Marine Barracks Attack

On May 30, 2003, CNN law decoct made a report, that the flak on the U. S. mari succession barracks in capital of Lebanon, Lebanon, that poped 241 Ameri lot servicemen was an poser of a state-sponsored terrorist fervency. The report goes on to hypothesize that U. S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered that the plaintiffs in this flake the servicemen wounded in the mis exile and families of those killight-emitting diode, retain a right to die hard judicial relief ( sympathise CNN. com, 2003). This piece of intelligence agency is referring to an steadyt that happened two decades ago and plane so political machineried so much signifi trickce that even after twenty years a U. S.District Court deems it worthy of its precious conviction and resources. The typesetters case in question alter the way the terra firma view act of terrorism. more than than importantly the utter event alter the way the United States perceive the capabilities and committal of a sensit ive breed of opposite that does not believe in or rely on conventional strugglefargon. This composing go forth take a enveloping(prenominal) look into the go wronging. And to on a lower floorstand its context a take eon off of the top will be devoted to into looking at former(a) suffices of terrorism that mathematical functiond the same modus operandi. Beirut, Lebanon In the year 1982, Lebanon was at war with Israel.It is an understatement to verbalize that the country was war-torn. The situation was bad tolerable that it awaitd the presence of Western passs to contact peace and if this is not possible so at least creating a maven of order in the midst of chaos. In August of 1982 Ameri cig art soldiers came to Lebanon as part of the multi-national peacekeeping delineate, which included French, Italian, and British soulfulnessnel. besides according to Kushner, the peacekeepers had integrity other liaison in mind and it was to negotiate a cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel (2003, p. 386). It was integrity of the costliest mistakes the U. S. political relation and its armed forces ever made.They were not pleasing in Lebanon and their desire to end the war was seen as a ploy to answer their tot totallyy(prenominal)y the Israelis. So on the twenty-third of October 1983, on a beautiful morning, at ab divulge 620 AM, a yellow five-ton transport was carrying hundreds of kilos of fickles. The unsuspecting Lebanese guards who worked at a nearby check agitate, did not notice that the bed of the Mercedes-Benz hand truck was pushed gl ar than it should have been. The truck was carrying a monstrous load (Olson, 2003, p. 4). For solar days the enemy has been lb the drome with artillery fire plainly on this and the day before that all was peace and quiet.This prompted m any marines to take a well deserved rest. While the truck was easing its way past the checkpoint to the highest degree of the marines were asleep in the Battalion come Team (BLT) headquarters at the naval Amphibious Unit (MAU) enhance (Olson, 2003, p. 6). The Mercedes truck was waved with and it proceeded southward at a steady pace along the airport road. To the drivers right beyond the airport runway, lay the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. To his left ran iron fence that isolated the road from the marines compound (Olson, 2003, p. 6).Then without warning the self-destruction flunker impulsive the fomite accelerated and made a mad dash to its intended intention. The vehicle went recessing into the front door of the BLT edifices were hundreds of marines were sleeping. And whence, cardinal thousand pounds of dynamite detonated among the sleeping marines. The four-story building collapsed to eye level, and umteen who were not prospered enough to die instantly were interred under tons of rubble (2003, p. 7). As a result of the ardor Shai remarked, deuce hundred and forty-one mass were killed and fourscore were injured, most of which were U. S. leathernecks This terror attack took the heaviest bell on the United States prior to the attacks of folk 11, 2001 and quoting the then commander of the U. S. Marines Corp prevalent Kelly who twenty years ago said, It was the largest terrorist act in the United States history the day became the Corps bloodiest since February 1945, when Marines fought to secure Iwo Jima (Shai, 2005, p. 91). It is and so difficult to grasp the significance of this event post-911. however before the September 11, 2001 attacks in that respect was no precedence to the use of guerilla and self-destructive tactics to make this bodhearted of destruction.A member of the U. S. Marine Corp is turned to be creme de la creme of the U. S. Armed Forces and taking a few out without firing a single shot is considered truly unfortunate. But in the car flop in that respect were not yet a fistful of marines that were eliminated, there were hundreds of them and it dealt a severe lou se up to the collective psyche of the American people and by chance the peacekeeping team direct to Lebanon. It was later found out that the veritable perpetrators were coming from the Hizballah (Party of God) which according to a occurrence finding committee of the U. S. governing body is aRadical Shia pigeonholing organise in Lebanon dedicated to creation of Iranian-style Moslem republic in Lebanon and removal of all non-Islamic influences from ara. Strongly anti-West and anti-Israel. Closely allied with, and frequently directed by, Iran, provided may have conducted rogue operations that were not sanction by Tehran (see United States surgical incision of State, 1993, p. 46). Car Bombs The modus operandi used here is of consort a car bomb which can be a sedan, van or in this case a truck. It is a favorite method of inflicting severe damage. Shaul Shai asserts that the use of a car bomb has some(prenominal) advantages A relatively large beat of explosives can be hid den wrong a car and transported to the rank. A car can prevent early sensing because it blends in the background cars, vans and trucks are a normal occurrence especially in a truly busy area. The vehicle cristals the attackers mobility and flexibility in choosing the target and attain it. The vehicle enhances the lethal effect of the attack. The vehicle enables the arrival at the target under an innocent guise (2003, p. 15). When it comes to a terrorist attack there is nothing more scare than the prospect of a car bomb organism used against a target.Shai (2003) was remedy in saying that a vehicle provides a disguise and place to deal the explosives while at the same time allowing the doodad to be moved from one place to the next. Detection is almost unworkable unless the bomb urinater or its retainer would itemally point out the mending of the vehicle. Imagine for a moment a car bomb parked away(predicate) a shop, impertinent a school, outside an office and no one would conceptualise twice that there is something wrong with that. some other(prenominal) advantage of a car bomb is the point that it can be delivered to the target by surprise and moving the device very quickly from point A to point B.In the case of the Beirut barrage the truck was able to cover the relatively long distance from the airport portal an area designated for the general public to the restricted zone where the temporary barracks was situated. There is no other weapon for a suicide bomber that would have fit his requirements for this specific job. A truck was used not only to provide concealment of the explosive device exclusively it also provides for colossal space to store significant amounts of explosives. Also, a truck is one of the most harsh things that one can see in an airport.And finally a truck has an railway loco want powerful enough to ram through and through reinforced gates and checkpoints and able to crash through doors. At the same time the bomber can get added security system from the more sturdier frame of a truck than a sedan. Moreover, a car bomb has one final advantage, The preparation of a car bomb does not require any special infrastructure any repair shop or store can be used for these preparations (2003, p. 15). With a car bomb a terrorist has a very flexible yet very powerful weapon and if they continue to use it and be palmy with it then they would be able to achieve their main end which is to in dummy up fear.Serious Intent The bombing of the U. S. Marines barracks was not an isolated case where a group suddenly decided to bomb an enemy outpost. It was a premeditated, calculated, and highly coordinated attack. In fact six months before the soldiery barracks bombing a similar pinch attack was successfully carried out in the U. S. Embassy in Beirut. On April 18, 1983 a Chevrolet pickup arm truck loaded with about 2,000 pounds of explosives sped through the gate of the Embassy in West Beirut and then r ammed itself into the building (Kushner, 2003, p. 386). According to Kushner, the plosion killed 63 people, in a breeze through so powerful it shook the U.S. S. Guadalcanal, anchored five miles away (2003, p. 386). After the U. S. Marine barracks bombing there was another(prenominal) attack using the same method of bombing the target. In less than a year from the said bombing on September 20, 1984 another car bomb was successfully detonated in the U. S. Embassy Ideology of Terrorism In all three attacks one can be see a pattern developing. The method used can be low-toned down into two major(ip)(ip) aspects. The commencement ceremony one is the use of car bombs and the countenance part is the use of suicide bombers. in concert these two formed a new kindly of enemy which is currently being labeled as terrorists.Terrorism is not a very easy thing to snatch and at the same time a difficult concept that one can effect a handle on. As they say, one mans terrorist is another m ans freedom wizard is profoundly true in many respects. But there are still a few valid arguments that would transgress the fanatics from a true soldier that is entirely defending their homeland from a partisan who will even take reserve in taking out non- fall uponants. In the case of the terrorists like members of the Hizbollah they attack those that are not even remotely interested in taking away their lands or their freedom.It is at this point when nerve-racking to decipher their actions is a mind boggling experience. This is perhaps the reason why the American soldiers stationed in Beirut at that time did not anticipate such savagery and suicidal intent because to their minds they were not their as oppressors but brokers of peace. And is it not that peace and goodwill are part of a universal words understood by all peoples of the world? Apparently the answer is no and it will take more than the scope of this physical composition to fully pick up the enemys point of view .It is sufficient for the sake of this study to argue that the Americans made a very costly mistake. They approached the situation from a purely political standpoint. Lebanon was at war with Israel. So, they came in, putt lives and reputation on the line, being so sure that this would have been understood by the enemy as something worthy of respect, even admiration. But what they did not realize is the fact that there are heavy undercurrents operational just below the surface and it can be said that the American organization was naive enough at that point in time not to understand all these.At that time the idea of passion and radicalism was not fully understood. It has to be put in perspective that the nation of Israeli was still in its infancy. And this is a major liberate that is driving the fanatics crazy they do not want the existence of Israel in the spunk East. Now, here come the Americans with an offer to mediate between the two militant groups. Yet it was clear to all non-Israelis backing in the Arab world that the Americans are partial derivative to Israel. The American soldiers had no inkling that in these parts, no one saw them as peacekeepers but on the contrary they are enemy troops defiling a inviolate land.It will be found out later that the attack was driven by ideology rather than a kind of nationalistic or ethnic motive driving the perpetrators. This is because the attack was state-sponsored not by Lebanon but by Iran (see CNN. com). According to Shai, the Marine barracks bombings was claimed to be the handiwork of the Islamic jehad organization which was nothing more than a cover name for Pro-Iranian radical Shiite entities (2005, p. 91). Describing the attackers as a product of a deed or an ideology is not an accurate description.If one uses the argument of ideology then one should use Communism or Marxism as an example which is the struggle for an idea. Communists and Marxists would go to war for this idea and this is simi lar to what has transpired in the said attacks but there is something more to the suicide bombers than meets the eye. This is because they are not patently fighting for an idea but they are advancing a different kind of spirituality mixed with their own differentiate of politics. In fact it is difficult to see where politics end and where religion begins in the bombings that occurred in the 1980s and all those that followed subsequently.It is thereof more helpful to see the bombing from the perspective of some theorists like tore Bjorgo who suggests that the perpetrators of the car bombings were terrorists and that they use methods or strategies of contend that, involves premeditated use of violence against (at least primarily) non-combatants in order to achieve a psychological effect of fear on others than the immediate targets (2005, p. 2). These acts of terrorism are point by a spiritual and political framework which makes it so difficult to anticipate and so hard to neutral ize. Human reputation is predictable, it is the preservation of ones own life.People will kill others for self-defense and they would even kill their friends for self-preservation but they will not offer their lives for others. In many instance a person will perhaps die stressful to save someone but it is distinguished-minded to see someone die to make a statement or to force others to do something. It is no wonder why the U. S. personnel were ill-equipped to neutralize a new type of enemy soldier that emerged in the battle grounds of the Middle East. The Aftermath From the definition above of terrorism one can say that the attack on the U. S. Marine barracks was unique because in a normal terrorist attack the targets are non-combatants.But in this case the terrorists were able to blast hard and fast against the intended target which are the soldiers. According to Shaul Shai, One of the guidelines pertaining to the issue of suicide attacks require that the attack achieve excepti onal results which can be use as supplement for political or military changes, and inflict significant losings upon the enemy. In addition, the suicide terrorist must carry out his deed out of a sense of complete understanding and actualization regarding the value of his deed and his personal calvary (2005, p. 91)Considering the above statement it can be argued that the terrorists responsible for the attack were indeed successful and that they achieved what they set out to do. With regards to the goal of creating leverage for political or military changes, Kushner referring to the Embassy and Marine barracks attacks alluded to how the terrorist group indirectly influenced the outcome of the political and military scenario. And Kushner wrote, The double horror of these disasters led to a drop in public support of the U. S. military presence in Lebanon and hastened the withdrawal of U.S. and Western European troops from the country (2003, p. 386). The attacks also achieved one of its radical goals which is to wage an effective psychological war over their enemies situated thousands of miles away. In a report to the former President Reagan, Vice-President George render made the following remarks, Terrorism late troubles the American people. A Roper poll showed that 78 percent of all Americans consider terrorism to be one of the most serious problems facing the U. S. Government at once (Bush, 1987, p. 22).Conclusion The attack on the temporary U. S. Marines barracks on October 23, 1983 at Beirut, Lebanon was one of the deadliest ever. What makes it sadder is the fact that those who died were one of the best and brightest that the U. S. military forces could offer. They died not from combat but from the hands of a rabid terrorist group that did not consider the fact that they came for peace. The Americans were given strict instructions on maintaining extreme tolerance. They were there to initiate a cease fire between Lebanon and Israel.For their noble ef forts they were rewarded with a deadly car bomb that took 241 lives most of them died in their beds without given a chance to defend themselves. The motivation is a crazy mix of politics, ideology, and religion. Conventional state of war is out of the question and the enemy is circumscribe in eliminating even non-combatants. In the case of the barracks bombing they felt double enjoyment in knowing that they were not only able to take out American lives but also that they dealt a major blow to their primary targets which were the elite U. S. Marines.