ABSTRACT
On the day of Ronald Reagan's inauguration, January 20, 1981, American citizens who had languished as hostages in Teheran since November of 1979 were finally released by their Iranian captors. 1 Less than a month later, President Reagan issued an explicit warning to would-be terrorists and their supporters: ‘[W]hen the rules of international behavior are violated, our policy will be one of swift and effective retribution.’ 2 No longer would the United States passively endure acts of international terrorism, suggested Reagan. Now it would act.
