‘Slow to Anger,’ Reagan Says, ‘but Limits Reached’

President Reagan, condemning the slaying of six Americans in El Salvador, said today that “our limits have been reached” and pledged whatever military assistance is needed to strike back at the terrorists.

“We are slow to anger . . . but we also have our limits and our limits have been reached,” Reagan said in a statement. “We cannot allow our people to be placed at risk simply because they are blessed in being citizens of this great republic.”

Even so, White House spokesman Larry Speakes stressed that the United States will not use American troops in helping the Salvadoran government find and punish the gunmen who killed 13 people in the attack Wednesday night.

Worldwide Campaign

Reagan called for a worldwide campaign against terrorism in the wake of the El Salvador attack, the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines flight last Friday and the bombing of the Frankfurt airport Wednesday.

After a meeting with his national security advisers, Reagan directed the Pentagon, State Department and U.S. intelligence community to provide El Salvador “whatever assistance is necessary” to “find and punish the terrorists who perpetrated this act.”

In a statement read by Speakes, the President also said he had ordered a speedup in delivering military equipment on order by the Salvadoran government.

Furthermore, Reagan said he is prepared to use emergency authority “to furnish the Salvadoran armed forces with additional military assets which will help them prosecute their campaign against the communist guerrillas.”

He added, “If other U.S. military assets can be effective in this regard, then I shall provide them.”

Reagan’s statement said: “I want the American people to know that what we do in these circumstances must not be done in pointless anger. These events call for reasoned responses to lawless actions by those who do not abide by the norms of civilized society”

The President said “our actions must be appropriate and proportionate to the criminal acts taken against our citizens.”

Reagan also directed Vice President George Bush to consult with European allies during a trip beginning Sunday on what can be done to combat terrorism.

After he returns from Europe on July 3, Bush is to convene a government-wide task force to develop recommendations “on how all available U.S. resources can best be brought to bear in dealing with this problem,” Reagan said.

‘War Against Civilized Society’

He said the attack in El Salvador and the bombing in Frankfurt were “further evidence that the war which terrorists are waging is not only directed against the United States, it is a war against all of civilized society.

“This is a war in which innocent civilians are intentional victims and our servicemen have become specific targets,” the President said. “This cannot continue.”

Calling for a united campaign against terrorism, Reagan said, “We of the Western world must act together--as we once did 45 years ago against the threat of tyranny.”