Partial Text of President Reagan's October 24 Statement on Lebanon

The following is a partial text of President Reagan's statement to journalists at a news conference October 24 following the bombing of the U.S. marine compound in Lebanon.

Many Americans are wondering why we must keep our forces in Lebanon.

Well, the reason they must stay there until the situation is under control is quite clear. We have vital interests in Lebanon. And our actions in Lebanon are in the cause of world peace. With our allies, England, France and Italy, we're part of a multinational peacekeeping force seeking a withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and from the Beirut area while a new Lebanese government undertakes to restore sovereignty throughout that country.

By promoting peace in Lebanon we strengthen the forces for peace throughout the Middle East. This is not a Republican or a Democratic goal, but one that all Americans share. Peace in Lebanon is key to the region's stability now and in the future.

To the extent that the prospect for future stability is heavily influenced by the presence of our forces, it is central to our credibility on a global scale. We must not allow international criminals and thugs such as these to undermine the peace in Lebanon.

The struggle for peace is indivisible. We cannot pick and choose where we will support freedom. We can only determine how. If it's lost in one place, all of us lose. If others feel confident that they can intimidate us and our allies in Lebanon they will become more bold elsewhere. If Lebanon ends up under the tyranny of forces hostile to the West, not only will our strategic position in the eastern Mediterranean be threatened but also the stability of the entire Middle East, including the vast resource areas of the Arabian Peninsula.

In conjunction with our multinational force partners, we're trying to take measures to strengthen the capabilities of our forces to defend themselves. The United States will not be intimidated by terrorists.

We have strong circumstantial evidence linking the perpetrators of this atrocity to others that have occurred against us in the recent past, including the bombing of our embassy in Beirut last April.

Every effort will be made to find the criminals responsible for this act of terrorism so this despicable act will not go unpunished.