Statement by Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the Soviet Attack on a Korean Civilian Airliner

I would like, on behalf of the President, to thank the OAS member countries for their extraordinary support regarding the Korean Air Lines tragedy, which they expressed at the OAS Permanent Council meeting yesterday. As the President has often said, there is far more that unites us in this hemisphere than could ever divide us, and the demonstration of this was never plainer than at yesterday's OAS Permanent Council meeting.

The unanimous messages of condolence, and the deploring of this act by all 24 OAS Permanent Representatives present at the meeting, reconfirms our belief that terror and indiscriminate use of force will not go unchallenged by the nations of the Western Hemisphere. This unanimous sign of compassion by the OAS members makes us confident that the world has learned a bitter lesson from this tragedy.