Office of the Historian

170. Memorandum From Donald Fortier of the National Security Council Staff to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (McFarlane)1

Washington, October 24, 1983

SUBJECT

  • Explaining Middle East Policy

I refrained from jumping on the bandwagon at this morning’s staff meeting on the subject of greater eloquence in explaining our purpose in being in Lebanon. I would make a slightly different point. We are now at a crucial juncture in our Middle East policy. An already shell-shocked public may soon see, in rapid succession, American involvement in an escalating Gulf war; dramatic retaliation for those involved in the bombing of our Marine headquarters in Beirut;2 continuing controversy over our role in Lebanon and other matters like the JLP; and, finally, the unveiling of a new relationship with Israel. As central as the Lebanon problem is we need to begin to show how it fits as part of an even bigger picture.

The President must therefore move quickly to show the American people that the events described above are related to one another in decisive ways and that we have a coherent regional strategy for dealing [Page 700] with them. It is better that the terms of the debate be clear, than that there be confusion about our purposes. The possible distraction of events in other theaters—and of new and confusing surprises in the Middle East itself—elevates the importance of providing the public with a framework with which to relate isolated events.

We might want to think as ambitiously as a speech before a joint session of Congress. That speech must show that we can essentially foresee what is coming and are taking steps in advance to deal with the trends that we foresee. Only within the context of an integrated strategy can harsh sacrifices be given greater meaning. Reducing a complex policy to its integrated essential requires sophistication and, as you know, is not as easy as it may sound. But it is now essential.

  1. Source: Reagan Library, Donald Fortier Files, Subject File, Middle East Policy Development 10/18/1983–11/04/1983. Secret. Sent for information. Printed from an uninitialed copy.↩
  2. On October 23, a truck filled with explosives blew up the Marine Battalion Landing Team headquarters at the Beirut Airport, killing 241 U.S. military personnel. Another explosion killed 56 people at the French military headquarters. Documentation on the attack is scheduled for publication in Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XVIII, Part 2, Lebanon, September 1982–March 1984, and Foreign Relations, 1981–1988, vol. XLVII, Part 1, Terrorism, January 1977–May 1985.↩