The 1983 attack on American Marine barracks in Beirut was the largest non-nuclear bombing post-World War II. The jihadi attack that killed 241 was Iranian prozxy, Hezbollah's, coming-out party.
To this day, the attack is lauded on its TV channel Al-Manar. A Hezbollah "poet," Atef Moussa, appeared on May 22, 2005, and said,"Who says we are afraid of war? ... Who can compare to the men of Hezbollah? ... These enemies [the American military] turned out to be as light as cardboard. Bush knows it. Beirut remains dangerous for the Marines. Our proof is here, they left in shame. Our people sail the seas of martyrdom."
In an anti-American speech mocking the American military on March 8,
2005, Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Nasrallah, also referred to the attack:
"I address the following to America ... to President Bush ... to
Condoleezza Rice ... and to American-Lebanese field commander
Satterfield ... Lebanon will not ... throw its heart to your soldiers'
dogs so they will eat it ... You can make yourself heard by the
commander of the American forces in the region, who is of Lebanese
origin, John Abizaid ... Are you Lebanese afraid of the American naval
fleets? These naval fleets have come in the past, and were defeated, and
if they come again, they will be defeated again..."
Since Hezbollah's founding, its leadership has threatened America openly. In a March 1985 Newsweek article about Hezbollah, an Islamic teacher at the Bir Al-Abed Mosque in Beirut, Alia Hamden, promised a future attack by the terror organization within America. Similarly, in a July 2003 interview with the Christian Science Monitor, Shiek Nasrallah said that if America tried to dismantle his organization, American interests throughout the world will be at risk, "through any means and at any time and any place."
Al-Manar is Hezbollah's main vehicle for spreading its anti-American ideology. Such messages surface in news programs, music videos, and even game shows. (More at here at New York Sun)
So this win for the victims' families is wonderful news, despite Obama's pro-jihad opposition. Victims triumph in one of the worst Islamic attacks on Americans in the late twentieth century.
Despite Obama opposition, Beirut bombing victims win judgment in court The Examiner, March 3, 2013, Jim KouriSurviving family members of the U.S. Marines and soldiers killed in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983 had reason to celebrate good news on Friday in New York City, in spite of President Barack Obama's opposition to their court case, according to a spokesperson for the victim's families.
The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York's Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled that the victims of the 1983 Beirut bombing were entitled to collect $1.8 billion of their $2.65 billion judgment against Iran for its role in the terrorist bombing in Beirut.
Iran's culpability stems from the fact that the terrorist group responsible of the deaths of U.S. servicemen was the Lebanese-based Hezbollah, an organization funded and armed by the Iranian government. Hezbollah is a known "proxy" for Iran's war on the West.
While the families received bi-partisan support from U.S. Senators and House members, President Barack Obama, in a bid to reconcile with the Teheran regime, has blocked legislation that would hold Iran accountable for the Hezbollah bombing that killed 241 U.S. Marines in 1983, according to journalist and anti-terrorism activist Pamela Geller.
As a result of the Judge Forrest's ruling, the 1,300 immediate families and survivors of the 241 members of the American military who were killed in the Iran-sponsored bombing are significantly closer to receiving approximately $1.8 billion in Iranian funds held in an account in Citibank in Manhattan.
Judge Forrest's court decision on Friday came as a component judgment in a lawsuit filed against Clearstream Banking SA. The families claimed in that suit that Clearstream illegally diverted $250 million from frozen Iranian funds from the Citibank account, a suit originating in 2008.
Lynn Smith Derbyshire, the national spokesperson for the Beirut bombing victims, said, "This is a wonderful day. After 30 years of seeking justice against the murderers in Iran, who killed the brave U.S. Marines and other servicemen in 1983 in Beirut, we are almost there. That bombing was vile. It was evil. Iran should by every measurement be made to pay for its crimes, and Judge Forrest has shown wisdom in her ruling."
Ms. Derbyshire's brother, Marine Captain Vincent Smith, was killed in the bombing.
Forrest's ruling was made easier by a bi-partisan provision inserted into the Iran Sanctions Bill of 2012, which clarified the enforcement of existing laws governing how Iranian funds located in the United States can be attached in cases involving American victims of terrorism.
