Beirut bombings
The Event Terrorist bombings of the U.S.
embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Marine
compound at Beirut International Airport
Date April 18, 1983, and October 23, 1983
Place Beirut, Lebanon
The Beirut bombings resulted in the deaths of hundreds
of Americans and Frenchmen and precipitated the with-
drawal from Lebanon of U.S. militar y forces sent to promote
stability in war-torn Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War.
The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) entered a new
phase in the summer of 1982, when the Multina-
tional Force in Lebanon (MNF), a peacekeeping
force including U.S. Marines, French paratroopers,
and Italian soldiers, deployed in the country. The
Marine contingent entered Lebanon in August;
their immediate mission was to oversee the evacua-
tion of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
from Beirut.
Wartime Chaos Beirut, the capital of Lebanon,
had become a combat zone where several factions
were competing for control of the city. Fighting in
Beirut had erupted in 1975. Then, Yasir Arafat’s
Fatah, the leading faction within the PLO, joined
other armed factions opposed to the Lebanese gov-
ernment. Syrian military forces intervened at the re-
quest of the Lebanese government in 1976 without
resolving the crisis. Israeli forces invaded Lebanon
in 1982 to expel the PLO from their bases of opera-
tion inside Lebanon and then drove into Beirut, oc-
cupying positions on the west side of the city.
Reacting to the situation, President Ronald Rea-
gan sent special envoy Philip C. Habib to arrange a
settlement. In August 1982, Habib was successful in
bringing about an agreement for the evacuation of
PLO fighters from Beirut. The Habib Agreement
also called for the deployment of a three-nation
force in the city during the period of the evacuation.
The Marines stayed in Beirut for only a short
while during the withdrawal, departing on Septem-
ber 10, 1982. However, only fifteen days later, the
Lebanese president-elect, Bashir Gemayel, was assas-
sinated. In the resulting chaos, Israeli forces moved
into West Beirut, and the Marines were recommitted
to Beirut. In the succeeding weeks and months, the
Americans began to ally themselves with the govern-
ment of Lebanon. Anti-government factions, with
the support of Syria, actively began to harass Ameri-
can forces, engaging them with sniper fire and occa-
sional artillery fire.
The Embassy Bombing On April 18, 1983, a bomb
was detonated at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. The
blast destroyed the front portion of the seven-story
building, killing sixty-three occupants of the build-
ing, seventeen of whom were Americans. The bomb-
ing was carried out by a terrorist driving a van carry-
ing a load of explosives.
Multinational negotiations in May of 1983 re-
sulted in an agreement for the withdrawal of Israeli
military forces simultaneous with the withdrawal of
Syrian military forces. However, as the Israeli with-
drawal from Beirut began, there started a resurgance
in combat between local militia forces. Attacks
against American forces worsened.The Eighties in America Beirut bombings 101
A small U.S. flag and the Marine Corps flag fly above the ruins of
the U.S. Marine compound at Beirut International Airport. This
is the gate through which the bomb-laden terrorist truck passed be-
fore exploding on October 23, 1983.(AP/Wide World Photos)