392 • 19 THE REASSERTION OF ISLAMIC POWERLebanon; Palestinian fidaiyin; Israeli invaders; the UN buffer force; and the
multinational force of France, Italy, and the US (also joined by Britain)—
would all have to leave the country. But in what order? The US wanted a
phased withdrawal, to be negotiated by all the involved parties. Syria wanted
the other foreign troops to leave unconditionally. In late 1982 and early
1983, representatives of Lebanon, Israel, and the US carried on lengthy
deliberations leading to a treaty laboriously crafted by Shultz. It soon col¬
lapsed, as the IDF would not leave unless the Syrians and the PLO simul¬
taneously withdrew their armies from the parts of Lebanon they were
occupying. President Asad, opposed by Islamist Sunnis at home (he had
massacred at least 20,000 of them and leveled half of Syria's conservative
Muslim city, Hama, in 1982), refused to oblige the Americans by pulling out
of Lebanon. Although Amin Jumayyil had signed it, the 1983 Lebanese-
Israeli Treaty became a dead letter.
The emerging forces in Lebanon were ones that no one had ever noticed
before. In the war's early years, outside observers assumed that the main re¬
ligious groups were Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims. Westerners
ignored the Shi'i Muslims, who predominated in the Biqa' Valley and parts
of southern Lebanon. Gradually, though, they had become the country's
largest sect, and many were flocking to Beirut's poorer districts in search of
work. Many Shi'is at first welcomed Israel's invasion, hoping that it might
weaken the Sunni Lebanese and the Palestinians. But when the Israelis
stayed for months, the Shi'is turned against them. More and more Shi'i
youths were willing to become martyrs to drive out the Israelis and their
perceived allies, the US troops. A series of terrorist bombings ensued, hit¬
ting the US embassies in Beirut and Kuwait, the US Marine barracks at the
Beirut airport, and even the French military headquarters (partly because
France was arming Iraq against Iran). US and Israeli reprisals against vil¬
lages believed to be harboring Shi'i fighters rendered many Lebanese
homeless and further embittered the people against foreigners. The heavy
loss of American lives in the Marine barracks blast, the threats against other
US citizens in Lebanon, and the murder of President Malcolm Kerr of the
American University of Beirut sapped the will of the US peacekeeping mis¬
sion. Reagan decided to remove the contingent to the Sixth Fleet offshore.
It was soon withdrawn "over the horizon." The French, British, and Italian
contingents also pulled out in early 1984.
The Terrorist Triumph
West Beirut fell under the control of Shi'i and Druze militia, and the fight¬
ing raged on in Lebanon. Amin Jumayyil's government could not restore