Beirut Bombings

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Beirut Bombings
CPT Patrick Duling CPT Alexis M. Marks
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Agenda

• Purpose
• References
• Background
• Actions on the US Embassy
• Actions on the Marine Barracks
• Lessons Learned
• Summary

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Purpose

• To inform the class on our analysis of the
  terrorist attacks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1982-1983.

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References

• ST 2-91.2, Intelligence Support to Installation
  Commander's
• DOD Anti-Terrorism Guide
• http//www.beirut-memorial.org
• http//www.answers.com

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Definitions

• Terrorism is the calculated use of unlawful
  violence or threat of unlawful violence to
  inculcate fear intended to coerce or to
  intimidate governments or societies in the
  pursuit of goals that are generally political,
  religious, or ideological. (JCS Pub 01-2
  (reference (d))

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Background
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Background
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Background
Population 3 million (1981 estimate) Religions
Christians, Druze and Muslims Politics
Parliamentary republic (1926) -The president
is to be a Maronite Christian. -The
prime minister, a Sunni Muslim. -The
president of the Chamber of Deputies, a Shia
Muslim.
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Background

• 1943
• Independence in 1943
• 1946
• Withdrawal of French
• 1975
• Full scale civil war
• October 1976
• Syria troops
• Sep 1982
• Presidential assassination
• 24th MAU

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Background

• August 1983
• Negotiations
• Supported Christian side
• Mission was to establish an environment that
  would facilitate the withdrawal of foreign
  military forces from Lebanon and to assist the
  Lebanese government and the Lebanese Armed Forces
  (LAF) in establishing control and authority over
  the Beirut area.
• Intended to be of short duration

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Background

• Lebanon, Sep 25, 1982 Air Force MAJ Harley S.
  Warren and Army Major Randall A. Carlson, members
  of the UN observer force, were killed with two
  others when their vehicle hit a landmine on the
  Damascus-Beirut highway.
• Beirut, Lebanon, Sep 30, 1982 One Marine was
  killed and three Lebanese officials were wounded
  while trying to defuse an unexploded bomb at
  Beirut airport.
• Beirut, Apr 18, 1983 Four U.S. service members
  were among 63 people killed in a car bomb
  explosion at the U.S. Embassy.
• Beirut, Aug 29, 1983 Two Marines were killed by
  mortar fire. Fourteen others were wounded.
• Beirut, Sep 4 - 6, 1983 Two Marines were killed
  in shelling. Ten others were wounded.

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Background

• Beirut, Oct 16, 1984 Marine CPT Michael J. Ohler
  was killed by a sniper.
• Beirut, Oct 23, 1983 In one of the U.S.
  military's worst "peacetime" disasters, 219
  Marines, 18 sailors, and four soldiers - 241
  service members in all - were killed by a single
  explosives-laden truck driven into the ground
  floor of the Marine barracks.
• Beirut, Dec 4, 1983 Eight Marines in an
  observation bunker near Beirut airport were
  killed under heavy artillery fire.
• Lebanon, Dec 4, 1983 While retaliating for the
  guerrilla bombardment that killed eight Marines
  earlier in the day, Navy pilot LT Mark A. Lange
  died after trying to parachute from his A-6
  Intruder, which was downed by Syrian gunfire.
• Beirut, Jan 8, 1984 Marine CPL Edward J. Gargano
  was killed in an ambush.
• Beirut, Jan 30, 1984 LCPL George Dramis was
  killed during shelling of the U.S. facility.

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Background
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US Embassy
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Actions on US Embassy

• Embassy Building
• Horse-shoe
• No gate
• 6 stories

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Actions on US Embassy

• VBIED
• Delivery Van
• 400lb of explosives
• Parked under the portico

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Actions on US Embassy

• Casualties
• 63 total KIA
• 17 Americans
• CIA Middle East Director
• 100 wounded
• Actions
• Moved embassy
• Scaled down operations

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Actions on US Embassy

• Failures
• Standoff distance
• No barriers
• No Entry Control Point

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Marine Barracks
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Actions on Marine Barracks

• "At approximately 0622 on Sunday, 23 Oct. 1983,
  the Battalion Landing Team headquarters building
  in the Marine Amphibious Unit compound at Beirut
  International Airport was destroyed by a
  terrorist bomb. The catastrophic attack took the
  lives of 241 Marines, sailors and soldiers and
  wounded more than 100 others. The bombing was
  carried out by one lone terrorist driving a
  yellow Mercedes Benz stake-bed truck that
  accelerated through the public parking lot south
  of the BLT headquarters building, where it
  exploded. The truck drove over the barbed and
  concertina wire obstacle, passed between two
  Marine guard posts without being engaged by fire,
  entered an open gate, passed around one sewer
  pipe barrier and between two others, flattened
  the Sergeant of the Guard's sandbagged booth at
  the building's entrance, penetrated the lobby of
  the building and detonated while the majority of
  the occupants slept. The force of the explosion
  12,000 pounds ripped the building from its
  foundation. The building then imploded upon
  itself. Almost all the occupants were crushed or
  trapped inside the wreckage."
• Department of Defense Report

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Actions on Marine Barracks

• No hardened perimeter
• Poor access control
• Multiple badges for Local Nationals

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Actions on Marine Barracks
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Actions on Marine Barracks
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Actions on the Marine Barracks

• US Barracks
• 241 American servicemen dead
• 220 Marines
• 18 Navy personnel
• 3 Army soldiers
• 60 Americans were injured.
• French barracks
• 58 paratroopers were killed
• 15 injured

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Lessons Learned

• Poor IPB/Threat Estimate
• Unclear Mission, No Ownership
• Poorly defined COC
• Didn't adjust Mission, ROE, or Protective
  Measures to events
• Poor Intel Support throughout
• Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986
• Dhahran, Khobar Towers

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Lessons Learned

• Increased standoff distances
• Casualty handling procedures
• Weinberger Doctrine
• MOOTW
• Political message

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Lessons Learned
DoD ANTITERRORISM HANDBOOK
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Summary

• Background
• Actions on the US Embassy
• Actions on the Marine Barracks
• Lessons Learned

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Conclusion

• You must first understand the threat, and then
  prepare subordinates with a clear and achievable
  mission.

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Questions?