Diary Entry - 12/05/1983
Key Facts
President Reagan attends a National Security Council meeting.
President Reagan meets with representatives of NASA and the European Space Agency to discuss the current spacelab mission.
N.S.C. in the morning—subject Lebanon. We took out 11 Anti-aircraft & missile launching sites, a radar installation & an ammo dump. Syria says they will hold our captured pilot (they’re returning the body of the other) until we all leave Lebanon. Our press & T.V. are hostile to the point of being pro Syrian. Did a satellite T.V. conference call with our astronauts in the Shuttle along with Chancellor Kohl who is in Athens for an E.C. meeting. It turned out alright. A Budget appeal meeting on N.A.S.A.’s request. I think we’re OK there & can still start to plan a space station. We now have a U.S. attorney in each of the 94 districts—I mean one appointed by us. They are meeting in Wash. I went over to the W.H. after lunch & spoke to them on our fight against crime & they’re a part of that. A 2nd budget review meeting. Dave S. is pessimistic about our chance of getting much more in cuts from the Congress. I told him we had to try. We must get the people with us or we’ll never wind down the deficits. Saw some Ambassadors off to Haiti, Czechoslovakia, Burma & Brazil. Met with Geo. S. who is off to meetings in Europe tomorrow. We see pretty much eye to eye on our problems in Lebanon & with the little Red brothers in Moscow. We have a back channel contact we hope can get some common sense discussion going with them.
