Home > Uncategorized > Adding insult to infamy (Obama trying to block Iran payments for 1983 Beirut barracks bombing)

Adding insult to infamy (Obama trying to block Iran payments for 1983 Beirut barracks bombing)

November 20, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

Adding insult to infamy (Obama trying to block Iran payments for 1983 Beirut barracks bombing)
boston.com ^ | Nov. 14, 2009 | Bryan Bender, Globe Staff

Posted on Friday, November 20, 2009 9:31:31 PM by Free ThinkerNY

On Veterans Day, Christine Devlin stood in the cold in Westwood for the unveiling of a new memorial to local soldiers lost overseas, including her son Michael, one of the 241 servicemen killed in the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983.

Devlin is among 30 Massachusetts relatives of victims of the Beirut attack who have been fighting for more than a decade to get compensation for what many consider the first major terrorist attack against the United States. After a federal judge ruled in 2007 that Iran was liable for $2.65 billion in damages to be shared by 150 families seeking restitution, they believed they were on the cusp of victory.

But now, the Obama administration is going to court to try to block payments from Iranian assets that the families’ lawyers want seized, contending that it would jeopardize sensitive negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program and establish a potentially damaging precedent.

In a little-noticed filing in federal court, the Justice Department is arguing that giving the money to the victims “can have significant, detrimental impact on our foreign relations, as well as the reciprocal treatment of the United States and its extensive overseas property holdings.’’

The Obama administration’s position is a blow to those like Devlin, who is still waiting for some measure of justice for her son, who was 21 when Hezbollah terrorists rammed a suicide truck bomb into the peacekeepers’ headquarters.

“It is offensive that our government – the government that [the Marines] were fighting for, who sent them there – are against us collecting from Iran,’’ Devlin said in an interview this week. “I felt justice was going to be served, but so far it hasn’t.’’

(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com …

Ref

(SCROLL DOWN/SEE RELATED GyG ARTICLES BELOW)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2391232/posts

*****

About these ads
  1. Gunny G
    November 21, 2009 at 9:03 AM | #1
    Quote

    Sunday, June 17, 2007
    RONALD REAGAN’S WISDOM ON THE MIDDLE EAST: LEAVE!
    http://spotgunnyg.blogspot.com/2007/06/ronald-reagans-wisdom-on-middle-east.html

    SEE ALSO:
    http://gunnyg.blogspot.com/2007/03/israel-charged-with-systematic.html

    http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/beirut.html
    Sunday, June 17, 2007
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

    Ronald Reagan’s wisdom on the Middle East: LEAVE!
    OC Register ^ | July 21, 2006 | John Seiler

    Posted on 06/17/2007 1:22:37 PM EDT by OrthodoxPresbyterian

    Ronald Reagan is America’s most beloved president of recent years. We remember how he restored prosperity while ending the Cold War without getting us all nuked….

    It’s worth looking back on Reagan’s policy on involving U.S. troops in the quarrels and hatreds of the Middle East. In 1983, he committed U.S. Marines to Lebanon. On Oct. 23, a terrorist truck bomb blew up the troops’ barracks, killing 220 Marines and 21 other troops.

    At first, Reagan insisted that he wouldn’t cave in to the terrorist threat. Then he realized the best policy was to pull out the troops. Here’s how he explained it in his autobiography:

    Perhaps we didn’t appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines’ safety that it should have.

    In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today.

    Reagan’s sensible policy — “neutral position and neutrality” — should be followed today…. And troops now in Iraq should be brought home immediately. Almost 2,600 have been killed in Iraq, 10 times the number killed in Lebanon when Reagan decided to leave.

    (Excerpt) Read more at blogs.ocregister.com …

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

    *******************************************
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

    Ronald Reagan’s wisdom on the Middle East: LEAVE!
    OC Register ^ | July 21, 2006 | John Seiler

    Posted on 06/17/2007 1:22:37 PM EDT by OrthodoxPresbyterian

    Ronald Reagan is America’s most beloved president of recent years. We remember how he restored prosperity while ending the Cold War without getting us all nuked….

    It’s worth looking back on Reagan’s policy on involving U.S. troops in the quarrels and hatreds of the Middle East. In 1983, he committed U.S. Marines to Lebanon. On Oct. 23, a terrorist truck bomb blew up the troops’ barracks, killing 220 Marines and 21 other troops.

    At first, Reagan insisted that he wouldn’t cave in to the terrorist threat. Then he realized the best policy was to pull out the troops. Here’s how he explained it in his autobiography:

    Perhaps we didn’t appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines’ safety that it should have.

    In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today.

    Reagan’s sensible policy — “neutral position and neutrality” — should be followed today…. And troops now in Iraq should be brought home immediately. Almost 2,600 have been killed in Iraq, 10 times the number killed in Lebanon when Reagan decided to leave.

    (Excerpt) Read more at blogs.ocregister.com …

    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1851715/posts

    *******************************************

    –
    **********
    Posts Added Thru-Out The Day ~ 24/7…
    NEW! -The “G” QUIK-POSTS!
    MOST GyG POSTS HERE!!!!!
    Sometimes, Just Scanning These Headlines Alone Are Good For A Chuckle, And Worth The Click!
    http://www.diigo.com/user/gunnyg
    **********
    R. W. “Dick” Gaines
    THE “G” BLOG. @WordPress.com
    http://gunnyg.wordpress.com/
    (AKA: Gunny G’s Globe and Anchor Online….)
    **********

  1. No trackbacks yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 674 other followers