It remains one of the most intolerable and vile acts of terrorism on the
high seas. 1985: Four PLO hijackers seized the cruise ship Achille Lauro
off the coast of Egypt, demanding the release of prisoners held by
Israel. After Syria denied them permission to dock at the port of
Tartus, the terrorists executed a disabled Jewish American passenger
named Leon Klinghoffer, shooting him twice as he sat in his wheelchair.
They dumped his body and wheelchair overboard.

Egypt's president Mubarak then offered the hijackers safe passage by air
to their headquarters in Tunisia, but American warplanes forced the
Boeing 737 to land at a NATO airbase on Sicily. Though a U.S. citizen
has been murdered, the Italian authorities refused to let Navy SEALs
board the terrorists' plane and apprehend the hijackers.

After a tense armed standoff between Italian Carbinieri and American
special forces lasting through the night, President Ronald Reagan
ordered U.S. troops to stand down. The Italians allowed Abu Abbas, the
mastermind of the hijacking, to escape to Yugoslavia. He remained free
until his capture in Iraq in 2003.

Remember this story when you hear Glenn Beck's minions bray about
conservative vigilance in the pursuit of murderous pirates.

--
Palin & Bachmann in 2012 -
All Stupidity All the Time