1983 Beirut barracks bombings

1983 Beirut barracks bombings

 terrorist (terrorism) bombing attacks against U.S. and French armed forces in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983 that claimed 299 lives. The attacks, which took place amid the sectarian conflict of the extremely damaging Lebanese civil war (1975–90), hastened the removal of the international peacekeeping force from Lebanon in February 1984.

      The multinational peacekeeping force, composed of troops from the United States, France, and Italy, arrived in Lebanon in August 1982 as part of a cease-fire agreement signed by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The troops were to oversee the safe and peaceful withdrawal of Yāsir ʿArafāt (Arafāt, Yāsirʿ) and the PLO from positions within Beirut and ensure the safety of the Palestinian civilians that remained behind. The withdrawal of the PLO was accomplished by early September, and the bulk of the multinational force soon withdrew to ships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. However, the assassination on Sept. 14, 1982, of Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel (Gemayel Family)—the Phalangist leader of the Lebanese Forces, a unified Christian militia—sparked a wave of violence. Christian militiamen retaliated for Gemayel's death by killing hundreds of Palestinians (estimates range from several hundred to several thousand) at the Ṣabrā and Shātīlā refugee camps. In the wake of the killings, troops were swiftly returned to Lebanon.

      The situation seemed to have stabilized by early 1983, and a small group of British peacekeepers joined the existing force in February of that year. On April 18, 1983, the illusion of calm was broken when a car bomb destroyed the U.S. embassy in West Beirut, killing dozens of American foreign service workers and Lebanese civilians. Although the notion of using a car or truck to deliver explosives to a target was not a new one—the Irish Republican Army made extensive use of the technique throughout the “Long War”—the suicide bombing of the U.S. embassy represented a sea change in tactics for militia groups and terrorist organizations in the Middle East.

      Israel and Lebanon signed a formal peace agreement the following month that called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, contingent upon Syria's withdrawal. Syria opposed the agreement, however, and refused to retreat. In July Israeli troops began a unilateral withdrawal from positions within Lebanon that they had held since June 1982. Fighting between competing militias escalated in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal, and violence against the multinational force increased, with U.S. Marine (United States Marine Corps, The) positions routinely coming under small arms and mortar fire. Circumstances took a crucial turn, however, when U.S. gunships in the Mediterranean shelled Syrian-backed Druze militias in support of the Christian government; the perceived role of the multinational force thus shifted from that of unaligned peacekeepers to active support of a particular faction in the Lebanese civil war.

      This was the backdrop when on the morning of Oct. 23, 1983, a dump truck packed with an estimated 12,000 pounds (5,400 kg) of explosives crashed through the front gates of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. The detonation ripped the four-story building from its foundation, and the barracks imploded in a matter of seconds. The 241 Marines and sailors killed in the explosion represented the largest loss of life in a single day for the Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Within moments of the attack, a second suicide bomber drove into the barracks of a French paratrooper detachment in West Beirut. The explosion toppled the building, and 58 soldiers inside were killed. Within four months, elements of the multinational force began to withdraw to ships offshore, and on Feb. 26, 1984, the last U.S. Marines left Beirut.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • 1983 Beirut barracks bombing — Part of the Lebanese Civil War A smoke cloud rises from the rubble of the bombed barracks at Beirut International Airport …   Wikipedia

  • 1983 Kuwait bombings — Infobox terrorist attack title=1983 Kuwait bombings location=Kuwait City, Kuwait target=Embassies, infrastructure date=12 December, 1983 time= timezone= type=Suicide bombing fatalities= Six, 1 suicide bomber injuries=Eighty perps=Dawa Party… …   Wikipedia

  • Tyre headquarters bombings — The Tyre truck bombings were two suicide bombings against the Israeli Defense Forces headquarters building in Tyre, Lebanon, in 1982 and 1983. The blasts killed more than 100 Israelis and dozens of Lebanese and were some of the worst losses ever… …   Wikipedia

  • 1983 United States Embassy bombing — Infobox civilian attack title=1983 U.S. Embassy bombing thumb|200px|caption=US Embassy 3 days after the bombing location=coord|33|54|5|N|35|29|6|E|type:landmark|display=title,inline United States Embassy, Beirut, Lebanon date=April 18, 1983… …   Wikipedia

  • 1983 — This article is about the year 1983. For other uses, see 1983 (disambiguation). Millennium: 2nd millennium Centuries: 19th century – 20th century – 21st century Decades: 1950s  1960s  1970s  – 1980s –   …   Wikipedia

  • 1983 in France — See also: 1982 in France, other events of 1983, 1984 in France. Events from the year 1983 in France.Events*19 January Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie is arrested in Bolivia. *6 February Klaus Barbie is officially charged with war crimes. *6 March… …   Wikipedia

  • Lebanon — /leb euh neuhn/ or, esp. for 1, / non /, n. 1. a republic at the E end of the Mediterranean, N of Israel. 3,858,736; 3927 sq. mi. (10,170 sq. km). Cap.: Beirut. 2. a city in SE Pennsylvania. 25,711. 3. a city in N central Tennessee. 11,872. 4. a… …   Universalium

  • History of Hezbollah — OriginsHezbollah originated within the Shiite block of Lebanon society, which has lived there for more than a millennium.Fact|date=February 2007 According to a United States Central Intelligence Agency estimate they include 41 percent of Lebanon… …   Wikipedia

  • History of terrorism — Terrorism Definitions · Counter terrorism International conventions Anti terrorism legislation Terrorism insurance …   Wikipedia

  • Arnold Resnicoff — Arnold E. Resnicoff Rabbi Arnold E. Resnicoff Religion Judaism Personal Nationality American …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”