July 27, 1982 – CBS World News Roundup – Newsbreak – 9:00 News – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Juy 27, 1982 – News from Beirut this day. U.S. envoy Philip Habib was on his way to Israel to meet with Menachem Begin in an attempt to fin a solution to the ongoing crisis in Lebanon. The Begin government was waiting for Habib, but with little enthusiasm. The cabinet members were convinced Habib had tried hard but had failed, that no one wanted the PLO fighters and that more talking was not going to convince the PLO to leave Beirut. The government hasn’t lost all patience; they were still willing to give Habib a chance. But they had also decided the only language the PLO was understanding was military. And that until there was a diplomatic breakthrough, military pressed would continue to be maintained daily. The new policy was Talk and Shell. Nothing Yassar Arafat had said in the previous few days has changed anyone’s thinking. In Israel, the prevailing sentiments were that the Americans who met with the PLO chief were duped and that Arafat had said nothing new and what the government regarded as his foxhole conversion was little more than a propaganda ploy and that the Israeli government weren’t going to dead with the PLO, no matter what they do. Meanwhile, Israel forces attacked Beirut for the sixth day in a row. Sudan had offered asylum for the PLO fighters, but the offer was rejected by Arafat.
In other news – U.S. grain sales to the Soviet Union were set to continue, but not for as long as Moscow would like. President had decided to extend the grain sales agreement for one more year rather than negotiate a new five-year agreement. That move was by way of Washington signaling the relaxation of Martial Law in Poland didn’t go far enough. But Reagan had no decided where and when he would be making his announcement. It could happen at the White House in the coming few days, or he could wait until the following Monday when he goes to Des Moines Iowa and announce it before an audience of corn growers.
And that’s a small slice of what happened, this July 27, 1982 as reported by The CBS World News Roundup, Newsbreak and the 9:00 am network news.
