HARDCOVER EDITION

Beirut 1983 - The Marine Commander Tells His Story
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On October 23, 1983, near-simultaneous suicide truck bombings killed 241 U.S. peacekeepers in their barracks at the Beirut International Airport (BIA) and 58 French paratroopers at their headquarters two miles north of BIA. In this long-awaited book, the Marine Corps commander of the U.S. Multi-National Peacekeeping Force that was destroyed by terrorists in Lebanon tells his story for the first time. Together, these suicide bombings comprised the largest nonnuclear explosion ever recorded and are now recognized as a seminal event leading to the current war on terrorism. Such acts of war revealed a new, highly effective tactic, which complemented the terrorist's strategic goals - the withdrawal of the peacekeepers and Western influence from Lebanon and a change in U.S. policy.

Peacekeepers at War lays out, in detail, a sequence of events leading up to the suicide truck bombings from which one can extrapolate the rationale, motives, and perpetrators behind it. Geraghty argues that the absence of any retribution against the perpetrators emboldened the terrorists to assume they could attack Americans and Western interests with impunity. This led to kidnappings, torture, and the murders of Americans and other Westerners.

Peacekeepers at War will be of interest to general readers who want to learn more about this seminal event and its effects on the current global war on terrorism.

13 B&W Photos; 2 Maps; 5 Figures

About the Author
Col. Timothy J. Geraghty, USMC (Ret.) entered the Marine Corps in 1959 following graduation from St. Louis University. He commanded a reconnaissance company in Vietnam and, while a lieutenant colonel, served in a special assignment with the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Operations Group. He commanded the Twenty-fourth Marine Amphibious Unit in Beirut in 1983 as part of the Multi-National Peacekeeping Force. Upon his retirement from the Corps, he returned to the CIA to serve in the Counterterrorism Center. He later worked in private industry and currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona.