1985 Beirut car bombing

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On 8 March 1985, a car bomb exploded 9-45 metres from the house of Islamic cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in Beirut, Lebanon, in a failed assassination attempt. The bombing, later discovered to be the work of CIA-trained Lebanese mercenaries, killed more than 80 people and injured 200.

The blast

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

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. The other notable death was Jihad Mugniyah, the brother of Imad Mugniyah.

Locals fired guns in the air, following the blast, trying to clear the roads to allow ambulances to pass. A banner was strung across the blast site by locals, reading "MADE IN THE USA".

Responsibility

Initially, Fadlallah blamed Israel for the attack, but later accepted evidence that revealed the American Central Intelligence Agency had sponsored the attack, as they had claimed Fadlallah had given support to the Beirut barracks bombing, in which hundreds of American and French soldiers were killed.

Reporter Bob Woodward wrote that CIA director William Casey, while lying on his deathbed, had admitted personal culpability in the attack, which he suggests was carried out with funding from Saudi Arabia. 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. Woodward suggests that it was Fadlallah who took a bribe, of $2,000,000 from the Saudis, in exchange for a stop to terrorist attacks. 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."

The U.S. National Security Advisor, Robert McFarlane, admitted that those responsible for the bomb may have had American training, but asserted that they were "rogue operative(s)" operating without CIA approval. Woodward's own account of his conversation with Casey suggests that Casey's action was "off the books".

Former Lebanese warlord and statesman Elie Hobeika was fingered as one of those likely responsible for the actual operation.

Historical relevancy

In 1976, Gerald Ford became the first U.S. President to forbid political assassination, in the wake of the Church Commission. The Commission had indicated that the United States had attempted to assassinate Fidel Castro several times. The controversial report concluded that "[A]ssassination is incompatible with American principles, international order, and morality. It should be rejected as a tool of foreign policy." Ford responded with Executive Order 11905, to prevent any repeat of the behavior the Commission had denounced.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan updated and clarified 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. In recent years, there has been some controversy as to whether it should be more clearly defined.

References

Smith, William E. "Lebanon Blackmail in Beirut". Time, Retrieved on 2007-1-17.

1985 Beirut car bombing

The blast

Responsibility

Historical relevancy

References

See also