Text of U.S. Statement: ‘Exercising Rights to International Waters’

Following is the text of the statement by White House spokesman Larry Speakes on Monday on the confrontation between Libya and the United States, and excerpts from the question-and-answer session between Speakes and reporters:

“U.S. naval aircraft and ships carrying out a peaceful freedom of navigation and overflight exercise in international waters and airspace in the Gulf of Sidra were fired on Monday by missile forces of Libya. This morning at 7:52 a.m. EST, (4:52 a.m. PST) Libyan forces without provocation fired two long-range, SA-5 surface-to-air missiles from Surt on the northern coast of Libya at U.S. aircraft operating in international waters in the gulf.

U.S. forces have been operating in that area since Sunday afternoon. Two additional SA-5s and an SA-2 were launched from Surt at 12:45 p.m. EST (9:45 a.m. PST). An additional SA-5 was fired at 1:14 p.m. EST (10:14 a.m. PST). At this point, Libyan forces had fired a total of six surface-to-air missiles at U.S. forces.

At approximately 2 p.m., a U.S. aircraft fired two Harpoon anti-ship missiles at a Libyan high-speed missile patrol boat which was located near the 32 (degrees) 30 (minutes) north line and was a threat to U.S. naval forces.

The Libyan fast-attack craft--naval craft--was hit. The ship is dead in the water, burning, and appears to be sinking. There are no apparent survivors. At approximately 3 p.m., U.S. forces operating south of the 32-30 line responded to the missile attacks by launching two HARM high-speed radiation missiles at the SA-5 site at Surt. At that time, the SA-5 complex was attempting to engage our aircraft.

We are now assessing the damage. We have no reports of any U.S. casualties and no loss of U.S. aircraft or ships has been reported. This attack was entirely unprovoked and beyond the bounds of normal international conduct. U.S. forces were intent upon only making the legal point that beyond the internationally recognized 12-mile limit, the Gulf of Sidra belongs to none, and that all nations are free to move through international waters and airspace. We deny Libya’s claim, as almost all other nations do, and we condemn Libya’s actions. They point out again, for all to see the aggressive and unlawful nature of Col. (Moammar) Kadafi’s regime.

It should be noted that because of these numerous Libyan missile launches and indications that they intend to continue air and missile attacks on U.S. forces, we now consider all approaching Libyan forces to have hostile intent. We have taken appropriate measures to defend ourselves in this instance; we do not, of course, proceed in this area with our eyes closed. We reserve the right to take additional measures as events warrant.”

Question: Is this war?

Answer: I can’t characterize it as war. It is a peaceful navigational exercise in international waters by the United States. We went in not attempting to make a provocation, simply exercising our right to operate in international waters.

Q: Were the Soviets running the SAM sites?

A: That’s for the Libyans to answer. You’d have to ask the Libyans that.

Q: Were Soviets killed in our retaliation?

A: I cannot confirm that. Any staffing of the missile sites by Soviets would be something that the Libyan government would have to account for. We have our views plain to the Soviets in the past--that we consider Col. Kadafi’s regime is an outlaw regime, that it is up to no good in the Middle East and throughout the world, and the Soviets understand that.

Q: Am I to take it that unless we are attacked or approached by Libyan forces, we will not conduct any further strikes as a result of the firing of the six missiles that you’ve described?

A: I will not discuss any future activities of the U.S. fleet that is operating in the area . . . . Our instructions to the fleet and to those American servicemen that are operating with the fleet are that if they are fired upon, if they are attacked, then they are to defend themselves.

Q: The President ordered this specific attack or was there a standing operational order?

A: We do not discuss our rules of engagement, but certainly commanders on the scene have discretion to operate and protect themselves.

Q: Was there any use of the hotline or any attempt to let the Soviets know what we were about to do?

A: We briefed the Soviets at the onset of the exercise, and that is the onset of the freedom of navigation exercise. We will not discuss further diplomatic contacts with them or other individuals in the region . . . .

Q: Tell us why the patrol boat was selected as a target?

A: The patrol boat was operating on the so-called ‘line of death’ at 32 (degrees) 30 (minutes) north and it was approaching our forces and deemed to have hostile intent.

Q: It did not fire, so far as you know?

A: I have not heard of it firing. That vessel is a high-speed missile naval craft that has 40-mile range and has considerable missile and other firepower on it.

Q: Could you deal specifically with the Libyan claim that it has downed three American aircraft?

A: We have no reports of that. . . .

Q: There’s still widespread suspicion by many people that the Administration sought to provoke just what’s happened today (Monday)--that is, to provoke Kadafi into firing first so as to have an excuse to strike. Would you answer that?

A: This was not an act designed to provoke a response or to humiliate Kadafi. The exercise was one among many in a global program in support of the traditional maritime rights--which, if we do not assert from time to time, tend to be eroded and encroached upon. We simply cannot allow other nations to dictate where we or anyone else cannot go if that place happens to be recognized international waters and airspace.

Q: Are you going to keep up the exercise?

A: We’re not discussing the further movements of the fleet, but the exercise will continue for as long as deemed necessary.

Q: Does your view of all Libyan craft now approaching as hostile last for the remaining 10 days of it, or how long does that last?

A: Those aircraft which approach the U.S. fleet will be deemed to have hostile intent, and it will last as long as they continue to approach our aircraft in the area. . . .

Q: Kadafi has threatened to bring a war of terrorism to the United States in the event of something like this. Are we on any kind of particular security or intelligence alert in anticipation of this?

A: We would not discuss what type of alerts or status of our forces in the intelligence area are. You can certainly assume that we are always on the alert. And it will be our job to protect United States properties, individuals, servicemen wherever they might be.

Q: Are there any Americans still in Libya?

A: I would assume there are some. I do not have numbers. There was a fairly rapid departure of U.S. citizens except in some cases such as those married to Libyans and so forth.

Q: There are no U.S. casualties, at this point?

A: We’re not aware of any casualties to U.S. servicemen, and we’re not aware of any damage to any aircraft or ships.

Q: What’s the message to Kadafi and Libya in all this?

A: The message is that the United States will operate in international waters. We were there. We filed a notice. We indicated that we were going to operate in this zone in a peaceful manner. We did so. We were attacked. We were attacked by six missiles. And then, and only then, did we respond.

Q: Are we seeking to put him on notice about terrorist acts that Libya has allegedly perpetrated elsewhere?

A: Our objective in this exercise was a freedom of navigation exercise in international waters and international airspace.

Q: If these are international waters and the Libyans have the same right here as we do, how do we determine that a patrol boat that has not been involved in firing missiles has hostile intent?

A: This craft of the Libyans was at the 32-30 line--right on the line. That’s in excess of 100 miles, perhaps 200 miles, from the Libyan coast. We recognize the 12-mile limit. We were operating in the area. We had filed a notice of intent of our operations. We had been operating there since Sunday. And the approach of the Libyan missile boat occurred after several missiles--six in all--had been fired at our aircraft, and so the commander made the decision and that’s what was done.

Q: How many U.S. ships was this patrol boat approaching?

A: We have three carrier battle groups operating in the Mediterranean. They have since mid-week, last week. I don’t know the approximate number that was in that specific area . . . . If you look back in history, that same type of craft . . . sunk an Israeli destroyer some time ago . . . .

Q: Can you tell us whether indeed at least some of these six missiles came very close to U.S. planes?

A: I cannot give the distance, but when the HARM missiles were fired, we had evidence that the radar was preparing to zero in on U.S. aircraft that were operating in the area, and that’s when we returned the fire with HARM missiles. . . . We were convinced that it was a dangerous situation, that there was hostile action pending . . . .

Q: What do you think the effect of this is on the region and on the perception of U.S. power and U.S. policy against terrorism?

A: I think that virtually every country--almost all countries--support the right of peaceful transit in international waters. Very few countries recognize the line of 32-30 as Libyan territory. The United States does not, and most do not.

Q: Do you think this sends a larger message to people in the region and to other countries?

A: That’s for them to interpret.

Q: Do you think you make a hero of Kadafi in the Arab world?

A: I can’t make that judgment. . . .

Q: Was any effort made on the part of the U.S. ship to contact this Libyan PT boat?

A: I don’t know.

Q: Does the fact that you’ve now reached a military confrontation, whether you sought it or not, mean that the efforts taken in January--the economic sanctions, the efforts to get the Europeans to join you--are essentially failed?

A: These are quite two different subjects. One, we’re continuing with our economic sanctions. We’re continuing with our consultations with allies in order to encourage them to isolate the Kadafi regime. This is an exercise that is a freedom of navigation exercise.

Q: Have your economic sanctions failed as a result of not getting others to join you?

A: We had approached this as a long-term approach to the terrorist activities that Col. Kadafi was promoting worldwide. We were making progress; I think we’ll continue to make progress. . . .

Q: Was there any rescue effort for the crewmen of the patrol boat?

A: I don’t know. That patrol boat is normally staffed by . . . 27 people. We did not have any indication of any survivors at the site. As far as the missile site is concerned, we are still assessing. . . .