Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol
Anniversary Of The Start Of World War III
April 18, 1983
President Ronald and First Lady Nancy Reagan, at Andrews Air Force Base (now known as "Joint Base Andrews") in Maryland reviewing flag-draped coffins of some of those killed in the bombing of the Embassy of the United States of America in Beirut, Lebanon, on April 18, 1983. (This photograph was produced by The White House and provided courtesy of The U S National Archives and Records Administration, April 23, 1983.)
Today is the anniversary of the start of World War III.
On this date 41 years ago, April 18, 1983, the Embassy of the United States of America in Beirut, Lebanon, was bombed.
A total of 64 people died in this attack. Of that number, 17 were Americans, according to the U S State Department. A majority of those killed in this attack were Lebanese nationals. One of those that died was the suicide attacker who brought the explosives to the embassy. In addition to the individuals who died, the U S Department of Homeland Security indicated that approximately 120 people were injured.
On April 18, 2023, the U S Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) issued a news statement on the anniversary of the attack in which it indicated that "The Islamic Jihad Organization, which later became part of Hizballah [Hezbollah], claimed responsibility. The terrorists targeted the [U S] Embassy [in Beirut] in an effort to force Americans to leave the country [Lebanon]."
Years after the bombing, on October 8, 1997, the U S State Department designated Hizballah [Hezbollah] as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
In a report issued by the U S Congressional Research Service – "Lebanon: Background and U S Relations" – updated on May 19, 2023, this nonpartisan arm of the U S Congress stated that "Hezbollah is an Iran-backed Lebanese Shi'a militia and U S-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization…"
Media dispatches at the time of the bombing of the U S Embassy in Beirut – and in the years since – reported that Iran denied any involvement in this attack on the U S.
Some may remember this bombing and consider it an isolated, tragic event.
Tragic, yes.
Isolated, no.
It was the beginning of the "hot" war between two very different views of life.
One – with all its flaws and mistakes – seeks to allow free expression of thoughts and ideas.
One – with the certainty of its thoughts – seeks to force people to follow what it views as the only correct tenets of its religious faith and to eliminate all those who refuse to adhere to those specific tenets.
Dozens of terror attacks by Islamists have taken place since April 18, 1983.
An attack on any embassy or consulate – a diplomatic mission – of any nation is considered to be illegal under international law.
Who says so?
The United States of America.
The Islamic Republic of Iran.
On different occasions for different reasons, both countries have cited the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations issued in 1961.
Article 22 of this Convention states the following:
"1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.
"2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.
"3. The premises of the mission, their furnishings and other property thereon and the means of transport of the mission shall be immune from search, requisition, attachment or execution."
On April 6, 2024, in an unrelated incident involving the Embassy of Mexico in Ecuador, Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, issued the following statement:
"The Secretary-General is alarmed at the forced entry of Ecuadorean security forces into the premises of the Mexican Embassy in Quito. He reaffirms the cardinal principle of the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel, emphasizing that this principle must be respected in all cases, in accordance with international law. The Secretary-General stresses that violations of this principle jeopardize the pursuit of normal international relations, which are critical for the advancement of cooperation between States."
On the same day, referencing the same incident at the Embassy of Mexico in Ecuador, Mathew Miller, Spokesperson for the U S State Department, stated "The United States condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and takes very seriously the obligation of host countries under international law to respect the inviolability of diplomatic missions."
In another unrelated incident – this one involving a diplomatic mission of Iran in Syria – in a news report on April 2, 2024, from the United Nations, Mohamed Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs – Department of Peace Operations [of the United Nations], noted the following:
"Iran transmitted a letter to the Secretary-General [of the United Nations] and the Security Council [of the United Nations] stating that Israel has attacked its diplomatic premises in Damascus [Syria] by missile strikes [on April 1, 2024], killing at least five Iranian personnel, including senior military advisors and injuring others. According to media reports, the death toll has risen to 13 – seven Iranian personnel and six Syrian citizens. Reiterating the Secretary-General's condemnation of the attack, he declared that the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected in all cases and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States must be respected under international law."
The Voice of America reported on April 10, 2024, that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, referencing the Israeli attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria, stated the following in "remarks broadcast by Iranian state television":
"When they attacked our consulate area, it was like they attacked our territory."
The leaders in Iran clearly consider the attack on their diplomatic mission to be an attack on their nation. As of the timing this news column is being written, while a military response from Iran is expected by leaders of a number of countries, Iran has not yet responded to the attack on its mission.
The enemy recognizes that when it has been attacked, it will respond at times and in places of its choosing.
While few leaders in this country choose to acknowledge that April 18, 1983, was the beginning of a world war, the reality is that thousands of American citizens have been killed and additional thousands of American citizens have been injured due to this war.
Beyond the impact on the U S, dozens of other countries have also seen their citizens killed and injured due to this war.
American leaders have a responsibility to acknowledge that a state of war has existed between the United States of America, its allies, and other nations and Iran, its proxies (including Hezbollah), and other Islamist groups since April 18, 1983.
• That the individual attacks against the U S and other nations are not isolated incidents to be dealt with individually.
• That while each of the entities fighting in this war is different and seeks their own outcomes, they have similar goals.
• That these attacks are part of strategic efforts to change the world as Americans and other nationals know it today.
For the American government to be accountable, though, the American people need to acknowledge that while the U S did not declare war on Iran, its proxies, and other Islamist groups, these entities declared war on the U S.
It did not begin on September 11, 2001. The tragic events of that day were part of the strategic efforts by the enemies of the U S to change the world to conform to their ideologies.
World War III began years earlier.
The United States of America has been – and continues to be – at war whether we as a people or whether our leaders chose to acknowledge that truth or not.
Consider the following statement included in The 9/11 Commission Report that referenced a second bombing by Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon, in October of 1983:
"In 1983, came Hezbollah's massacre of the [U S] Marines in Beirut. President [Ronald] Reagan quickly withdrew U S forces from Lebanon – a reversal later routinely cited by jihadists as evidence of U S weakness."
In 2001, Americans saw the horrors of this war declared by Islamists in the streets of the City of New York, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and in the rural countryside of Pennsylvania.
Today, take a moment to remember the attack on the U S Embassy in Beirut in 1983. To remember the Americans and Lebanese nationals that died 41 years ago. To keep in your prayers the families and friends of the Americans and Lebanese nationals that died in the attack as well as those that were injured 41 years ago.
And remember the many other Americans as well as the nationals from dozens of other countries who have been injured and who have died as a result of the acts of terror and armed conflicts during World War III since April 18, 1983.
Future editions of Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol will provide further details on World War III.
The aftermath of the bombing of the U S Embassy in Beirut Lebanon. (The photographs were provided courtesy of the National Museum of the U S Navy, April 29, 1983.)
Peirspictiochtai Ar An Saol – Gaelic – Irish – for "Perspectives On Life" is a column focused on aspects of accountability and responsibility as well as ways people look at life.
Contact Richard McDonough at PeirspictiochtaiArAnSaol@protonmail.com.
© 2024 Richard McDonough