Reagan targeted Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi for his sponsorship of terrorists who attacked the United States. Reagan referred to Gaddafi, who became the leader of Libya in 1969, as the “mad dog of the Middle East.” U.S. air forces targeted several areas near Tripoli, Libya’s capital, on April 15, 1986. Reagan justified the attack after learning that Gaddafi was responsible for the bombing of a West Berlin disco that left two Americans dead. Reagan also believed that Gaddafi had sponsored attacks on the airports in Rome and Vienna in 1985.