The ignorance of the previous post is hard to believe.

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"Overview: On October 23, 1983 at 6:20 a.m. in the city of Beirut, Lebanon a large Mercedes truck drove into the Marine barracks compound near the Beirut International Airport and exploded, killing 241 people.

Why the United States was There? To answer that question, we have to go back to the creation of Lebanon. Following World War I, and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, France was left in charge of the land that was to become Lebanon. The Maronites, a Christian group, had a little more than half of the population, with the rest being Muslim Sunnis and Muslim Shiites, but the Maronites were given the power in Lebanon. That changed in 1943 when all three parties agreed to the National Pact, which allowed Lebanon to become independent from France. In this agreement, the Maronites would always hold the Presidency, while the Prime Minister would be a Sunni and the Speaker of the Parliament a Shiite.

By the 1970's this pact became intolerable to both the Sunni's and Shiites as the Maronites population dwindled to less than 1/3 of the total population and Shiites were now the majority religious faction. The Muslim's demanded more power but the Maronites declined to even talk about the matter. This resulted in the Lebanese Civil War which began in 1975.

Enter the PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) under Yasser Arafat was expelled from Jordan and set up camp in the refugee camps of Southern Lebanon, mostly Beirut. The Muslim Lebanese welcomed the PLO because this gave them a military force and stronger leverage against the Maronites. Attacks on civilians on each end caused the beginning of the Civil War. Beirut was divided in half and along with Muslim recruits, the Palestinians fought the Maronites. In June 1976, on the verge of defeat, the Maronites asked for help from Syria. They responded by sending troops into Lebanon who immediately imposed a cease-fire. The PLO then turned its attention towards Israel and began a series of attacks against Northern Israeli citizens. In response to these attacks, the Israeli's invaded Lebanon. The U.N. demanded Israel withdraw from Lebanon, which they did later that year, setting up a barrier on the Lebanon Israeli border. The PLO's military faction and Israel's army fought back and forth along the border for nearly three years.

A Brokered Peace: In 1981, the United States was the mediator as an agreement between Syria, the PLO and Israel called for a cease-fire. This lasted less than a year, and after several incidents infuriated the Israeli's, Israel once again invaded Lebanon. They moved all the way up to Beirut, bombing suspected PLO targets. Again Israel withdrew, but left forces to provide a buffer zone between Lebanon and Israel at the border.

Military Presence: In August 1982, members of the Armed Forces of the United States, France and Italy moved into Lebanon to effect the evacuation of Syrian troops and PLO soldiers from Lebanon. A new President of Lebanon was elected and Israel gave their backing to the election. It was short-lived however, as the new President was assassinated by Syrian agents. The next day Israeli troops invaded West Beirut to secure any threats and to attempt to eradicate PLO members within the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. This attempt led to the massacre of nearly 3000 (This number is in dispute) Lebanese in those refugee camps. While the Israeli military wasn't directly involved in the massacre, they stood by as members of the Lebanese Christian militia, sent in by the Israeli's to find any PLO members, killed many women and children. Later, the Israeli's agreed to withdraw from Lebanon on the sole condition that Syria left as well. Syria declined that invitation. As 1982 moved into 1983, Muslims began to view the multi-national force in Lebanon as an enemy just as dangerous as Israel. The Hezbollah, a terrorist organization funded by Iran and Syria, formed in the midst of this violence. In April 1983, they bombed the United States Embassy in Beirut, killing 63. It was a portent of things to come.

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Aftermath: President Ronald Reagan called the attack a deplorable act and insisted that they would stay in Lebanon. They eventually moved the Marines out to the Naval Fleet in the Harbor to protect them. In 1984, the Marines departed. The United States did not retailiate for the attacks, fearing they would lose support of other Arab nations. The French, however, did response with an airstrike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which had given support to the Hezbollah organization."