The American flight was hijacked and landed at Beirut airport? Zhang Feng intuitively knew that it must not be normal.

"Do you know who did it? What is the reaction of the United States? How did Arafat deal with it? Zhang Feng asked like a cannonball.

"So far, we only know that the hijacker is our Middle Easterners, the Greek police arrested more than a dozen suspected accomplices at the airport, all of them are Arabs, the US Air Force dispatched fighter planes to intercept them, but they were unsuccessful, the plane still landed at Beirut International Airport, Arafat's attitude, for the time being, I don't know." Yured said.

The hijackers were Middle Easterners, which force did they do it? Landing in Beirut, could it be the radical side of the PLO that did it? Then it's troublesome, Zhang Feng knows that this kind of hijacking is spurned by the whole society, if Israel takes advantage of this opportunity to clamore for anti-terrorism, coupled with the support of the United States, and the Soviet Union has no excuse to oppose it, Arafat's words will not be easy.

This kind of thing, even if you do it yourself, you can't admit it! Zhang Feng felt that it was time for him to communicate with Arafat and ask about his attitude.

Because of Zhang Feng's selfless assistance to Arafat last time, a direct contact has been established between Zhang Feng and Arafat, although the phone is easy to be tapped by Iraq's intelligence services, especially now in the Baghdad area, but Zhang Feng is not afraid of this level of contact that his father will know.

On the secret communication line, on the other end of the phone, Arafat's voice was heard.

"Uncle Yasir, did a plane land in Beirut today?" Zhang Feng asked.

"Not bad." "It was terrorists who hijacked a TWA airliner and forced it to land at Beirut airport," Arafat said. ”

"Do you know which side of the terrorists are?"

"It's not clear for the time being, but from the boarding records, we know that there are two terrorists on it, and they take the entire crew of the plane as hostages, and ask the West, led by the United States, to agree to their conditions."

"What conditions did they make?"

"Israel is to withdraw its troops and retreat to the demarcation line between the two sides set by the United Nations." Arafat's mouth revealed helplessness.

This condition obviously proves that they are from the Palestinian side, but he has not yet received any information, and none of the large and small organizations in the PLO have come forward to claim that they did it.

When Zhang Feng heard this, he also had the same idea, and then asked, "What does Uncle Yasil think about the actions of these people?" ”

"In any case, civilians are innocent, and this kind of activity against civilians cannot be promoted, otherwise, if this culture spreads, the situation will become out of control."

"Then you don't support it?"

"It is absolutely not supported, and at the moment, the hijackers are demanding to refuel the plane."

Come on? When Zhang Feng heard this, he felt that there was something else hidden in it, and asked, "Where else do they want to fly?" ”

"I don't know, the hijackers didn't say that."

"Did they put forward any other conditions?"

"By the way, it seems that in the end, there is also dissatisfaction with the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Iran." Arafat said.

Zhang Feng had a flash of inspiration in his mind, this hijacking incident, if it was not done by a small Palestinian organization, then it was definitely done by the Iranians, what a plan to kill two birds with one stone!

"Uncle Yasir, you can delay them, and send someone to negotiate with them, so that they can release the old people and children on the plane first." Zhang Feng said: "In this way, you can alleviate your suspicions, and then, if you mediate with the United States, I think, someone will definitely be eager to surface." ”

"Allah willing, I hope this incident can pass safely." Arafat put down the phone, he was not cowardly, but he had a long-term vision and had seen the possible consequences of this incident, which were serious.

Release some people first, and he can also have steps down. Moreover, if it is the elderly and children, there can be more ample excuses.

President Ronald Reagan canceled his vacation to California and was urgently consulting with his think tank on the emergency.

"Guys, you already know the general situation." Reagan said: "Our TWA Flight 832 was hijacked by terrorists, and the Air Force did not force the passenger plane to land despite its emergency dispatch, and now the passenger plane has landed at Beirut Airport, which is a serious terrorist attack, and we must come up with a suitable method." ”

Everyone else already knew about it, and they all had in their minds the Iranian hostage incident a few years ago, and if it weren't for that incident, President Carter's actions made the whole country unhappy, he would not have been re-elected, and President Reagan's election would not have been successful.

And during President Reagan's tenure, this kind of thing happened again, and if this matter is not resolved cleanly, it will be very troublesome for someone to make a fuss about it. In a country where the boil is boiled, President Ronald Reagan is likely to greatly reduce popular approval as a result.

"I advocate that we should send troops to attack the Beirut airport, and small forces should be airborne to kill the hijackers and save our people, and we will not compromise with the terrorists, we must stop them with drastic measures, otherwise, the same situation may happen in the future." This was stated by Defense Secretary Weinberg.

"Don't forget the lessons of Operation Eagle Claw, in an unfamiliar environment, to conduct a difficult special operation, what are the chances of our troops winning?" Secretary of State George said.

Just in the last Iranian hostage crisis, the United States [***] side carried out an inter-service joint secret rescue operation codenamed Operation Eagle Claw. However, the United States at that time did not have experience in this area.

There were many problems in their preparation work in advance, many of the equipment needed did not exist at that time, and at the same time, there was a lack of a unified command and control system, and more importantly, the whole plan could not find a suitable base within a distance, and the transport aircraft at that time did not have the ability to refuel in the air, resulting in the entire rescue operation becoming a very difficult special forces operation. In the end, the rescue operation of the special forces, who were not familiar with the Middle East environment, failed due to a desert storm, a helicopter collided with a C-130 Hercules transport plane and crashed, and 8 American [***] people were killed.

"Since the last defeat, we have trained accordingly, and also formed a joint command of the Special Operations Command and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment of the Army, and we are already capable of completing the mission, the American people, need the protection of his army!"

Although Weinberg took the initiative, the rest of the people did not agree with it.

"They landed in Beirut, which is easier to operate on the edge of the region than the last time in Tehran, but if we fail, the consequences will be severe." Vice President Bush said: "If the other side has two militants on the plane, there are grenades and pistols, and if the other side makes a desperate move, as long as a few of our people are injured, public opinion will become unfavorable to us. ”

"So, to resolve this incident, we need to show our strong force, but at the same time, we must also seek a peaceful solution to the problem." Poyndexter said.

"No, we will never compromise with terrorists!" Weinberg said: "In this case, we will be spurned by the people!" ”

"We're not compromising, we're just looking for the right way to solve the problem." White House Chief of Staff James also said: "I think the most important thing at the moment is the attitude of Beirut. ”

Reagan's eyes lit up: "Go on." ”

At present, the passenger plane hijacked by terrorists has landed in Beirut, then, whether these terrorists are related to Arafat, is very important, we should put pressure on Arafat, let him stand up for us, if he refuses, then we will be more supportive of the Israeli issue in the future, this is absolutely undesirable for him, and, as long as he refuses, then, it means that the hostages were sent by him, the entire PLO is a terrorist, and Israel occupies all the Palestinian territories, Just the fight against terrorism, all the more excuses. When James said this, everyone would have understood.

The hostages of the United States were taken by Arafat, and no one would believe it if he said it, because Arafat was not so stupid, and he did not have that motive, and if it was possible when Israel invaded Lebanon, now, it was completely unnecessary.

However, the hijackers are indeed Arabs, and they landed in Beirut, and the United States does not directly put pressure on the terrorists, but on Arafat, because at present, Beirut International Airport is controlled by the PLO, which is their territory, so if Arafat does not do a good job and does not rescue the hostages, or if he simply does nothing, any basin can be detained on the head of the PLO.

Transfer the crisis!

President Reagan finally made the decision: "The Navy SEALs are immediately stationed at Larnaca Air Base in Cyprus, ready to move at any time; The aircraft carrier group in the Gibraltar area, sailing into the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, ready to launch a surprise attack on Lebanon at any time, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, putting pressure on the PLO, if he does not deal with the hostages taken by the hijackers as soon as possible, then, our army, at any time, will board Beirut and personally rescue him! ”

While the eyes of the whole world were focused here, Arafat, who was at the center of the storm, had already begun his operation: negotiate with the hijackers!

(To be continued)