1986 United States bombing of Libya

US April 1986 military operation in Libya May 2026 April 2025 1986 United States bombing of Libya(Operation El Dorado Canyon) the Cold War USF-111 Libya1986.JPG 300px An American 48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F aircraft takes off from RAF Lakenheath in April 1986 to participate in an air strike against Libya. 15 April 1986 Libya * Ground targets destroyedMartel, William C. Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Military Policy, p. 162. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Failed assassination attempt against GaddafiFrey B.S. Dealing with Terrorism: Stick Or Carrot? Edward Elgar Publishing, Incorporated 2004 978-1-84542-146-5 https://books.google.com/books?id=9hrJwYUZvowC&pg=PA28 28 Failed Libyan Scud missile response Libya renamed from Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. United States Libya 1977 Libya United States Ronald ReaganUnited States Caspar Weinberger Libya 1977 Muammar Gaddafi 1 F-111 shot down2 aircrew killedhttps://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-sad-story-of-karma-52-the-only-f-111-lost-during-operation-el-dorado-canyon/ The sad story of 'Karma 52', the only F-111 lost during Operation El Dorado Canyon Dario Leone 14 April 2019 The Aviation Geek ClubLibyan claim:3 aircraft shot downhttps://theaviationgeekclub.com/the-libyan-scud-attack-on-lampedusa-and-the-italian-retaliation-against-gaddafi-that-never-was/ The Libyan Scud Attack on Lampedusa and the Italian Retaliation against Gaddafi that never was Dario Leone 21 September 2019 The Aviation Geek Club 45 soldiers and officials killed3–5 IL-76s destroyed14 MiG-23s destroyed2 helicopters destroyed5 major ground radars destroyedPollack, Kenneth M. Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948–1991, University of Nebraska Press, 20021 French Embassy was hit 15 Libyan civilians killed2010-02-09 U.S. bombs terrorist and military targets in Libya April 14, 1986 https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/april-14/u-s-bombs-libya 2025-07-31 HISTORY en The United States Air Force (USAF), Navy, and Marine Corps carried out air strikes, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, against Libya on 15 April 1986 in retaliation for the West Berlin discotheque bombing ten days earlier, which U.S. president Ronald Reagan blamed on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. There were 40 reported Libyan casualties; one U.S. plane was shot down. One of the claimed Libyan deaths was of a baby girl, reported to be Gaddafi's daughter, Hana Gaddafi. Hilsum Lindsey Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution Faber and Faber London 2012 978-0571288052 However, there are doubts both as to whether she was really killed, or even if she truly existed.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/26/hana-gaddafi-daughter-mystery Gaddafi's daughter Hana: dead or a practising doctor? Peter Walker 26 August 2011 The Guardian London 7 June 2016 The targets were two alleged Libyan command and control centers for overseas operations, one training camp, and Benina and Mitiga International Airports. The strikes primarily used F-111 Aardvark fighter-bombers, launched from RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom, and A-6E Intruder attack aircraft launched from the USS America CV-66 and USS Coral Sea CV-43 in the Gulf of Sidra. These were supported by electronic-warfare EF-111 Ravens and EA-6B Prowlers and anti-radar missile-carrying F/A-18 Hornets and A-7E Corsairs. Political disagreements led France, Spain, and Italy to deny the use of their United States Air Forces in Europe bases, and deny overflight permits. Two USAF captains were killed when their F-111 was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra, possibly by a Libyan S-200 missile.Ranter Harro Accident General Dynamics F-111F 70-2389, Monday 14 April 1986 http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=136897 2026-03-18 aviation-safety.net Libya released the body of one pilot in 1989, and denied holding the body of the other pilot, while the pilot's family alleged they had. Origins thumb|President Ronald Reagan consults bipartisan Congressional leaders about the strike. Libya represented a high priority for President Ronald Reagan shortly after his 1981 inauguration. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was firmly anti-Israel and had supported militant groups in the Palestinian territories and Syria. There were reports that Libya was attempting to become a nuclear powerLibya Has Trouble Building the Most Deadly Weapons http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/libya/trouble.html The Risk Report 1 10 December 1995 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20130420212851/http://www.wisconsinproject.org/countries/libya/trouble.html 20 April 2013 http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Libya/Nuclear/index.html 1968 to 1990: Program Beginnings NTI and Gaddafi's occupation of Chad, which was rich in uranium, was of major concern to the United States. Gaddafi's ambitions to set up a federation of Arab and Muslim states in North Africa were alarming to U.S. interests. Furthermore, then-U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig wanted to take proactive measures against Gaddafi because he had been using former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives (most notably Edwin P. Wilson and Frank E. Terpil) to help set up militia camps.https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/22/magazine/target-qaddafi.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm The New York Times Seymour M. Hersh Target Qaddafi 22 February 1987 After the December 1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks, which killed 19 and wounded approximately 140, Gaddafi indicated that he would continue to support the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades, and the Irish Republican Army as long as the European governments allegedly “supported anti-Gaddafi Libyans.”St. John Ronald Bruce Libyan terrorism: the case against Gaddafi Contemporary Review 1 December 1992 After years of occasional skirmishes with Libya over Libyan territorial claims to the Gulf of Sidra, the United States contemplated a military attack to strike targets within the Libyan mainland. In March 1986, the United States, asserting the 12 nmi km mi on limit to territorial waters according to international law, sent a carrier task force to the region. Libya responded with counter-maneuvers on the 24 March that led to a naval engagement in the Gulf of Sidra. On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed "La Belle" nightclub in West Berlin, killing three people, including two U.S. servicemen and a Turkish woman,http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/5/newsid_4357000/4357255.stm 1986: Berlin disco bombed 5 April 1986 Bailey Thomas Kennedy David Cohen Lizabeth The American Pageant 1998 Houghton Mifflin Company Boston 0-669-39728-8 1000 11th https://archive.org/details/americanpageant00bail/page/1000 and injuring 229 people, including 79 Americans.Flashback: The Berlin disco bombing. BBC on 13 November 2001. West Germany and the United States obtained cable transcripts from Libyan agents in East Germany who were involved in the attack.March 2026 More detailed information was retrieved years later when Stasi archives were investigated by the reunited Germany. Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were identified and prosecuted by Germany in the 1990s. Preparations thumb|President of the United States Ronald Reagan in a briefing with US National Security Council staff on Operation El Dorado Canyon. The attack mission against Libya had been preceded in October 1985 by an exercise in which the 20th TFW stationed at RAF Upper Heyford airbase in the UK, which was equipped with F-111E Aardvarks, received a top-secret order to launch a simulated attack mission on 18 October, with ten F-111Es armed with eight 500-lb practice bombs, against a simulated airfield located in Labrador, Canada south of CFB Goose Bay. The mission was designated Operation Ghost Rider. The mission was a full rehearsal for a long-range strike against Libya. The mission was completed successfully, with the exception of one aircraft that had all but one of its eight bombs hang up on one of its wing racks. The lessons learned were passed on to the 48th TFW which was equipped with the newer F-111F model.Warren Thompson To the Bay and Back Air Forces Monthly May 2010 Key Publishing In August 1985 six specially trained B-52H crews of the 23rd Bombardment Squadron in Minot, North Dakota, were designated as the Advanced Conventional Taskforce (ACT) and trained at specialized low-level conventional bombing missions, including the first ever use of Night Vision Goggles by B-52 crews. The specially trained crews were capable of delivering 6 strings of MK-117 munitions seconds apart with pinpoint accuracy operating from North Dakota. In six months of intensive training the special mission unit dropped more live ordnance in the Nevada and Utah test ranges than had been expended since the conclusion of the Vietnam War. The B-52 provided a powerful alternative or follow-on option, however, as the backbone of the U.S. nuclear deterrent there was some risk to using the B-52 option against an SA-6 defended target.interview with members of D-flight 23rd BMS/5BMW Elements of the then-secret 4450th Tactical Group (USAF) were put on standby to fly the strike mission against Libya. Over 30 F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft had already been delivered to Tactical Air Command (USAF) and were operating from Tonopah Test Range Airport in Nevada. European Command senior officers knew nothing about the stealth capabilities of the F-117, or that the aircraft even existed. Within an hour of the planned launch of the F-117s, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger scrubbed the stealth mission, fearing a compromise of the secret aircraft and its development program. The air strike was carried out with conventional U.S. Navy and USAF aircraft. The F-117 would remain completely unknown to the world for several more months, before being unveiled in 1988 and featured prominently in media coverage of Operation Desert Storm. For the Libyan raid, the United States was denied overflight rights by France, Spain, and Italy as well as the use of European continental bases, forcing the USAF portion of the operation to be flown around France and Spain, over Portugal and through the Straits of Gibraltar, adding 1,300 miles (2,100 km) each way and requiring multiple aerial refuelings.https://books.google.com/books?id=5HFvmqCJNhsC&pg=PA103 Overseas Basing of U.S. Military Forces: An Assessment of Relative Costs and Strategic Benefits 2013 Rand Corporation 103 978-0833079176https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0399canyon/ El Dorado Canyon Boyne Walter J. Walter J. Boyne March 1999 Air & Space Forces Magazine 82 3 28 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20250622181901/https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0399canyon/ 22 June 2025 live The French refusal alone added 2,800 km.https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/23/world/french-say-they-favored-stronger-attack-on-libya.html French Say They Favored Stronger Attack on Libya The New York Times 23 April 1986 16 June 2015 Bernstein, Richard French President François Mitterrand refused overflight clearance because the United States was interested in limited action in Libya while France was more interested in action that would remove Gaddafi from power. Another factor in the French decision was the United States' last-minute failure to participate in a retaliatory air raid on Iranian positions after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings.https://books.google.com/books?id=V0G9f35dK6AC&pg=PT138 The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran Penguin 978-0143123675 David Crist 2012 Targets thumb|right|Ground crew prepares a 48th Tactical Fighter Wing F-111F aircraft for an air strike on Libya After several unproductive days of meetings with European and Arab nations, and influenced by an American serviceman's death, on 14 April Ronald Reagan ordered an air raid on the following Libyan targets:Parks W. Hays 1986 Crossing the Line Proceedings 112 11 40–52 United States Naval Institute Bab al-Azizia Barracks in Tripoli – Gaddafi's command and control center for overseas operations Murrat Sidi Bilal in Tripoli – a training camp for naval commandos and combat frogmen Mitiga International Airport – used by Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft Jamahiriyah Guard barracks in Benghazi – an alternative command and control headquarters for overseas operations, and which contained a warehouse for storage of MiG aircraft components Benina International Airport – used as a base by defending fighters Strike force thumb|right|An F-14A Tomcat that launched from USS America (CV-66) during Operation El Dorado Canyon thumb|right|An A-7E from the USS America is armed with AGM-88 HARM ARMs and CBU-100 Rockeye cluster munitions, in preparation of Operation El Dorado Canyon Among operational United States tactical aircraft, only the General Dynamics F-111 and the A-6 Intruder possessed the ability to attack at night with the required precision. Although the F-111s would be required to fly from distant bases, they were essential to mission success, because the eighteen A-6s available aboard USS Coral Sea CV-43 and USS America CV-66 could not carry enough bombs to simultaneously inflict the desired damage on the five targets selected. United States Air Force Twenty-eight McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extenders and Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers took off from RAF Mildenhall and RAF Fairford shortly after 19:00Parks specifies times of events with the time in Washington DC where the attack was coordinated. Parks's times have been adjusted to reflect the time observed where the battle took place. on 14 April. These tankers would conduct four silent refueling operations over the 6,000 mi round-trip route the F-111s would fly to target. Within minutes the tankers were followed by twenty-four F-111F strike aircraft of the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying from RAF Lakenheath and five EF-111A Ravens of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing from RAF Upper Heyford. Six F-111s and one EF-111 were designated spares who returned to base after the first refueling was completed without any system failures among the designated strike aircraft. One F-111F had a flameout of one engine upon take off and was ordered back to base. NATO E-3A AWACS aircraft flying out of Trapani air base in Italy provided airborne surveillance. United States Navy America was on station in the Gulf of Sidra, but Coral Sea was preparing to leave the Mediterranean, and made a high speed run from Naples through the Strait of Messina. Americas air group would strike targets in downtown Benghazi and provide fighter and suppression support for the USAF bombers, while Coral Seas planes would strike the Benina airfield outside Benghazi and provide fighter and suppression support for the Navy bombers.Stumpf Robert E. 1986 Air War with Libya Proceedings 112 8 42–48 United States Naval Institute About 01:00 America launched six A-6E TRAM Intruder strike aircraft with Mark 82 bombs against the Jamahiriyah Guard barracks and six A-7 Corsair II strike support aircraft. Coral Sea, operating east of America simultaneously launched eight A-6E TRAM Intruders and six F/A-18A Hornets. Additional fighters were launched for combat air patrol (CAP). The raid thumb|Ilyushin Il-76 targeted by the bombing The raid began in the early hours of 15 April, with the stated objectives of sending a message and reducing Libya's ability to support and train terrorists. Shortly after the raid Reagan warned "Today, we have done what we had to do. If necessary, we shall do it again."http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1986/Strike-on-Qaddafi-and-Soviet-Espionage/12297050136623-4/ 1986 Year in Review: Strike on Qaddafi UPI 28 October 2014 Coordinated jamming by the EF-111s and EA-6B Prowlers began at 01:54 (Libyan time) as the A-7Es and F/A-18As began launching AGM-88 HARM and AGM-45 Shrike missiles for suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD). The attack began at 0200 hours (Libyan time),Jr James E. Wise Baron Scott At the Helm of USS America: The Aircraft Carrier and Its 23 Commanders, 1965–1996 2016 McFarland 978-1-4766-1568-4 143–144 https://books.google.com/books?id=9-9ZBAAAQBAJ en and lasted about twelve minutes, with 60 tons of munitions dropped.Samuels Richard J. Encyclopedia of United States National Security 2006 Sage 978-0-7619-2927-7 431 https://books.google.com/books?id=FmI5DQAAQBAJ en The F-111 bombers' rules of engagement required target identification by both radar and Pave Tack prior to bomb release to minimize collateral damage. Of the nine F-111s targeting Bab al-Azizia, only three placed their GBU-10 Paveway II bombs on target. One F-111 was shot down by a Libyan SAM over the Gulf of Sidra and one F-111's bombs missed the barracks, striking diplomatic and civilian sites in Tripoli, and narrowly missing the French embassy.Endicott Judy G. Raid on Libya: Operation Eldorado Canyon 23 August 2012 U.S. Department of Defense 153 https://media.defense.gov/2012/Aug/23/2001330097/-1/-1/0/Op%20El%20Dorado%20Canyon.pdf 17 September 2023 All three F-111s assigned to Sidi Bilal released their GBU-10 bombs on target. One of the six F-111s assigned to bomb the Tripoli airfield aborted its mission with a terrain-following radar malfunction, but the remaining five dropped BSU-49 high drag bombs destroying two Il-76 transport aircraft. Americas A-6s damaged the Jamahiriyah MiG assembly warehouse and destroyed four MiG shipping crates. Two A-6s from Coral Sea aborted their mission, but five A-6s with CBU-59 APAM cluster bombs and one with Mk 82 bombs struck Benina airfield destroying three or four MiGs, two Mil Mi-8 helicopters, one Fokker F27 Friendship transport, and one small straight-wing aircraft. A Boeing 727 was also reportedly destroyed during the Benina strike.Cooper Tom Libyan Air Wars – Part 3 : 1986–1989 Grandolini Albert Delalande Arnaud Helion & Company Limited 2016 Some Libyan soldiers reportedly abandoned their positions in fright and confusion, while the officers were slow to give orders.Metz Helen Chapin Helen Chapin Metz Library of Congress Federal Research Division Libya: a country study The Library of Congress 1989 Federal Research Division, Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 255 https://www.loc.gov/item/88600480/ 18 September 2023 Libyan anti-aircraft fire did not begin until after the planes had passed over their targets.https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/15/politics/15REAG.html The New York Times U.S. Jets Hit 'Terrorist Centers' in Libya; Reagan Warns of New Attacks If Needed Bernard Weinraub 15 April 1986http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-8251.html Libya – Encounters with the United States Country-data.com 7 June 2016 No Libyan fighters launched, and HARM launches and jamming prevented any of the 2K12 Kub (SA-6), S-75 Dvina (SA-2), S-125 Neva/Pechora (SA-3), or Crotale SAM launches from homing. One SA-6 however was able to track onto an A-6 from VA-34 during the strike on the Jamahiriyah barracks but was evaded successfully. Within twelve minutes, all United States aircraft were "feet wet" outbound over the Mediterranean. Navy strike aircraft had been recovered aboard their carriers by 02:53 (Libyan time) and surviving USAF planes, with the exception of one F-111, which landed in Naval Station Rota, Spain, with an overheated engine, had returned to Britain by 10:10 (Libyan time). Although the bombing operations were staged out of the UK, RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus was employed in the role of an alternate in case of emergency, and was used as such by at least one aircraft. This led to retaliatory action against the British base. United States forces and targets +Operation resultsAirpower Versus Terrorism: Three Case Studies https://web.archive.org/web/20061110175203/https://research.maxwell.af.mil/papers/ay2003/saas/phinney.pdf 10 November 2006 , Thesis, June 2003, p. 20 Target Planned ActualAircraft BombingAircraft Hit Miss Bab al-Azizia barracks 9× F-111F 36× GBU-10 2000 lb on LGB 3× bombed 1× missed 4× aborts 1× lost 13 3 Murat Sidi Bilal camp 3× F-111F 12× GBU-10 2,000 lb LGB all bombed 12 – Tripoli airfield(fmr. Wheelus Air Base) 6× F-111F 72× Mk 82 500 lb on RDB 5× bombed 1× abort 60 – Jamahiriyah (Benghazi) barracks 7× A-6E TRAM VA-34 84× Mk 82 500 lb RDB 6× bombed 1× abort on deck 70 2 Benina airfield 8× A-6E TRAM VA-55 72× Mk 20 500 lb CBU 24× Mk 82 500 lb RDB 6× bombed 2× aborts 60× Mk 20 12× Mk 82 – Air defensenetworks Tripoli 6× A-7E 8× Shrike 16× HARM all aircraft fired 8× Shrike 16× HARM Benghazi 24× F/A-18A VFA-131, VFA-132 VMFA-314, VMFA-323 20× HARM all aircraft fired 20× HARMTotals 45 aircraft 300 bombs 48 missiles 35 bombed 1 missed 1 lost 8 aborts 227 hits 5 misses 48 homing missilesSupport AircraftAir defensenetworksTripoli5x EF-111AALQ-991× partial abort––1x EA-6B VMAQ-2ALQ-99None––Benghazi3x EA-6B (2x VAQ-135/1x VMAQ-2)ALQ-99None––3x EA-3B VQ-2EW/AARNone––Early Warning–2x E-2C VAW-123None––2x E-2C VAW-127None–– Libyan air defenses The Libyan air defense network was extensive, and included: 4 Long range S-200 Vega (SA-5 Gammon) anti-aircraft missile units with 24 launchers. 86 S-75 Volkhov (SA-2 Guideline) and S-125 Neva (SA-3 Goa) anti-aircraft missile units with 276 launchers. Covering Tripoli alone were: 7 S-75 Volkhov (SA-2 Guideline) anti-aircraft missile units with 6 missiles launchers per unit giving 42 launchers. 12 S-125 Neva (SA-3 Goa) anti-aircraft missile units with 4 missiles launchers per unit giving 48 launchers. 3 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) anti-aircraft missile units with 48 launchers. 1 9K33M2 Osa-AK (SA-8 Geko) anti-aircraft regiment with 16 launch vehicles. 2 Crotale II anti-aircraft units with 60 launch pads. Casualties Libyan Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his family rushed out of their residence in the Bab al-Azizia compound moments before the bombs dropped, forewarned by a telephone call from Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Malta's Prime Minister. Bonnici had been made aware of the presence of the American strike force by Prime Minister Bettino Craxi of Italy; the latter nation had detected the then-unidentified aircraft off the West coast of Sicily and scrambled a flight of F-104 Starfighters to intercept it, discovering the strike force's presence and being warned away by pilots with obvious American accents.https://theaviationgeekclub.com/italys-prime-minister-saved-gaddafis-life-by-warning-of-operation-el-dorado-canyon/ Italy's Prime Minister saved Gaddafi's Life by Warning of Operation El Dorado Canyon Dario Leone 1 September 2019 5 March 2023 According to medical staff in a nearby hospital, two dozen casualties were brought in wearing military uniforms, and two without uniforms. Total Libyan casualties were estimated at 60, including those at the bombed airbases. An infant girl was among the casualties; her body was shown to American reporters, who were told she was Gaddafi's recently adopted daughter Hana. However, there was and remains much skepticism over the claim.Kincaid, Cliff 22 February 2011 NBC's Mitchell Regurgitates Gaddafi Lies Accuracy in Media http://www.aim.org/aim-column/nbc%E2%80%99s-mitchell-regurgitates-gaddafi-lies/ 7 June 2016 12 August 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190812005501/https://www.aim.org/aim-column/nbc%E2%80%99s-mitchell-regurgitates-gaddafi-lies/ dead Müller, Patrick 8 June 2011 Gaddafis Kinder – Totgesagte leben länger Gaddafi's children – Declared dead Die Welt https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article13530021/Gaddafis-Kinder-Totgesagte-leben-laenger.html 7 June 2015 Hana Gaddafi soll 1986 beim Angriff amerikanischer Bomber umgekommen sein. Tatsächlich wurde ihr Tod offenbar nur vorgetäuscht. Eine Spurensuche." "[Hana Gaddafi [was said to have been] killed in 1986, during the attack of American bombers. In fact, her death was obviously faked. A search for clues.] English language translation of same article: The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/09/hana-gaddafi-libyan-leader-daughter-alive-_n_922043.html Hana Gaddafi, Libyan Leader's Presumed Dead Daughter, May Be Still Alive 7 June 2016 9 August 2011 She may not have died; the adoption may have been posthumous; or he may have adopted a second daughter and given her the same name after the first one died.Walker, Peter 26 August 2011 Gaddafi's daughter Hana: dead or a practising doctor? The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/26/hana-gaddafi-daughter-mystery 7 June 2016 [Subtitle:] "Some accounts say Hana Gaddafi died in a 1986 raid, others that she lived to become a doctor or never existed at all." Shadid, Anthony 28 August 2011 Enigmatic in Power, Qaddafi Is Elusive at Large The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/29/world/africa/29qaddafi.html 7 June 2016 Kirkup, James Watt, Holly amp 12 August 2011 Dental records for Hana Gaddafi reopen mystery of Libyan leader's daughter The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8698804/Dental-records-for-Hana-Gaddafi-reopen-mystery-of-Muammar-Gaddafis-daughter.html 7 June 2016 Files stored in a basement room in one of London's most expensive districts could shed new light on one of the greatest mysteries of Muammar Gaddafi's Libya: the alleged death of his baby daughter Hana. Telegraph Staff 12 August 2011 Exclusive: Gaddafi's 'dead' daughter Hana alive and well in family video [Ali, Mohammed, videographer] video, with text description The Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8782588/Exclusive-Gaddafis-dead-daughter-Hana-alive-and-well-in-family-video.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110923005413/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/libya-video/8782588/Exclusive-Gaddafis-dead-daughter-Hana-alive-and-well-in-family-video.html dead 23 September 2011 7 June 2016 The Telegraph has obtained the first video evidence that Hana, the adopted daughter that Col Gaddafi claimed had been killed in an American bombing raid in 1986, was alive years after the attack. American Two U.S. Air Force captains—Fernando L. Ribas-Dominicci and Paul F. Lorence—were killed when their F-111 fighter-bomber (callsign Karma-52) was shot downThe sad note is we have to assume the 2 missing men are dead. Evidence indicates their plane was shot down just off shore after dropping its bombs. Reagan Diaries Volume 2: November 1985 – January 1989, Ronald Reagan, Douglas Brinkley, p. 590, HarperCollins, 2010Libya soon recovered the body of Captain Ribas-Dominicci but did not return it to the United States until 1989. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be drowning, not massive physical trauma ... the autopsy finding and the eyewitness accounts of several aviators who saw the explosion and the descent of the fireball to the sea support the conclusion that Karma-52 was shot down by a SAM or AAA. El Dorado Canyon, Joseph T. Stanik, p. 190, Naval Institute Press, 2003 over the Gulf of Sidra. In the hours following the attack, the U.S. military refused to speculate as to whether or not the fighter-bomber had been shot down, with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger suggesting that it could have experienced radio trouble or been diverted to another airfield.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V2lQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=u1kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6279,4040553&hl=en One plane missing after raid. The Evening Independent 15 April 1986 28 October 2014 The next day, the Pentagon had announced it was no longer searching for the F-111 believed to be downed by a Libyan missile. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19860417&id=bnczAAAAIBAJ&sjid=65IDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3105,4597235&hl=en Air Raid Toll Comes Home to Gaddafi The Age Melbourne Tony Walker 17 April 1986 On 25 December 1988, Gaddafi offered to release the body of Lorence to his family through Pope John Paul II. The body, returned in 1989, was identified as Ribas-Dominicci's from dental records. An autopsy conducted in Spain confirmed that he had drowned after his plane was shot down over the Gulf of Sidra. Libya denies that it held Lorence's body. However, Lorence's brother said that he and his mother saw television footage of a Libyan holding a white helmet with the name "Lorence" stenciled on the back.Kay Jennifer 29 April 2006 http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter26/in290406libyalost.html Lost Over Libya Associated Press dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090628154128/http://www.aiipowmia.com/inter26/in290406libyalost.html 28 June 2009 Furthermore, William C. Chasey, who toured the Bab al-Azizia barracks, claimed to have seen two flight suits and helmets engraved with the names "Lorence" and "Ribas-Dominicci", as well as the wreckage of their F-111.Chasey, William C. – Pan Am 103: The Lockerbie Cover-Up (Chapter 18) Gaddafi declared that the raid was a Libyan victory and stated that three American planes had been shot down, but Karma-52 was the only one that failed to return to base. Aftermath In Libya Gaddafi's announcements Gaddafi announced that he had "won a spectacular military victory over the United States" and the country was officially renamed the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah".Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya. Brian L. Davis 183 Praeger Publishers New York 1990 0-275-93302-4 https://archive.org/details/qaddafiterrorism00davi/page/183 Gaddafi said reconciliation between Libya and the United States was impossible so long as Reagan was in the White House; of the US president he said, "He is mad. He is foolish. He is an Israeli dog." He said he had no plans to attack the United States or U.S. targets. He claimed that Reagan wanted to kill him, stating "Was Reagan trying to kill me? Of course. The attack was concentrated on my house and I was in my house", he also described how he rescued his family.http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-06-20/news/8602060350_1_moammar-gadhafi-white-house-wife Gadhafi: Reagan Tried To Kill Me Sun Sentinel 28 October 2014 28 October 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141028170556/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-06-20/news/8602060350_1_moammar-gadhafi-white-house-wife dead When asked whether he was in danger of losing power, he said: "Really, these reports and writings are not true. As you can see I am fine, and there has been no change in our country." Other events The Government of Libya said that the United States had fallen prey to arrogance and madness of power and wanted to become the world's policeman. It charged that any party that did not agree to become an American vassal was an outlaw, a terrorist, and a devil. Gaddafi quashed an internal revolt, the organization of which he blamed on the United States, although Gaddafi appeared to have left the public sphere for a time in 1986 and 1987.June 2016 The Libyan Post dedicated several postage stamps issues to the event, from 1986 until 2001. The first issue was released in 1986, 13 July (ref. Scott catalogue n.1311 – Michel catalogue n.1699). The last issue was released in 2001, 15 April (ref. Scott catalogue n.1653 – Michel catalogue n.2748–2763).http://www.libyan-stamps.com/page2000-2001.htm Archived copy 3 May 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20090628144919/http://www.libyan-stamps.com/page2000-2001.htm 28 June 2009 Libyan retaliation Immediate Libya responded by firing two Scud missiles at a United States Coast Guard station on the Italian island of Lampedusa which fell short of the island and landed in the sea.Jr E. J. Dionne Italian isle, site of U.S. base, is fearful of Qaddafi's anger https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/27/world/italian-isle-site-of-us-base-is-fearful-of-qaddafi-s-anger.html 17 September 2023 The New York Times 27 May 1986House Jonathan M. A Military History of the Cold War, 1962–1991 24 September 2020 University of Oklahoma Press 978-0-8061-6778-7 344 https://books.google.com/books?id=DsXZDwAAQBAJ en Later Libyan-connected terrorism There was only limited change in Libyan-connected terrorism.April 2025 The Libyan government was alleged to have ordered the hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73 in Pakistan on 5 September 1986, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people. The allegation did not come to light until it was reported by The Sunday Times in March 2004—days after British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid the first official visit to Tripoli by a Western leader in a generation.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1052614.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20110523234457/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1052614.ece dead 23 May 2011 Revealed: Gaddafi's air massacre plot London The Times 28 March 2004 26 April 2010 Jon Swain In October 1986, Gaddafi financed Jeff Fort's Al-Rukn faction of the Chicago Black P. Stones gang, in their emergence as an anti-American armed revolutionary movement. Al-Rukn members were arrested for preparing strikes on behalf of Libya, including blowing up US government buildings and bringing down an airplane; the Al-Rukn defendants were convicted in 1987 of "offering to commit bombings and assassinations on US soil for Libyan payment."Target America & the West: Terrorism Today Bodansky, Yossef Yossef Bodansky 301–303 1993 New York S.P.I. Books 978-1-56171-269-4 registration https://archive.org/details/targetamericawes00boda/page/301 In May 1987, Australia expelled diplomats and broke off relations with Libya, claiming Libya sought to fuel violence in Australia and Oceania.The Middle East and North Africa 2003 (2002). Eur. p. 758http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2003/282/Libya-return.html A Rogue Returns AIJAC February 2003 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20030301031212/http://www.aijac.org.au/review/2003/282/Libya-return.html 1 March 2003 In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the MV Eksund, which was attempting to deliver 150 tons of Soviet arms from Libya to the Irish Republican Army (IRA),p. 441, The dirty war: covert strategies and tactics used in political conflicts. Dillon, Martinnews.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8241393.stm partly in retaliation against the British for harboring American fighter planes.https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/libya-will-not-arm-ira-again-gaddafi-aide-says-1414984.html Libya will not arm IRA again, Gaddafi aide says The Independent London 20 July 1994 1 September 2011 Tim Kelsey Peter Koenig https://web.archive.org/web/20110325022142/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/libya-will-not-arm-ira-again-gaddafi-aide-says-1414984.html 25 March 2011 live In Beirut, Lebanon, two British hostages held by the Libyan-supported Abu Nidal Organization, Leigh Douglas and Philip Padfield, along with an American named Peter Kilburn, were shot dead in revenge. In addition, journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped, and tourist Paul Appleby was murdered in Jerusalem. Another British hostage named Alec Collett was also killed in retaliation for the bombing of Libya. Collett was shown being hanged in a video tape. His body was found in November 2009.http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/11/21/1821s530862.htm https://archive.today/20120722211044/http://english.cri.cn/6966/2009/11/21/1821s530862.htm dead 22 July 2012 Body of Lost British Reporter Found in Lebanon English.cri.cn 7 June 2016 On 21 December 1988 Libya bombed Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded in mid-air and crashed on the town of Lockerbie in Scotland after a bomb detonated, killing all 259 people aboard, and 11 people in Lockerbie. Iran was initially thought to have been responsible for the bombing in revenge for the downing of Iran Air flight 655 by the American missile cruiser USS Vincennes over the Persian Gulf, but in 1991 two Libyans were charged, one of whom was convicted of the crime in a controversial judgementhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1872996.stm UN monitor decries Lockerbie judgement BBC 14 March 2002 on 31 January 2001. The Libyan Government accepted responsibility for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing on 29 May 2002, and offered $2.7 billion to compensate the families of the 270 victims.https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/sc7868.doc.htm Security Council lifts sanctions imposed on Libya after terrorist bombings of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 The convicted Libyan, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was released in August 2009 by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds. He died in 2012. In May 2014 a group of relatives of the Lockerbie victims continued to campaign for al-Megrahi's name to be cleared by reopening the case.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-27298089 BBC News – Lockerbie bombing: Megrahi conviction review sought by families 6 May 2014 BBC Online 10 May 2014 International response Immediate section April 2018 The attack was condemned by many countries. By a vote of 79 in favor to 28 against with 33 abstentions, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 41/38, which "condemns the military attack perpetrated against the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 15 April 1986, which constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law."A/RES/41/38. United Nations. A meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement said that it condemned the "dastardly, blatant and unprovoked act of aggression". The League of Arab States expressed that it was outraged at the United States aggression and that it reinforced an element of anarchy in international relations. The Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union said that the deliberate attempt to kill Libyans violated the principles of international law. The Government of Iran asserted that the attack constituted a policy of aggression, gunboat diplomacy, an act of war, and called for an extensive political and economic boycott of the United States. Others saw the United States motive as an attempt to eliminate Libya's revolution.UN Chronicle August 1986 23 China stated that the U.S. attack violated norms of international relations and had aggravated tension in the region. The Soviet Union said that there was a clear link between the attack and U.S. policy aimed at stirring up existing hotbeds of tension and creating new ones, and at destabilizing the international situation. West Germany stated that international disputes required diplomatic and not military solutions, and France also criticized the bombing.April 2018 Some observers held the opinion that Article 51 of the UN Charter set limitations on the use of force in exercising the legitimate right of self-defense in the absence of an act of aggression, and affirmed that there was no such act by Libya. It was charged that the United States did not exhaust the Charter provisions for settling disputes under Article 33. The Wall Street Journal protested that if other nations applied Article 51 as cavalierly as the United States, then "the Nicaraguan government, very reasonably predicting that the U.S. is planning an attack on its territory, has the right to bomb Washington." British Shadow Foreign Secretary Denis Healey told ABC News that, "by this same rationale of defense against future attack, Britain could bomb apartment blocks in New York and Chicago on the ground that they contained people sending money and military supplies to the Irish Republican Army."Cockburn Alexander 1986-04-17 Bombing Libya The Wall Street Journal The Reagan Administration did not subscribe to any such limitations. Legal Advisor to the State Department Abraham Sofaer argued that “where an American is attacked because he is an American, in order to punish the U.S. or to coerce the U.S. into accepting a political position, the attack is one in which the U.S. has a sufficient interest to justify extending its protection through necessary and proportionate actions.”Sofaer Abraham D. The Sixth Annual Waldemar A. Solf Lecture in International Law: Terrorism, the Law, and the National Defense Military Law Review 126 Fall 1989 95, 126 Moreover, the Administration maintained the legality of their actions under the 1973 War Powers Resolution. Sofaer testified that the Administration had no expectation that the Freedom of Navigation operation in the Gulf of Sidra would result in combat, that it notified Congress within forty-eight hours after hostilities occurred, and that it consulted with congressional leaders prior to the bombing despite the potential risk of an information leak.U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Arms Control, International Security and Science of the Committee on Foreign Affairs War Powers, Libya, and State-Sponsored Terrorism: Hearings before the Subcommittee on Arms Control, International Security and Science of the Committee on Foreign Affairs 1986 5–60, 230–240 U.S. Government Printing Office Others asserted that Libya was innocent in the bombing of the West Berlin discotheque.United Nations Yearbook, 1986, Volume 40, Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York The U.S. received support from the UK, Canada, Australia, Israel, and 25 other countries. Its doctrine of declaring a war on what it called "terrorist havens" was not repeated until 1998, when President Bill Clinton ordered strikes on six terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Margaret Thatcher's approval of the use of Royal Air Force basesMorgan Samuel T. 2023 Using Process Tracing to Investigate Elite Experience Accrual: Explaining Margaret Thatcher's Support for US Air Strikes Against Libya Political Research Quarterly 77 226–238 en 10.1177/10659129231182404 263278690 1065-9129 free led to substantial public criticism, including an unprecedented story in The Sunday Times suggesting the Queen was upset by an "uncaring" Prime Minister. However, the Americans strongly endorsed Thatcher, and the long-standing Special Relationship between the United States and Britain was strengthened.John Campbell The Iron Lady: Margaret Thatcher, from Grocer's Daughter to Prime Minister https://books.google.com/books?id=odLmZZ514AkC&pg=PT286 2011 Penguin Publishing Group 978-1-101-55866-9 279–82Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: At Her Zenith: In London, Washington and Moscow (2016) pp 513-18 Although the Soviet Union was ostensibly friendly with Libya, it had, by the time of the Libya bombing, made its increasing ambivalence toward Libya apparent in public communications. Gaddafi had a history of verbally attacking the policy agendas and ideology of the Soviet Union, and he often engaged in various international interventions and meddling that conflicted with Soviet goals in a variety of spheres. During a period where the Soviet Union was apparently attempting to lead a subtle diplomatic effort that could impact its global status, close association with the whims of Gaddafi became a liability. In the entire crisis, the Soviet Union explicitly announced that it would not provide additional help to Libya beyond resupplying basic armaments and munitions. It made no attempt to militarily intimidate the United States, despite the ongoing American operations in the Gulf of Sidra and its previous knowledge that the United States might launch an attack. The Soviet Union did not completely ignore the event, issuing a denunciation of this 'criminal' act by the United States.The sharp Soviet reaction to the U.S. attack on Libya https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/15/The-sharp-Soviet-reaction-to-the-US-attack-on/5603513925200 15 April 1986 United Press International After the raid, Moscow did cancel a planned visit to the United States by foreign affairs minister Eduard Shevardnadze. At the same time, it clearly signaled that it did not want this action to affect negotiations about the upcoming summer summit between the United States and the Soviet Union and its plans for new arms control agreements. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, acting for Libyan citizens who had been killed or injured in the bombing raid by the U.S. using British air bases, brought suit under international law against the United States and the United Kingdom in U.S. federal court. The lawsuit was dismissed as frivolous. A subsequent appeal was denied, and monetary sanctions against Clark were allowed. Saltany v. Reagan, 886 F. 2d 438 (D.C. Cir. 1989). UN response Every year, between at least 1994 and 2006, the United Nations General Assembly scheduled a declaration from the Organization of African Unity about the incident,http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_49/meeting_93/pg020-bk03 General Assembly Session 49 meeting 93 20 December 1994 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070926233951/http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_49/meeting_93/pg020-bk03 26 September 2007 but systematically deferred the discussion year after year until formally putting it aside (along with several other issues which had been similarly rescheduled for years) in 2005.http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_59/meeting_117/pg003-bk14 General Assembly Session 59 meeting 117 12 September 2005 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234353/http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_59/meeting_117/pg003-bk14 26 September 2007 First anniversary On the first anniversary of the bombing, April 1987, European and North American left-wing activists gathered to commemorate the anniversary. After a day of social and cultural networking with local Libyans, including a tour of Gaddafi's bombed house, the group gathered with other Libyans for a commemoration event.US-Libya Relations / Bombing Anniversary Vanderbilt Television News Archive. 2009 comment In June 2009, during a visit to Italy, Gaddafi criticized American foreign policy and, asked as to the difference between al-Qaeda attacks and the 1986 U.S. bombing of Tripoli, he commented: "If al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has no state and is an outlaw, America is a state with international rules." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8095982.stm Students protest at Gaddafi visit 11 June 2009 BBC News 2 January 2010 Settlement of claims On 28 May 2008, the United States began negotiations with Libya on a comprehensive claims settlement agreement to resolve outstanding claims of American and Libyan nationals against each country in their respective courts. Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam publicly announced that an agreement was being negotiated in July of that year.Libya, Italy to sign compensation deal: Gaddafi son Reuters 24 July 2008 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-libya-italy-compensation-idUSL2457933120080724 25 February 2011 16 July 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110716013458/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/24/us-libya-italy-compensation-idUSL2457933120080724 live On 14 August 2008, the resulting U.S.-Libya Comprehensive Claims Settlement Agreement was signed in Tripoli by Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and by Libyan Secretary for American Affairs Ahmad Fituri.Libya, US Sign Compensation Agreement The Tripoli Post 17 August 2008 http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=2268 25 February 2011 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20110717104233/http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=2268 17 July 2011 In October 2008, Libya paid US$1.5 billion (in three installments of $300 million on 9 October 2008, $600 million on 30 October 2008, and US$600 million 31 October 2008) into a fundhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7703110.stm Libya compensates terror victims 25 February 2011 BBC News 31 October 2008 used to compensate the following victims and their relatives: Lockerbie bombing victims, who were given an additional US$2 million each after having been paid US$8 million earlier; American victims of the 1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing; American victims of the 1989 UTA Flight 772 bombing; and, Libyan victims of the 1986 U.S. bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi. To pay the settlement, Libya demanded US$1.5 billion from global oil companies operating in Libya's oil fields, under threat of "serious consequences" to their leases. Libya's settlement was at least partially funded by several companies, including some based in the U.S., that chose to cooperate with Libya's demand.https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/africa/24qaddafi.html Shady Dealings Helped Qaddafi Build Fortune and Regime 29 March 2011 The New York Times 24 March 2011 Eric Lichtblau David Rohde James Risen On 4 August 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law the Libyan Claims Resolution Act,Libyan Claims Resolution Act https://web.archive.org/web/20141002005918/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.3370: 2 October 2014 . The Library of Congress. which had unanimously passed Congress on 31 July. The Act provided for the restoration of Libya's sovereign, diplomatic, and official immunities before U.S. courts if the Secretary of State certified that the United States Government has received sufficient funds to resolve outstanding terrorism-related death and physical injury claims against Libya. On 14 August 2008, the United States and Libya signed a comprehensive claims settlement agreement.U.S. Department of State, Significant Events in U.S.-Libyan Relations . 2 September 2008 Full diplomatic relations were restored between the two nations. In songs and books November 2024 English alternative band The The’s 1986 album Infected features the song "Sweet Bird of Truth" which tells the fictionalised story of a US pilot on the Libya bombing raids. It continues to feature as a popular song on their live tours. In 1986, hardcore punk band The Meatmen referred to the lack of French cooperation with the raid in their song "French People Suck": "French people suck, I just gotta' say/made the jet fighter pilots fly out of their way." This song appears on the album Rock & Roll Juggernaut (Caroline Records). In 1987, Neil Young wrote "Mideast Vacation" a song from his live album, Life about the bombing. On Roger Waters's third studio album, Amused to Death the songs "Late Home Tonight, Part I" and "Late Home Tonight, Part II" recall the bombing from the perspective of two "ordinary wives' and a young American F-111 pilot. In Nelson DeMille's book The Lion's Game, published in 2000, there is a detailed but fictionalised description of the attack from the point of view of one of the book's main protagonists. See also United States Libya Politics 1980s Foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration#Libya 2011 military intervention in Libya Gulf of Sidra incident (1981), US–Libyan air engagement over territorial claim, two Libyan jets shot down Ouadi Doum air raid (February 1986) Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986), Naval battle between Libyan and US forces before the April bombing campaign Gulf of Sidra incident (1989), US-Libyan air engagement over territorial claim, two Libyan jets shot down Pan Am Flight 73 (1986) Pan Am Flight 103 (1988) Operation Odyssey Dawn (2011) List of modern conflicts in North Africa Explanatory notes note Citations Further reading Cogan Charles G. July 1991 The response of the strong to the weak: The American raid on Libya, 1986 Intelligence and National Security 6 3 608–620 10.1080/02684529108432120 0268-4527 Cohen David B. Dolan Chris J. Spring 2005 Revisiting El Dorado Canyon: terrorism, the Reagan administration, and the 1986 bombing of Libya. https://www.academia.edu/9855410 White House Studies English 5 2 153–175 Fisher Louis March 2012 The Law: Military Operations in Libya: No War? No Hostilities? https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=2e61bc02e25cf4c5143f0788d959fd9551552ee2 Presidential Studies Quarterly 42 1 176–189 10.1111/j.1741-5705.2012.03947.x 0360-4918 41427455 Laham Nicholas https://books.google.com/books?id=pVSQBQAAQBAJ The American bombing of Libya: a study of the force of miscalculation in Reagan foreign policy 2008 McFarland & Company 978-0-7864-3185-4 Jefferson (N.C.) 172521656 https://books.google.com/books?id=PjxI7hKZY0YC Politicotainment: television's take on the real Peter Lang 2007 978-0-8204-8114-2 Riegert Kristina Popular Culture and Everyday Life New York 257–259 Stanik LCDR Joseph T. January 2011 America's First Strike Against Terrorism https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2011/january/americas-first-strike-against-terrorism Naval History 24+ 25 1 1042-1920 subscription Stanik Joseph T. https://archive.org/details/eldoradocanyonre00stan El Dorado Canyon: Reagan's undeclared war with Qaddafi Naval Institute Press 2003 978-1-55750-983-3 Annapolis, Md registration Ulfstein Geir Christiansen Hege Føsund January 2013 The legality of the NATO bombing in Libya https://ulfstein.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/UlfsteinLibya2013.pdf International and Comparative Law Quarterly 62 1 159–171 10.1017/S0020589312000565 0020-5893 13 June 2024 8 November 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240613174353/https://ulfstein.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/UlfsteinLibya2013.pdf dead Venkus Robert E. https://archive.org/details/raidonqaddafiunt00venk Raid on Qaddafi: the untold story of history's longest fighter mission by the pilot who directed it St. Martin's Pr 1992 978-0-312-07073-1 New York, NY registration Winkler Carol Summer 2007 Parallels in Preemptive War Rhetoric: Reagan on Libya; Bush 43 on Iraq Rhetoric and Public Affairs 10 2 303–333 10.1353/rap.2007.0042 1094-8392 41940147 Zilian Frederick Jr Autumn 1980 The US Raid on Libya – and NATO Orbis 30 499–519 Zimmermann Tim May 1987 The American bombing of Libya: A success for coercive diplomacy? Survival 29 3 195–214 10.1080/00396338708442356 0039-6338 External links Flashback: 1986 Bombing of Libya – slideshow by Life Margaret Thatcher's statement on US bombing of Libya Excerpt from Victor Ostrovsky's The Other Side of Deception, HarperCollins, 1994 The Libyan Strike: How The Americans Did It (Operation El Dorado Canyon) at Air Power Australia July 1986 Category:1986 building bombings Category:1986 in international relations Category:1986 in Libya Category:1986 in military history Category:1986 in the United States Category:20th century in Tripoli, Libya Category:airport bombings in Libya Libya Category:airstrikes in Libya Category:April 1986 in Africa Category:attacks on air bases in Libya Category:attacks on barracks Category:attacks on military installations in 1986 Category:history of Benghazi Category:history of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi 1986 bombing Category:military history of Tripoli, Libya Category:presidency of Ronald Reagan Category:punitive expeditions of the United States Category:residential building bombings in Africa Category:Foreign policy of the Reagan administration