Peacekeeping Bombing In Beirut Summary

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The Marine Peacekeepers Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon
The U.S. Marines were conducting one of the first modern peacekeeping missions in the war torn city of Beirut, Lebanon from 1982-1984. It ended up costing the United States a combined total of 241 Marines, Sailors, and Army warriors and was the highest death toll from a single terrorist act until the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and a field in Pennsylvania. To understand the full context in which the Marine and Navy commanders found themselves, we must understand the mission statement and the context in which their senior political and military leadership provided it. We must also consider the operational environment the Multinational Peacekeeping force had to implement their mission. The outside influence of Syria and Iran would also play a role in the bombing from both a military and political element and would signal a new dynamic of terrorism in the whole world, as we know it. The tragic Marine peacekeepers barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon during the 1983 Multinational Peacekeeping Mission resulted from an ill-defined mission statement. Today’s contemporary peacekeeping missions necessitate clarity and flexibility in their mission statements …show more content…

Almost every chain of command confirmed the Marine interpretation for their peacekeeping mission, and Congress validated it during congressional hearings. In his, book Peacekeepers at war: Beirut 1983-the marine commander tells his story (2009), Colonel Geraghty states many times that what he believed to be the Marines most important function related to the peacekeeping mission was to; provide both a visible presence in support of the LAF and stability for the government of Lebanon (Geraghty, 2009). Equally important is the task of defining how a peacekeeping force works with the host nations individual, political, military, and civilian operational

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