Click on the link here for Audio Player – CBS World News Roundup + 9:00 am Network News – May 22, 1984 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection
News for this 22nd of May in 1984 had a lot to do with the ongoing Iran-Iraq War and new flare ups in the Persian Gulf, threatening to involve neighboring states in the region. At issue were repeated attacks on shipping, notably oil tankers loading in what Iraq considered “the war zone”. The Arab nations, caught in the middle of this war, were finalizing a defense plan in order to insure safety of oil shipments. The U.S. offered help, but the Saudis were leery of the intentions – help patrolling waters in exchange for bases. Most of the affected countries felt any American presence in the region would only provoke Islamic extremists, and this could trigger off the proverbial chain-reaction.
All this, because the affect of the near-constant attacks on shipping were causing a downturn in the region’s economy, with oil revenues dropping as much as 15% over the previous year. The United Nations Security Council was preparing to hear the problem in the coming days.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Salvadoran President-Elect and Super-salesman José Napoléon Duarte was busily twisting arms and slapping backs in an attempt to drum up much-needed aid and equipment for his country. Congress was insisting that any aid be predicated upon an improvement of Human Rights issues, which apparently neither side in the El Salvador conflict could claim wind-blown innocence over. Duarte however, was dangling the anti-Communist carrot, saying if Congress didn’t cough up the promised $62 million in aid, it could be the end of his vision of the Shining City On a Hill and the takeover by the Commies would be Cuba all over again.
In Spy vs. Spy news – the Soviets expelled a British diplomat in Moscow over spy charges, in a tit-for-tat over Britain’s expulsion of a Russian diplomat in London over the same.
India was stumping for Nuclear disarmament between Washington and Moscow. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi voiced concern that the world was teetering on the brink of extinction if steps were taken to eliminate the Nuclear threat that existed between the two super-powers.
And it was still the middle of Primary Season for the 1984 Presidential elections, and candidates were busily tripping over each other on the way to key states in the upcoming elections.
All that, and a whole lot more for this May 22nd in 1984 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am News with Richard C. Hottelet.
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