Beirut Barracks Attack Remembered Oct. 23, 1983 Suicide Bombing Killed 241 Americans

CBS News ^ | Oct. 23, 2003

[AmericanMade1776]

Quiet commemorations were planned Thursday for the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut ? the deadliest terrorist attack on Americans prior to Sept. 11.

A truck full of explosives ripped through the Marine barracks on October 23rd, 1983, killing 241 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers.

Services were being held at the national Beirut memorial at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Observances include a candlelight vigil and a wreath-laying ceremony, with the names of the Beirut victims read by family members and other veterans.

The Marines were in Lebanon as part of an international peacekeeping force trying to stabilize the country, which had been torn by a civil war between Christians ? with their ally Israel ? and Muslims.

[AmericanMade1776]

A U.S. Marine, his leg severely damaged from the explosion that destroyed a Marine base command center, is carried by comrades for emergency medical treatment in Beirut, Lebanon, Oct. 23, 1983

[AmericanMade1776]

A U.S. investigation blamed lax security for allowing the bomber to get into the Marines' compound.

Lamberth ruled in May than Iran was responsible for the attack because of its support for Hezbollah. "It is beyond question that Hezbollah and its agents received massive material and technical support from the Iranian government," Lamberth wrote.

U.S. troops left Lebanon in February 1984.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/23/world/main579638.shtml

[AmericanMade1776]

Hezbollah sponsered by Iran, killed 241 Americans October 23, 1983 in Lebanon.

[AmericanMade1776]

Hezbollah or Hizbollah/Hizbullah or Hezb'Allah[1] (Arabic: ‮ÍÒÈ Çááå‬ý, meaning Party of God) is a Lebanese Shia Islamic group, with a military arm and a civilian arm, founded in 1982 to fight the Israeli Defense Forces who occupied southern Lebanon until the year 2000.[2] Its leader is Hassan Nasrallah. Hezbollah was "inspired by the success of the Iranian Revolution"[3] and was formed primarily to combat Israeli occupation following the 1982 Lebanon War.[4][5][6] The United States and Israel claim that Hezbollah receives financial and political assistance, as well as weapons and training, from Iran and Syria.[7] Syria says it supports Hezbollah, but denies supplying it with weapons.[8] Along with the Amal movement, Hezbollah is the main political party and military organization representing the Shia community, Lebanon's largest religious bloc.[9] Founded with the aid of Iran and funded by it,[10] Hezbollah follows the distinct Shia Islamic ideology developed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.[11] Hezbollah is regarded by the Iranian[12] and Syrian[13] governments, as a legitimate resistance movement and is a recognized political party in Lebanon, where it has participated in government.[14] The civilian wing participates in the Parliament of Lebanon, taking 18% of the seats (23 out of 128) and the bloc it forms with others, the "Resistance and Development Bloc", 27,3% (see Lebanese general election, 2005). It is a minority partner in the current Cabinet. The civilian wing also runs hospitals, news services, and educational facilities. Its Reconstruction Campaign (Jihad al-Bina) is responsible for numerous economic and infrastructural development projects in Lebanon.[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah

[A.A. Cunningham]

23 October 1983 Beirut Lebanon

The same BLT - Battalion Landing Team - 1st Battalion 8th Marines, that, as part of the 24th MAU in 1983 was attacked by the Islamakazis is enroute onboard the USS Iwo Jima today as part of the 24th MEU.

Battalion Landing Team 1/8
"The Beirut Battalion"

[AmericanMade1776]

Updated map of Lebanon and region showing the latest attacks by Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants. Israeli troops have battled Lebanese guerrillas and warplanes bombed a suspected Hezbollah bunker as Lebanon issued a desperate plea for international help after the bloodiest day of the conflict.(AFP/Graphic)

[AmericanMade1776]

Thank you for that thread

[Last Dakotan]

The best way to remember the fallen is to have rounds in the chamber of your post security detail.

[travlnmn41]

>>The best way to remember the fallen is to have rounds in the chamber of your post security detail.<<
But we wouldn't want to offend the locals, now, would we?

[Element187]

and the left is claiming Hezbollah is a legitimate security force?

[BookaT]

If, and it is a big IF, if we had any sort of balanced reporting this statement would be rolling off the tongues of every reporter giving any reports about this war.

I think over 50% of Americans are oblivious to this FACT! A lot of people that vote here were not even born when this happened.

This fact needs more exposure.

[Dick Bachert]

And that "lax security" was caused by the insistence of the U.S.State Department ("The Foggy-Bottom Follies") that our sentries NOT have mags or chambered rounds in their weapons lest an overanxious trooper cause an international incident by -- you know -- actually firing at someone bent on commiting a hostile act.

Much the same way as then-SecDef Les Aspin DENIED the rangers in Somolia ARMORED VEHICLES during the attempt to capture Adid.

The sentries at the Beirut barracks watched in horror and fumbled to load their weapons as the muslim moron hurtled past them screaming "Allah akbar!"

The Fools in Foggy Bottom GOT their "international incident" and 283 families got nice letters and folded flags.

N E V E R A G A I N??

Probably have dozen of similar set-ups at bases all over the world as you read this because the internationalist elite fools are still running the show!!!

How to change it?? Send THEIR sons and daughters to these places -- with unloaded weapons and insufficient resources.

And the beat goes on.

[Deo volente]

I've always wondered what the world would be like today if President Reagan had bombed Hezbollah rather than retreat.

Their bases and training camps were situated in the Bekka Valley. A few days of carpet bombing with B-52's would have destroyed them.

Much as I revere Ronald Reagan, I believe he made a critical error here.

[Defiant]

I've always wondered what the world would be like today if President Reagan had bombed Hezbollah rather than retreat.

That very day, we were liberating Grenada. Later that night, we had pictures of American college students coming off a plane in Florida and kissing the ground. It was a big psychological boost for the country, and helped ease us away from the Vietnam mindset. (The MSM is trying to ease us back into it still).

The Syrians and Iraqis were client states of the Soviet Union then, Hezbollah was protected by Syria, and we could not enter Lebanon in force in order to inflict retribution without a Soviet countermove of some kind, and that would potentially lead to a superpower confrontation in a place where we did not want it to occur. At that point in time, the game was to counter the Soviets in Europe with medium range nuclear missiles and to upgrade our military's hardware and readiness. Then we could face them down in international crises and begin rolling them back. Reagan kept his eye on the prize. 1983 was the wrong time and Lebanon the wrong place to confront the Soviets.

In 1989, Germans from both sides were dancing on the wall. It signalled that the Soviets had lost control of their satellite states in Eastern Europe, and could no longer invade to restore communist rule. Within a short time, Communist rule in the Soviet Union ended, and parts of that Union fell away--Ukraine, the "stans", Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc. Russia was left a shell of its former self, still powerful and with a full arsenal of nuclear weapons, but utterly unable to confront the US on the world stage in any realistic way.

For that reason, the US has an entirely free hand to deal with the middle east NOW as it wishes. If we show restraint, it is because we don't want to take on Iran just yet, not because we will trigger nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

So, don't be so quick to repeat liberal talking points against Ronald Reagan.

[ansel12]

Thank you Defiant, your post is absolutely true, and the proof is in the unbelievable results Reagan got in the area he based his entire political career on.

He bit the bullet and did not let the bombing distract his focus.

[Defiant]

I should add that Reagan exacted a form of retribution, 5 and 10 soldiers at a time, by supplying the Afghani muslims with missiles. The Russians lost thousands in that war before they buggered out.

Working with those nutballs seems like a mistake now, but the mistake was we left the area once our goal was accomplished, and let it descend into anarchy. Hindsight is 20/20. I don't know how many people would have supported putting American forces in Afghanistan in 1990 to try to steer the country towards a non-fascist government. Most would probably have said "hell with them".