The Scarred Victims of Libya's Terror

By Erick Stakelbeck

CBN News Terror Analyst

July 19, 2007

CBNNews.com - WASHINGTON - When Libya gave up its nuclear weapons program in 2003, many analysts hailed it as major foreign policy victory for the Bush administration.

Since then, Libya has been taken off the list of state sponsors of terror, and there's even been talk of building a U.S. embassy in Tripoli.

But a group of U.S. Army veterans says that the Libyans don't deserve their new privileges.

Before Osama bin Laden, before Hamas, there was Ghadafi. The Libyan dictator directed deadly attacks against U.S. targets throughout the 1980s, becoming the face of terrorism for many Americans.

With the rise of radical Islamic groups like al-Qaeda, secular terrorists like Ghadafi have lost influence. But for victims of Ghadafi's reign of terror two decades ago, the wounds are still very fresh.

"I just dealt with the pain every day. I still deal with the pain," victim Reggie Borders said.

Borders served as a U.S. Army squad leader in Berlin. On the night of April 5, 1986, he and other U.S. servicemen and women were relaxing at the city's popular Labelle discotheque when a bomb tore through the club.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 90 more wounded. Reggie's eardrum was ruptured, and several of his vertebrae were dislocated.

"We just kind of hit the floor," Borders recalled. "And the next thing you knew, the whole club was gone. There were a lot more people in front of us that kind of shielded us from most of the blast. But if you look at the pictures of the explosion, you wouldn't believe how anyone could get out."

At first, Reggie thought the club was attacked by the Soviets. But he soon discovered that the Libyan government had ordered the bombing.

President Reagan retaliated by ordering missile strikes on Tripoli. But victims of the Labelle bombing are still waiting for justice.

For years, the U.S., European Union and the U.N. had imposed sanctions against Libya over its support for terrorism. But after Ghadafi agreed to hand over the Libyan agents responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 -- which killed 270 people -- the sanctions were eventually dropped.

The Libyan government also agreed to pay billions to the victims of the Pan Am and Labelle bombings. But in both cases, Ghadafi hasn't kept his word.

"I want the decency of him to apologize and accept what he's done to us, and how he's ruined our lives," Libyan terror victim Ann Marie Arnicar said.

Arnicar was sitting just a few feet from the bomb that tore the Labelle disco to shreds. She suffered bruises from head to toe, and her clothes were actually burned into her skin, leaving permanent scars.

Arnicar, who worked in military intelligence, has had multiple surgeries as a result of the tragedy.

"I'll always remember the bombing," she said. "If it's not physical, it'll be mental because I always have to feel that. And I look at my back, my buttocks, and it's embarrassing. You know, I don't want anybody to see what happened."

French, German and Turkish citizens were also injured in the Labelle bombing. They've been financially compensated by the Ghadafi regime.

They were paying everybody except us. The Turkish, the Germans, the French. What happened to us?" Arnicar asked.

The American victims thought they had a deal last year, when the Libyan government agreed to a settlement. The Libyans even notified the State Department of the agreement.

But just hours before the deal was set to be finalized, the Bush administration removed Libya from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. This was a major political victory for the Libyans -- and suddenly, they weren't so eager to play ball with the Labelle victims.

"Ghadafi is a dictator," Borders said. "He only listens to threats. If you don't threaten him -- say 'We're going to take this off. We're going to take that away,' he's not going to listen."

White House Advisor Frances Townshend recently traveled to Libya to deliver a letter on behalf of President Bush to Ghadafi urging the Libyan regime to follow through on its promises to compensate victims of the Pan Am and Labelle bombings.

The letter said, "For all of our allies around the world, we have issues of concern. We handle them privately and bilaterally. But they include things like making sure that the victims of the LaBelle disco bombing and Pan Am 103 get fully compensated."

The Libyan ambassador to the U.S. didn't respond to our phone calls. As for Reggie Borders and Ann Marie Arnicar, both of whom received Purple Hearts for the Labelle, the scars have never really healed.

Borders left his job as a television cameraman shortly after 9/11 when the violent images brought back too many bad memories.

"Seeing those clips and highlights over and over and over. I mean, I just -- I couldn't do it no more. I couldn't, I just couldn't do it," he said, crying.

Like Borders, Arnicar lives off disability for injuries she received in the Labelle bombing.

"It's like I'm a different person," she said. "It's just destroyed me, mentally and physically."

They say they're disappointed by the lack of support they've received by the Bush administration -- but they'd give anything to serve once again in the U.S. military.

"I got hurt in defense of my country, a country which I love dearly," Borders said. "I mean, I wave a flag in a heartbeat. If I had to go to Iraq today, if they say, "Mr. Borders, we need you to go to Iraq,' I'd put on my uniform and head right there."

A coalition of Democratic senators is pressuring the Bush administration to not restore diplomatic relations with the Libyan regime unless it compensates victims of the Pan Am and Labelle bombings.

As for Moammar Ghadafi, he now says he may have made a mistake by giving up his nuclear program.

Translate Page