The 1983 Beirut barracks bombing was a major incident on October 23, 1983, during the Lebanese Civil War. Two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut housing U.S. and French members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon, killing hundreds of servicemen, the majority being U.S. Marines. The blasts led to the withdrawal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon, where they had been stationed since the Israeli 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Islamic Jihad took responsiblity for the bombing but the real institgator is thought to have been Hezbollah with help from the Islamic Republic of Iran.^[1] This photo taken from http://www. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... The Multinational Force in Lebanon (also MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982 and sent to Lebanon to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. ... A barracks housing conscripts of Norrbottens regemente in Boden, Sweden. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... ... A suicide bombing is an attack using a bomb in which the individual(s) carrying the explosive materials composing the bomb intend(s) and expect(s) to die upon detonation (see suicide). ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1983 Gregorian calendar). ... Combatants Lebanese Front Syria LNM PLO Commanders Bachir Gemayel Dany Chamoun Kamal Jumblatt Yasser Arafat The Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990) was a multifaceted civil war whose antecedents trace back to the conflicts and political compromises reached after the end of Lebanons administration by the Ottoman Empire. ... A car bomb is a bomb that is placed in a car or truck and is intended to be exploded while there. ... For other uses, see Beirut (disambiguation). ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... The Multinational Force in Lebanon (also MNF) was an international peacekeeping force created in 1982 and sent to Lebanon to oversee the withdrawal of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... The 1982 Invasion of Lebanon, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee (Shlom HaGalil in Hebrew), began June 6, 1982, when the Israel Defence Force invaded southern Lebanon purportedly in response to the Abu Nidal organizations assassination attempt against Israels ambassador to the United Kingdom, Shlomo Argov, and to halt... Hezbollah militant Guerrilla carrying Hezbollah Flag Hezbollah (Arabic ‮حزب الله‬, meaning Party of God) is a political and military organization in Lebanon founded in 1982 to fight Israel in southern Lebanon. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

The bombing

On around 6:20 am, a yellow Mercedes-Benz truck drove to Beirut International Airport, where the 1st Battalion 8th Marines, under the U.S. 2nd Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps, had set up its local headquarters. The truck had been substituted for a hijacked water delivery truck. The truck turned onto an access road leading to the Marines' compound and circled a parking lot. The driver then accelerated and crashed through a barbed wire fence around the parking lot, passed between two sentry posts, crashed through a gate and barreled into the lobby of the Marine headquarters. The Marine sentries at the gate were operating under their rules of engagement, which made it very difficult to respond quickly to the truck. By the time the two sentries had locked, loaded, and shouldered their weapons, the truck was already inside the building's entry way. This page is about the Mercedes-Benz brand of automobiles and trucks from the DaimlerChrysler automobile manufacturer. ... Terminal Overview Beirut International Airport is an airport located in Beirut, Lebanon. ... 1st Battalion 8th Marines (1/8) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina consisting of approximately 800 Marines and Sailors. ... The U.S. 2nd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps, which forms the ground-force component of the II Marine Expeditionary Force. ... The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a branch of the United States military responsible for providing power projection from the sea,[1] utilizing the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. ... A selection of forms of barbed wire. ... This article describes the military term of the rules of engagement. ...

The USMC barracks in Beirut

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives, which were equivalent to 12,000 pounds (about 5,400 kg) of TNT. The force of the explosion collapsed the four-story cinder-block building into rubble, crushing many inside. It is said by a U.S. federal district court judge to have been the largest non-nuclear blast ever (deliberately) detonated on the face of the earth.[1] According to Eric Hammel in his history of the Marine landing force, "The force of the explosion initially lifted the entire four-story structure, shearing the bases of the concrete support columns, each measuring fifteen feet in circumference and reinforced by numerous one and three quarter inch steel rods. The airborne building then fell in upon itself. A massive shock wave and ball of flaming gas was hurled in all directions." Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A suicide bombing is a bomb attack on people or property, committed by a person who knows the explosion will cause his or her own death in addition to the attacks primary purpose (see suicide, suicide weapons). ... R-phrases S-phrases Related Compounds Related compounds picric acid hexanitrobenzene Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 Â°C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. ...

About 20 seconds later, an identical attack occurred against the barracks of the French 3rd Company of the 6th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Another suicide bomber drove his truck down a ramp into the building's underground parking garage and detonated his bomb, leveling the headquarters.

Death toll

Rescue efforts continued for days. While the rescuers were at times hindered by sniper fire, some survivors were pulled from the rubble and airlifted to the RAF hospital in Cyprus or to U.S. and German hospitals in West Germany [2]. For other uses, see Sniper (disambiguation). ... RAF Akrotiri is one of the few full-scale Royal Air Force stations left outside the United Kingdom. ...

In the attack on the American barracks, the death toll was 241 American servicemen: 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel and 3 Army soldiers. Sixty Americans were injured. In the attack on the French barracks, 58 paratroopers were killed and 15 injured, in the single worst military loss for the French since the end of the Algerian war.^[2] In addition, the elderly Lebanese custodian of the Marines' building was killed in the first blast.^[3] The wife and four children of a Lebanese janitor at the French building also were killed.^[4] A janitor is a person who takes care of a building, such as a school, office building, or apartment block. ...

This was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima (2,500 in one day) of World War II and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the 243 killed on 31st January 1968 — the first day of the Tet offensive in the Vietnam war. The attack remains the deadliest post-World War II attack on Americans overseas. ^[5] Combatants  United States  Empire of Japan Commanders Holland Smith Tadamichi Kuribayashi â€  Strength 110,000 21,000 Casualties 8,226 dead 19,189 wounded,[1] 494 missing[1] Total: 27,909 20,703 dead,[1] 216 captured[1] Total: 20,919 The Battle of Iwo Jima was fought between the United... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Combatants Republic of Vietnam, United States, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Australia National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, Democratic Republic of Vietnam Commanders William C. Westmoreland Võ Nguyên Giáp Strength 500,000+ (estimate) 84,000+ (estimate) Casualties 2,788 Killed, 8,299 wounded, 587 missing 1... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Response

President Ronald Reagan called the attack a "despicable act" and pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon. Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger said there would be no change in the U.S.'s Lebanon policy. On October 24 French President François Mitterrand visited the French bomb site. It was not an official visit, and he only stayed for a few hours, but he did declare: "We will stay." U.S. Vice President George Bush toured the Marine bombing site on October 26 and said the U.S. "would not be cowed by terrorists." Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Caspar Willard Cap Weinberger, GBE (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006), was an American politician and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after Robert McNamara and Donald Rumsfeld. ... is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The President of France, known officially as the President of the Republic (Président de la République in French), is Frances elected Head of State. ...   IPA: (October 26, 1916 – January 8, 1996) was President of France from 1981 to 1995, elected as representative of the Socialist Party (PS). ... George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924) was the 41st President of the United States, serving from 1989 to 1993. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

In retaliation for the attacks, France launched an air strike in the Beqaa Valley against Iranian Revolutionary Guard positions. President Reagan assembled his national security team and planned to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters.^[6] But Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger aborted the mission, reportedly because of his concerns that it would harm U.S. relations with other Arab nations. A military strike is a limited attack on a specified target. ... Beqaa Valley Beqaa (Arabic: البقاع) is a valley in Lebanon. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Temple of Bacchus Details inside Temple of Bacchus Baalbek (Arabic: ) is a town in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude 3,850 ft (1,170 m), situated east of the Litani River. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ... Caspar Willard Cap Weinberger, GBE (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006), was an American politician and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after Robert McNamara and Donald Rumsfeld. ...

Besides a few shellings, there was no serious retaliation for the Beirut bombing from the Americans. In December 1983, U.S. aircraft attacked Syrian targets in Lebanon, but this was in response to Syrian missile attacks on planes, not the barracks bombing.

In the meantime, the attack gave a boost to the growth of the new radical pro-Iranian Shi'ite organization Hezbollah. Hezbollah denied involvement in the attacks but was seen as involved nonetheless as it praised the "two martyr mujahidin" who "set out to inflict upon the U.S. Administration an utter defeat not experienced since Vietnam ..." ^[7] Hezbollah was now seen by many as "the spearhead of the sacred Muslim struggle against foreign occupation". For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ...

Amal militia leader Nabih Berri, who had previously supported U.S. mediation efforts, asked the U.S. and France to leave Lebanon and accused the U.S. and France of seeking to commit `massacres` against the Lebanese and creating a `climate of racism` against the Shia." ^[8] Islamic Jihad phoned in new threats against the MNF "pledging that `the earth would tremble` unless the MNF withdrew by new years day of 1984.^[9]

The Marines were moved offshore where they could not be targeted. On February 7, 1984, President Reagan ordered the Marines to begin withdrawal from Lebanon. This was completed on February 26; the rest of the MNF was withdrawn by April. is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Aftermath

At the time of the bombing, several radical Shiite militant groups claimed responsibility for the attacks, and one, the Free Islamic Revolutionary Movement, identified the two suicide bombers as Abu Mazen and Abu Sijaan.^[10] Shi‘as (the adjective in Arabic is شيعى shi‘i; English has traditionally used Shiite) which mean follower in Arabic make up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%-35% of all Muslim. ...

After some years of investigation the bombing was thought to have been commited by the Lebanese Shia militant militia and political party Hezbollah while it was still "underground," though opinion is not unanimous. (Hezbollah went public in 1985, when it published a manifesto condemning the West and proclaiming, "Allah is behind us supporting and protecting us while instilling fear in the hearts of our enemies."^[11]) Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... Lebanese Kataeb militia A Militia is an organization of citizens to provide defense, emergency or paramilitary service, or those engaged in such activity. ... “Political Parties” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ... Allah is the Arabic language word for God. ...

The U.S. government believes that elements that would eventually become Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, were responsible for this bombing,^[12] as well as the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in April. Hezbollah, Iran and Syria have denied any involvement. The April 18, 1983, suicide bombing of the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon was the deadliest attack on a US displomatic mission to that time, and is seen by some as marking the beginning of anti-US attacks by Islamic groups. ...

Author Hala Jaber claims that Iran and Syria helped organize the bombing which was run by two Lebanonese Shia, Imad Mughniyeh and Mustapha Badredeen: Hala Jaber is an Arab journalist currently writing for British paper The Sunday Times. ...

Imad Mughniyeh and Mustapha Badredeen took charge of the Syrian-Iranian backed operation. Mughniyeh had been a highly trained security man with the PLO's Force 17 . . . Their mission was to gather information and details about the American embassy and draw up a plan that would guarantee the maximum impact and leave no trace of the perpetrator. Meetings were held at the Iranian embassy in Damascus. They were usually chaired by the ambassador, Hoffatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi, who played an instrumental role in founding Hezbollah. In consultation with several senior Syrian intelligence officers, the final plan was set in motion. The vehicle and explosives were prepared in the Bekaa Valley which was under Syrian control. ^[13] Imad Fayez Mugniyah (born December 7, 1962) is a senior member of the Lebanese terrorist group Hizbullah. ... The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (Arabic Munazzamat al-Tahrir Filastiniyyah منظمة تحرير فلسطينية ) is a political and paramilitary organization of Palestinian Arabs dedicated to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state to consist of the... Force 17 is an elite VIP terror unit of the Palestinian Fatah movement and later of the Office of the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. ... A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ... Nickname: The Seal of the Damascus Governorate Syria Syria Governorates Damascus Governorate Government  - Governor Bishr Al Sabban Area  - City 573 km²  (221. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... For other uses, see Hezbollah (disambiguation). ... ...

Analysts believe a major factor leading Iran to participate in the attacks on the barracks was America's support for Iraq in the Iran Iraq War, its extending of $2 billion in trade credit to Iraq while halting the shipments of arms to Iran, ^[14]) A few weeks before the bombing Iran warned that the providing armaments to Iran's enemies would provoke retaliatory punishment. ^[15] Combatants Iran Iraq Commanders Strength Casualties Est. ...

Along with the U.S. Embassy bombing, the barracks bombing prompted the Inman Report, a review of the security of U.S. facilities overseas for the U.S. Department of State. The Inman Report, formally known as the Report of the Secretary of States Advisory Panel on Overseas Security, was a report released in 1985 in response to the Marine barracks bombing and the April 1983 US Embassy bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. ... The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ...

In May 2003, in a case brought by the families of the 241 servicemen who were killed, U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth declared that the Islamic Republic of Iran was responsible for the 1983 attack. Lamberth concluded that Hezbollah was formed under the auspices of the Iranian government, was completely reliant on Iran in 1983, and assisted Iranian Ministry of Information and Security agents in carrying out the operation.^[16] Among the intelligence information initially uncovered by Thomas Fortune Fay, an attorney for the families of the victims, was a National Security Agency (NSA) intercept of a message sent from Iranian intelligence headquarters in Tehran to Hojjat ol-eslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashemi, the Iranian ambassador in Damascus. As it was paraphrased by presiding U.S. District Court Judge Royce C. Lamberth, "The message directed the Iranian ambassador to contact Hussein Musawi, the leader of the terrorist group Islamic Amal, and to instruct him ... 'to take a spectacular action against the United States Marines.'"[3] Musawi's Islamic Amal was a breakaway faction of the Amal Movement and the autonomous part of embroyonic Hezbollah.[4] The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... Judge Royce C. Lamberth Judge Royce C. Lamberth (born 1943) is a judge in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. ... “NSA” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Tehran (disambiguation). ... Nickname: The Seal of the Damascus Governorate Syria Syria Governorates Damascus Governorate Government  - Governor Bishr Al Sabban Area  - City 573 km²  (221. ... For other uses of Amal, see the disambiguation page. ...

On September 7, 2007, Judge Lamberth ordered that Iran pay USD$2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. servicepersons killed in the bombing. ^[17] is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

However, some in the U.S. government claim it is unclear who is responsible for the Marine barracks attack. For example in 2001 the former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger stated: "But we still do not have the actual knowledge of who did the bombing of the Marine barracks at the Beirut Airport, and we certainly didn't then."^[18] Caspar Willard Cap Weinberger, GBE (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006), was an American politician and Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from January 21, 1981, until November 23, 1987, making him the third longest-serving defense secretary to date, after Robert McNamara and Donald Rumsfeld. ...

In his book By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer, Victor Ostrovsky claims that Mossad knew in advance of the attack but did not warn the United States.^[19] There have been claims that Israel wanted U.S. and French troops to leave Lebanon so it could freely operate in Lebanon without restriction.^{[citation needed]} By way of deception – The making and unmaking of a Mossad Officer (ISBN 0-9717595-0-2) is a book written by Victor Ostrovsky and Claire Hoy and published by St. ... Victor Ostrovsky (born on November 28, 1949 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian-born, Israel-raised former Mossad officer and author of 2 non-fiction books on the Mossad and two fictional spy novels. ... For the Haganah branch responsible for coordinating Jewish immigration into the British Mandate of Palestine, see Mossad Lealiyah Bet. ...

See also

• State-sponsored terrorism

The definitions of state-sponsored terrorism, terrorism, and state terrorism are controversial. ...

Notes

1. ^ Ranstorp, Hizb'allah (1997), p.89-90
2. ^ Wright, Robin, Sacred Rage, Simon and Schuster, 2001, p.72
3. ^ http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/XX/MidEast/Lebanon-1982-1984/DOD-Report/Beirut-8.html
4. ^ "French Troops Heard Blast at Marine Headquarters, Then . . ." The Associated Press, October 30, 1983.
5. ^ www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/archives/109/30143.pdf
6. ^ Bates, John D. (Presiding) (September 2003). "Anne Dammarell et al. v. Islamic Republic of Iran" (pdf). The United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
7. ^ quote from FBIS, August 1994, quoted in Ranstorp, Hizb’allah in Lebanon (1997), p.38
8. ^ statement from November 22, 1983. Wright, Sacred Rage, (2001), p.99
9. ^ statement from December 1983, from Wright, Sacred Rage, (2001), p.99
10. ^ http://news.billinge.com/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/23/newsid_2489000/2489117.stm
11. ^ In The Party Of God
12. ^ Cite error 8; No text given.
13. ^ Jaber, Hala. Hezbollah : born with a vengeance, New York : Columbia University Press, c1997. p.82
14. ^ Anthony H. Cordesman, The Iran-Iraq war and Western Security, 1984-1987: Strategic Implications and Policy Options, Janes Publishing Company, 1987
15. ^ For Iran's threat of retaliatory measures; see Ettela'at, 17 September 1983; Kayhan, 13 October 1983; and Kayhan, 26 October 1983, quoted in Ranstorp, Magnus, Hizb'allah in Lebanon : The Politics of the Western Hostage Crisis, New York, St. Martins Press, 1997,p.117
16. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/05/30/iran.barracks.bombing/
17. ^ Matt Apuzzo. "Iran is fined $2.65 billion in Marine deaths", September 7, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-07. 
18. ^ Weinberger, Caspar. "Interview: Caspar Weinberger", PBS Frontline, 2001. 
19. ^ Victor Ostrovsky: By Way of Deception: The Making and Unmaking of a Mossad Officer. St. Martins Press, 1990.

The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Victor Ostrovsky (born on November 28, 1949 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian-born, Israel-raised former Mossad officer and author of 2 non-fiction books on the Mossad and two fictional spy novels. ... By way of deception – The making and unmaking of a Mossad Officer (ISBN 0-9717595-0-2) is a book written by Victor Ostrovsky and Claire Hoy and published by St. ...

External links

• Lebanese civil war Full Information
• 241.SaveTheSoldiers.com A Honorary Tribute to the soldiers who died
• Lebanese civil war 1983 Full of Pictures and Information
• John H. Kelly : Lebanon 1982-1984 - includes Diary entries by Ronald Reagan: " I have ordered the use of Naval Gunfire. " - Sept. 11 1983
• Report on the bombing
• Aftermath pictures
• The Beirut Memorial Online
• Memorial to those killed
• Impact of bombing, 20 years on
• BeirutVeterans.Info - Information for and about the Beirut Veteran
• Beirut Stamp Initiative
• Official Beirut Veterans of America Website