April 18th 1983

[Phantom Blooper]

The starting of the first "War on Terror" May they rest in peace and may their murderers eternally burn in hell! Semper-Fi! "Never Forget" Chuck Hall

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The U.S. Embassy bombing was the April 18, 1983, suicide bombing of the United States Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. It was the deadliest attack on a US diplomatic mission up to that time, and is seen by some as marking the beginning of anti-US attacks by Islamist groups.

The bomb was detonated in a delivery van driven by a suicide bomber, carrying about 400 pounds (181 kg) of explosives. The van, believed stolen from the embassy a year before, gained access to the embassy compound and parked under the portico at the very front of the building, where it exploded. The blast collapsed the front section of the embassy and killed 63 people. Seventeen of these were Americans, and eight of them worked for the Central Intelligence Agency, including the CIA's Middle East director. Another one of the Americans was a United States Marine. More than a hundred others were wounded.

The attack was motivated by the American intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. In the aftermath of the massacre of Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps by Lebanese Christian militiamen backed by nearby Israeli army units, American troops had landed to try and restore order and central government authority to the war ravaged country. Many groups within Lebanon were opposed to the American presence but the militant group Hezbollah, under the code name "Islamic Jihad," is believed to have been responsible for the attacks.

Following the attack, the embassy was moved to a supposedly more secure location in East Beirut. However, on September 20, 1984, another car bomb exploded at this embassy annex, killing 20 Lebanese and two American soldiers.

Along with the Marine Barracks Bombing, the incident prompted the In man Report, a review of overseas security for the US Department of State.

[thedrifter]

Rest In Peace

Ellie