carmaker John

[23:58] DeLorean went to court in Los Angeles

[23:59] today asking that the drug trafficking

[24:01] charges against him be dismissed. The

[24:03] lawyers cite videotapes, which appeared

[24:05] on television last night. The tape

[24:07] showed DeLorean allegedly discussing the

[24:09] drug deal with undercover agents, then

[24:11] being arrested by them. Defense lawyers

[24:13] say broadcasting the tapes has made it

[24:15] impossible for DeLorean to get a fair

[24:17] trial.

[24:19] NBC television anchorwoman Jessica

[24:20] Savitch died this morning in a car

[24:22] accident northeast of Philadelphia.

[24:24] Ms. Savitch and her companion were

[24:26] killed when their car went off a road

[24:28] near New Hope, Pennsylvania

[24:30] landing upside down in a canal.

[24:40] Detailed studies of the human body,

[24:43] biomedical research, computer-aided

[24:46] design, two years and countless clay

[24:48] models, trying different shapes, new

[24:51] materials, doing it over

[24:54] again and again, all to design a more

[24:57] comfortable, durable seat for General

[24:59] Motors cars and trucks. Leonardo would

[25:03] have loved it. Nobody sweats the details

[25:06] like GM.

[25:07] The next time you make a long distance

[25:09] call, think about this.

[25:29] Only one long distance company gives you

[25:31] the whole world. AT&T.

[25:34] We're what you call long distance.

[25:38] Tonight on Nightline, the attack on the

[25:39] US Marine barracks in Beirut. We'll have

[25:41] reports from the scene and we'll look at

[25:43] options for US policy in the aftermath

[25:45] of the incident.

[25:49] Whirlpool is about to show you something

[25:51] in appliance quality you may never have

[25:52] seen before.

[25:54] A refrigerator that monitors itself to

[25:56] help you protect your food.

[25:58] A microwave oven that uses a built-in

[26:00] computer to simplify your cooking.

[26:02] A dishwasher you can program to start

[26:04] hours later.

[26:05] A laundry pair with electronic controls

[26:07] for today's fabrics.

[26:09] The benefits of solid-state technology

[26:11] plus the Whirlpool promise to stand

[26:13] behind them, all to make your world a

[26:16] little easier.

[26:18] A lot of financial choices promise

[26:20] future growth, but only one is

[26:21] full-grown from the start, life

[26:23] insurance. That's why I bought life

[26:24] insurance first as the foundation of my

[26:26] financial security. With my first

[26:28] payment, I have an instant estate that

[26:30] guarantees the full amount of the policy

[26:32] for my family. No other financial choice

[26:34] provides this protection.

[26:36] Should anything happen to me.

[26:40] America's life and health insurance

[26:42] companies, a growing commitment to

[26:44] America's life and health.

[26:49] Another Beirut tragedy once again, even

[26:51] though the death toll of Marines and

[26:53] Navy personnel is approaching 200, so

[26:56] far the Pentagon has only released these

[26:58] names.

[27:20] Pensacola, Florida today.

[27:25] It is one which will become even more

[27:27] familiar in the days ahead.

[27:29] Marine Captain Michael O'Leary was

[27:30] killed by snipers in Beirut a week ago.

[27:33] Today in Pensacola, he was buried by

[27:35] friends and family.

[27:37] He had only recently sent a message to

[27:38] his family. "Pray for the people of

[27:40] Lebanon." he told his daughter. "Pray

[27:42] they get some peace."

[27:47] And one final note, regardless of who

[27:49] planned the attack on the Marines, it

[27:50] could happen again. The United States is

[27:52] such a powerful presence in the Middle

[27:54] East that enemies are inevitable. Some

[27:56] people there want the US out, others

[27:58] would prefer we be more deeply and

[28:00] bloodily enmeshed.

[28:01] One thing about Lebanon and especially

[28:03] about Beirut, it is a rabbit warren of

[28:05] political and religious passion. US

[28:07] firepower can't change that.

[28:10] The USS New Jersey may be an

[28:11] intimidating presence to some, but to

[28:13] others it's an inviting target.

[28:15] There is something to learn from the

[28:16] Israeli experience. In August of last

[28:19] year, during one bloody Sunday in

[28:20] Beirut, the Israelis committed their air

[28:23] force, their tanks, their sophisticated

[28:25] guns and their foot soldiers to battle

[28:27] against the Palestinians.

[28:29] As reporters, we watched the battle for

[28:31] 12 hours.

[28:32] When it was over, the Israelis had

[28:34] advanced less than 50 yards.

[28:36] It is that hard to make a difference in

[28:38] Lebanon.

[28:40] That's our report on World News tonight.

[28:41] For all of us at ABC News, I'm Peter

[28:43] Jennings. Good night.

[28:47] This is ABC.

[28:51] World News