1985 Beirut car bombings

Last updated

March 1985 Beirut car bombing
Part of Lebanese Civil War
Bir al-Abed massacre.PNG
LocationBir al-Abed, Beirut
Coordinates 33°51′09″N35°30′38″E / 33.8524°N 35.5105°E / 33.8524; 35.5105
Date8 March 1985
Target Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah
Attack type
 Car bombing, attempted assassination
Deaths80 [1]
Injured~200
Perpetrator CIA linked Lebanese counter-terrorism unit [2]

On 8 March 1985, a car bomb exploded between 9 [3] and 45 metres [4] from the house of Shia cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in a failed assassination attempt by a Lebanese counter-terrorism unit linked to the Central Intelligence Agency. [2] The bombing killed 80 people and injured 200, almost all civilians. [1] [3]

Contents

Beirut experienced three other deadly car bombs in following months on 22 May, 14 August and 18 August 1985. [5]

The blast

The bomb explosion, estimated to have been equivalent to 200 kg (440 lbs) of dynamite, [3] occurred in the western Beirut suburb of Bir al-Abed, outside an apartment building. It killed worshippers, mostly women and girls, leaving Friday prayer services at an adjacent mosque, and destroyed two 7-story apartment buildings and a cinema. [6]

While several of Fadlallah's bodyguards were killed in the attack, the cleric escaped injury as he was attending Friday prayers at a nearby mosque. [6]

Locals fired guns in the air, following the blast, trying to clear the roads to allow ambulances to pass. [7] A banner was strung across the blast site by locals, reading "Made in USA." [8]

Historical context

In 1976, Gerald Ford became the first U.S. president to forbid political assassination, in the wake of the Church Commission, [9] issuing Executive Order 11905. [10] In 1981, President Ronald Reagan strengthened the policy with Executive Order 12333, which decreed that "No person employed by or acting on behalf of the United States Government shall engage in, or conspire to engage in, assassination." This Executive Order remains in effect today. [10] [11]

The Beirut car bombing occurred "within the continuously evolving framework of an American 'preemption' counterterror program". [9] Following the 1983 United States embassy bombing, 1983 Beirut barracks bombings, and the 1984 U.S. embassy annex bombing, the U.S. military considered a range of retaliatory options, but it was unclear that these would have any deterrent value. On 14 November 1983, Then-president Ronald Reagan authorized a retaliatory strike, but Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger did not authorize U.S. aircraft to take off for reasons that have not been disclosed. [12] CIA director William Casey, along with CIA General Counsel Stanley Sporkin, favored the use of preemptive counter-terrorism practices in Lebanon; others, including Deputy Director of Central Intelligence John N. McMahon, did not approve of the strategy, concerned that it would violate Executive Order 12333. [9]

Responsibility

In June 1985, the Washington Post reported that a CIA supported counter terrorism unit, made up of Lebanese Intelligence officers and others, was responsible for the bombing. They reported that the CIA did not authorize the bombing and had no direct links to the bombers. A Lebanese intelligence source said the CIA knew of plans for the bombing but did not want involvement because of the dangers to civilians. [2] The CIA denied any complicity in the bombing. A House intelligence committee, in June 1985, said there was no evidence the CIA "encouraged or participated in any terrorist activity in Lebanon" or had knowledge of the bombing beforehand. [1]

In the aftermath of the bombing, US officials cancelled its Beirut based counterterrorism operation, that trained Lebenese counterterrorism units, because of indirect links between the CIA and the bombing. [1] [2]

In 1987, reporter Bob Woodward wrote that CIA director William Casey, on his deathbed, had admitted personal culpability in the attack, which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia. [13] Fadlallah would later suggest the amount $3,000,000 as the price that had been offered by the Saudis for Casey to arrange the bombing. [14] Woodward suggests that Fadlallah accepted $2 million from the Saudis to stop attacks from Hezbollah. [13] Asked about the allegations, President Reagan responded, "Never would I sign anything that would authorize an assassination... I never have, and I never will, and I didn't." [13] William Casey's widow strongly denied that Woodward had spoken to Casey in hospital before his death. [13]

The U.S. National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane, stated that those responsible for the bomb may have had American training, but asserted that they were "rogue operative[s]," and the CIA in no way sanctioned or supported the attack. [15] Woodward's own account of his conversation with Casey suggests that Casey's action was "off the books". [13] [16]

Several Lebanese politicians, such as Selim Hoss, blamed Israel for the attack, saying: "there is no doubt that Israel is behind this ugly crime". [17] Hezbollah claimed that it had found a network of cooperation between the CIA, the Mossad, the Lebanese Army and the Kataeb Party. [18]

Aftermath

A car bomb on 22 May killed 48 people. Another on 14 August killed 15 people, and a bomb on 18 August exploded in a Christian suburb of East Beirut causing the death of 50 people. It was one of the worst explosions to take place in the city's east, which was relatively calm compared to the west. [5]

A former CIA operative maintains that the failed 1985 attempt tarnished the CIA's reputation. [19]

In Literature

The car bombing is described in Ken Follet's 2014 historical novel "Edge of Eternity".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hezbollah</span> Lebanese political party and militant group

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group. Its paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council. Hezbollah was led by Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah from 1992 until his assassination in an airstrike in Beirut in September 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elie Hobeika</span> Lebanese politician and militia commander

Elie Hobeika was a Lebanese Maronite militia commander in the Lebanese Forces militia during the Lebanese Civil War and one of Bashir Gemayel's close confidants. After the murder of Gemayel, he gained notoriety for his direct involvement in, and overseeing of, the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. Hobeika initially supported the IDF during their invasion, but later switched sides and supported the Syrians. He became president of the Lebanese Forces political party until he was ousted in 1986. He then founded the Promise Party and was elected to serve two terms in the Parliament of Lebanon. In January 2002, he was assassinated by a car bomb at his house in Beirut, shortly before he was to testify about the Sabra and Shatila massacre in a Belgian court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khobar Towers bombing</span> 1996 terrorist attack in Khobar, Saudi Arabia

The Khobar Towers bombing was an attack on part of a housing complex in the city of Khobar, Saudi Arabia, near the national oil company headquarters of Dhahran and nearby King Abdulaziz Air Base on 25 June 1996. At that time, Khobar Towers was being used as living quarters for coalition forces who were assigned to Operation Southern Watch, a no-fly zone operation in southern Iraq, as part of the Iraqi no-fly zones.

The Islamic Jihad Organization was a Lebanese Shia militia known for its activities in the 1980s during the Lebanese Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imad Mughniyeh</span> Lebanese militant leader (1962–2008)

Imad Fayez Mughniyeh, alias al-Hajj Radwan, was a Lebanese militant leader who was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's leadership. Information about Mughniyeh is limited, but he is believed to have been Hezbollah's chief of staff and understood to have overseen Hezbollah's military, intelligence, and security apparatuses. He was one of the main founders of Hezbollah in the 1980s. He has been described as "a brilliant military tactician and very elusive". He was often referred to as an ‘untraceable ghost’.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Beirut barracks bombings</span> 1983 bombings in Beirut, Lebanon

On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut, Lebanon, housing American and French service members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), a military peacekeeping operation during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians, and two attackers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah</span> Lebanese faqih

Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah was a prominent Lebanese-Iraqi Twelver Shia cleric. Born in Najaf, Iraq, Fadlallah studied Islam in Najaf before moving to Lebanon in 1952. In the following decades, he gave many lectures, engaged in intense scholarship, wrote dozens of books, founded several Islamic religious schools, and established the Mabarrat Association. Through the aforementioned association, he established a public library, a women's cultural center, and a medical clinic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Executive Order 12333</span> Order officially creating the U.S. Intelligence Community

Executive Order 12333, signed on December 4, 1981 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, was an executive order intended to extend powers and responsibilities of U.S. intelligence agencies and direct the leaders of U.S. federal agencies to co-operate fully with CIA requests for information. This executive order was titled United States Intelligence Activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dahieh</span> Suburb south of Beirut, Lebanon

Dahieh is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks, and comprises several towns and municipalities. It is north of Rafic Hariri International Airport, and the M51 Freeway that links Beirut to the airport passes through it.

Hezbollah originated within the Shiite block of Lebanese society. According to the CIA World Factbook estimate in 2022, Shiites comprise 31.2 percent of Lebanon's population, predominating in three areas of Lebanon: Southern Lebanon, Beirut and its environs (Dahieh), and the northern Beqaa valley region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut</span> 1983 suicide bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War

The April 18, 1983, United States Embassy bombing was a suicide bombing on the Embassy of the United States in Beirut, Lebanon, that killed 32 Lebanese, 17 Americans, and 14 visitors and passers-by. The victims were mostly embassy and CIA staff members, but also included several US soldiers and one U.S. Marine Security Guard. The attack came in the wake of an intervention in the Lebanese Civil War by the United States and other Western countries. While initially claimed by the Islamic Jihad Organization, the attack was found to have been perpetrated by Hezbollah with the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Lebanon hostage crisis was the kidnapping in Lebanon of 104 foreign hostages between 1982 and 1992, when the Lebanese Civil War was at its height. The hostages were mostly Americans and Western Europeans, but 21 national origins were represented. At least eight hostages died in captivity; some were murdered, while others died from lack of medical attention. During the fifteen years of the Lebanese civil war an estimated 17,000 people disappeared after being abducted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International counter-terrorism activities of the CIA</span>

After the Central Intelligence Agency lost its role as the coordinator of the entire United States Intelligence Community (IC), special coordinating structures were created by each president to fit his administrative style and the perceived level of threat from terrorists during his term.

The Lebanese Forces – Executive Command or LFEC, was a splinter group from the Lebanese Forces led by Elie Hobeika, based at the town of Zahlé in the Beqaa valley during the late 1980s. It was initially founded in January 1986 under the title Lebanese Forces – Uprising or LFU, but later changed its designation.

On 19 October 2012, Wissam al-Hassan, a brigadier general of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) and the head of its intelligence-oriented information branch, died along with several others killed by a car bomb in the Achrafieh district of Beirut. The killing of a senior figure closely linked with the anti-Assad camp in Lebanon led to immediate speculation that Syria, or its allies, were behind the attack in Beirut. Al-Hassan had also led the investigation that implicated Syria and its ally Hezbollah in the killing of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

On 15 August 2013, a car bomb exploded in Beirut, Lebanon killing 27 people and injuring over 200 people. The car bomb was intended for the stronghold of Hezbollah. It was reportedly the "worst explosion in south Beirut" since a 1985 truck bomb assassination attempt targeting top Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah. The Islamist group Aisha Umm-al Mouemeneen, also known as Brigades of Aisha, were responsible for the explosion. In their statement the group accused Hezbollah of being Iranian agents and threatened more attacks. "This is the second time that we decide the time and place of the battle ... And you will see more, God willing," However Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and other politicians blamed Israel for the attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1984 US embassy bombing in Beirut</span> Hezbollah attack on the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon

On September 20, 1984, the Shi'a Islamic militant group Hezbollah, with support and direction from the Islamic Republic of Iran, carried out a suicide car bombing targeting the US embassy annex in East Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War. The attack killed 23 people and 1 attacker.

The State of Israel has been accused of engaging in state-sponsored terrorism, as well as committing acts of state terrorism on a daily basis in the Palestinian territories. Countries that have condemned Israel's role as a perpetrator of state-sponsored terrorism or state terrorism include Bolivia, Iran, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and Yemen.

CIA activities in Lebanon refers to confirmed and alleged activities carried out in Lebanon by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Babcock, Charles R.; Woodward, Bob (23 June 1985). "CIA Denies Part in Bombing". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "C.I.A. Linked to Beirut Bomb". The New York Times. Associated Press. 12 May 1985. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "60 Killed by Beirut Car Bomb". The Guardian. 9 March 1985. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  4. ↑ Davis, Mike (18 April 2006). "A History of the Car Bomb (Part 2): Car Bombs with Wings". Asia Times Online. Archived from the original on 19 April 2006.
  5. 1 2 "Car Bomb Kills 50 in Christian Area near East Beirut". The New York Times. Associated Press. 18 August 1985. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. 1 2 Smith, William E. (27 May 1985). "Lebanon Blackmail in Beirut". Time. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
  7. ↑ "1985: Beirut Car Bomb Kills Dozens". BBC News. n.d. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  8. ↑ Bovard, James (1 June 2004). "Terrorism Debacles in the Reagan Administration". The Future of Freedom Foundation. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Chasdi, Richard J. (March 2012). "Counterterror Failure: The Fadlallah Assassination Attempt". In Weitz, Richard (ed.). Project on National Security Reform: Case Studies Working Group Report. Vol. 2. Strategic Studies Institute. pp. 303–374. ISBN   978-1-58487-512-3. JSTOR   resrep11953.10 .{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  10. 1 2 Hosmer, Stephen T. (2001). Operations Against Enemy Leaders. RAND. p. 10. doi: 10.7249/MR1385 . ISBN   0-8330-3028-0.
  11. ↑ Addicott, Jeffrey F. (2004). Terrorism Law: The Rule of Law and the War on Terror (2nd ed.). Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company. p. 155. ISBN   978-0-913875-75-9.
  12. ↑ Zenko, Micah (9 October 2012). "Don't Just 'Do Something'". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Zoglin, Richard (12 October 1987). "Did a Dead Man Tell No Tales?". Time. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  14. ↑ Cochrane, Paul (5 July 2004). "Will U.S. Foreign Policy Increase Terrorism?". Worldpress.org. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "Terrorist Attacks on Americans, 1979–1988". PBS. n.d. Retrieved 23 January 2007.
  16. ↑ Woodward, Bob (September 2001). "Interview: Bob Woodward". PBS (Interview). Retrieved 10 October 2012.
  17. ↑ Hijazi, Ihsan A. (9 March 1985). "Car Bomb Kills 62 Outside Beirut near Home of a Top Shiite Cleric". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  18. ↑ Boustany, Nora (6 March 1988). "Beirut Bomb's Legacy Suspicion and Tears". The Washington Post. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Entous, Adam; Osnos, Evan (3 February 2020). "Qassem Suleimani and How Nations Decide to Kill". The New Yorker. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.