On December 4, the Syrians shot down two U.S. planes, and held one of the pilots, Lt. Robert Goodman, prisoner until releasing him to Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. Even more damaging to the administration’s prestige were press leaks regarding the Department of Defense’s Long Commission report, which harshly criticized the Marines’ deployment. On February 1, 1984, amidst mounting congressional criticism, Reagan approved the idea of redeploying the Marines but did not set a date for doing so.
