Bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks, Beirut
On Oct. 23, 1983, just after 6 a.m., a yellow Mercedes truck packed with explosives charged into the U.S. Marine barracks in southern Beirut. The force of the blast lifted the four-story building from its foundation, crushing most of the occupants and killing 241 service members. All that remained was an eight-foot-deep crater. It was the single bloodiest day for the U.S. Marine Corps since Iwo Jima.
The explosion was part of a simultaneous attack on U.S. and French troops that were serving as part of the multinational force attempting to maintain security in the Lebanese capital during the civil war. In doing so, however, U.S. forces ended up implicitly supporting the pro-Israeli Lebanese government, alienating the country's Shiite and Druze populations.
Islamic Jihad -- a group under Mughniyeh's leadership that would eventually become part of Hezbollah -- claimed responsibility for the attack. Two years later, Mughniyeh was secretly indicted by a U.S. grand jury in absentia for having ordered the attacks.
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