Word: beirutization
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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That is why Afghanistan is such a turning point. It marks the first great reversal of fortune for radical Islam. For two decades it tasted one victory after another: the Beirut bombings of 1983 that chased America out of Lebanon; "Black Hawk Down" that chased America out of Somalia; the first Afghan war that chased the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan--and led to the collapse of a superpower, no less. These were heady victories, as were the wounds inflicted with impunity on the other superpower: the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center, the 1998 destruction...
...constant refinement. It was pioneered in the early '80s by Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim extremist group Hizballah, which was inspired by Iran's use of human minesweepers during its war with Iraq. In one assault a fanatic drove a truckful of explosives into a U.S. Marine compound in Beirut, killing 241 service members. Starting in 1994, Hamas and another Palestinian group, Islamic Jihad, took up the practice. Since then, 82 Palestinian suicide bombers--their compatriots call them shahids or martyrs--have killed themselves and slaughtered 239 victims...
...individual is aware of any criminal activity whatsoever, whether related to terrorism or not." Since lying to a federal officer can get a person with a visa deported, and since drinking under age 21, for instance, is illegal, this could technically be used to send an interviewee back to Beirut. With such stakes, Mohammed, for one, isn't telling his parents about this until it's over. "My mother would totally, absolutely freak out," he says. "She'd have a heart attack...
...This is worse than Beirut, man. I was there. This is worse than Bosnia, worse than Kosovo, worse than Colombia. This is the worst devastation of infrastructure I've ever seen...
...which a bin Laden lieutenant mentioned a "big wedding"--suspected code for a terrorist hit--led to the arrest of three men planning to bomb two resort hotels in Jordan. Last month agents uncovered another plot, this one to blow up the U.S., British and Jordanian embassies in Beirut...