You recall correctly. Unfortunately, that was America’s “Fear of International Incidents” period in which we were afraid to stand up for ourselves for fear of being viewed by the rest of the world as a bully.
What a crock!!
I think the real fear was getting bogged down in yet another land war in Asia. Too bad we didn’t have the weaponry then that we do now. A single cruise missile dropped on party HQS might’ve got their attention.