23 October, 2008

25 Years Ago Today

25 years ago today, October 23, 1983, modern suicide bombing was invented. The U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon was attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 241 Americans, including 220 Marines, 18 from the Navy, and 3 from the Army. Two minutes later, there was a similar (obviously coordinated) bombing at the French 1st Parachute Infantry Regiment barracks, killing 58 French paratroopers.

This was the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II (2,500 in one day) and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the 243 killed on January 31, 1968, the first day of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The attack remains the deadliest single attack on Americans overseas since World War II.[8]

It is believed that the terrorists responsible were backed by Iran and Syria, much like the suicide bombers we meet in Iraq today. Iran is our enemy, and has been for 30 years now, when the Carter administration turned its back on the Shah.

Terrorism matters. Iran matters. Think about what happened 25 years ago today and what happened on September 11, 2001 when you're drinking your Slurpee and watching W. Think about them on November 4 when you're in that voting booth and think about which candidate wants to fight against Islamic terrorism and which one wants to "hope for change". Hope is a good thing, but hoping that Iran is going to change until and unless forced to do so, is insane.