Downing Street Years - Margaret Thatcher [276]
On Saturday morning General Vernon Walters came to see me to explain American intentions in more detail. I began by saying how appalled I was that the gist of my exchanges with President Reagan was by now openly reported in the US press. This meant, of course, that the propaganda battle was even more important. I eagerly welcomed General Walters’s offer to show us in advance the statement from the President which would announce and explain the Libyan raid. He and I also discussed how much intelligence information could be used in public to justify the action. I was always more reluctant to reveal intelligence than were the Americans. But on this occasion it was obviously vital to do so if the general public were to be convinced of the truth of the allegations we were making against Gaddafi. In fact, although I do not believe that anyone’s life was endangered as a result of these revelations, it is certainly true that a fair amount of intelligence dried up. I also discussed with General Walters the President’s latest list of targets which I found reasonably reassuring. I suspect that the General knew precisely which targets the US would hit by the time he came to see me. If so, it was very wise of him not to say what they were. I hoped that he would be even more discreet in the rest of his trip to Paris, Rome, Bonn and Madrid where he was to explain the intelligence on which the US was acting and ask for European support.
Now that America was actually asking the Europeans for assistance which involved a political price they showed themselves in a less than glorious light. Chancellor Kohl apparently told the Americans that the US should not expect the wholehearted support of its European allies and said that everything would turn on whether the action succeeded. The French who just recently had indulged in at least private sabre rattling refused to allow the F1 — 11s to cross French airspace. The Spanish said that the American aircraft could fly over Spain, but only if it was done in a way which would not be noticed. Since this condition could not be met, they had to fly through the Straits of Gibraltar.
Speculation was now rife. We could not confirm or deny our exchanges with the Americans. The Labour and Liberal Parties insisted that we should rule out the use of American bases in the UK for the action which everyone now seemed to expect. It was important to ensure that senior members of the Cabinet backed my decision. At midday on Monday (14 April) I told the Cabinet’s Overseas and Defence Committee what had been happening in recent days. I said that it was clear that the US was justified in acting in self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Treaty. Finally, I stressed that we had to stand by the Americans as they had stood by us over the Falklands.
That afternoon it was confirmed by telephone from Washington that American aircraft would soon take off from their British bases. I received the news shortly before attending a long-standing engagement at the Economist: this was a reception to celebrate either the great Victorian constitutionalist Walter Bagehot or Norman St John Stevas, his contemporary editor, depending on your point of view. As I entered the Economist building off St James’s, Andrew Knight, the magazine’s editor, remarked with some concern how pale I looked. Since my complexion is never ruddy, I must have appeared like Banquo’s ghost. But I wondered how Andrew Knight would have looked if he knew about those American F1 — 11s heading secretly and circuitously towards Tripoli. Nevertheless I praised Bagehot, kissed Norman and returned to No. 10.
Late that night I received a message from President Reagan saying that the US aircraft would shortly strike at five named terrorist-associated targets in Libya. The