I believe that you should not respond directly to Tunisian threats to
alter its friendly relations with the United States because of the
situation in Lebanon. Your letter acknowledges the value you place on
relations with Tunisia and expresses grief over the human suffering in
Lebanon.
Tab A
Letter From President Reagan to President Bourguiba3
Washington, June 25, 1982
Dear Mr. President:
Your letter concerning the recent tragic events in Lebanon is a
tribute to the depth of friendship between our countries.
All Americans are deeply grieved by the enormous human and material
losses which the Lebanese people and innocent Palestinian residents
of Lebanon have sustained in this terrible two weeks of war. For
this reason we must continue to stress the humanitarian dimensions
of the crisis and work to bring relief to the suffering.
We exerted our best efforts during the past year to maintain the
cease-fire negotiated by Ambassador Habib. Israel and the other interested parties well
understood our position.
As I hope you recognize, we cannot dwell on the past. Much must be
done and quickly if Lebanon is to have a future. Ambassador
Habib has been extremely
active during the past two weeks. He has had discussions with
Israeli, Syrian, and Lebanese leaders and has been in close
consultation with me throughout this period. These efforts were
directed at achieving a cease-fire. We are making every effort to
see that it holds and that the danger of a wider war is averted. For
the last several days Ambassador Habib and Secretary Haig have been acting on my instructions to exert
every effort to broaden the cease-fire and to halt the fighting
between Israeli and PLO forces. We
will not rest until we have succeeded and the guns are at last
silent across Lebanon.
While an effective cease-fire is an essential first step, the
cease-fire is only the beginning. The United States remains
committed to Lebanon’s independence, unity, sovereignty, and
territorial integrity. We want compliance with security council
resolutions 508 and 509 with all reasonable speed.4 We seek a Lebanon reunified, strong, and free of
foreign military forces.
Beyond this, however, I believe the task of assisting Lebanon to
reconstruct itself physically, politically, and spiritually must
begin immediately. A return to the conditions which existed before
June 5 would not serve the interests of the region as a whole. In
time, I fear, the same unstable situation which led to the present
tragedy would
[Page 624]
only
reassert itself. Instead, this opportunity to restore Lebanon’s
territorial integrity must be seized and the Lebanese Government
must be enabled to expand its authority throughout the country as
quickly as possible.
At the same time, we cannot return to a situation in which the PLO again can rocket or shell Israel’s
northern villages. This will require an effective mechanism to
police an enlarged zone in southern Lebanon and imaginative and
creative thinking from all of us.
Finally, the recent events in Lebanon must serve also to refocus our
energies on making early progress toward a resolution of the
Palestinian problem. The United States is determined to press ahead
on fulfilling the promise of the Camp David framework and to build
on the progress already made. We will be resuming efforts toward
that goal as soon as conditions permit.
The United States highly esteems its friends in the region,
particularly Tunisia, and will continue to consider their well-being
in grappling with the arduous task of helping to bring peace and
justice to the area now in turmoil.
Mr. President, enduring friendship bids me heed your kind words on
behalf of your country and the search for peace. Your sincerity
makes me regret still more that we did not have the opportunity to
meet and discuss the situation in the Middle East earlier this
year.
Sincerely,
