Word: beirutization
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...brilliant, late-summer sky above the eastern Mediterranean, F-14 jet fighters from the U.S. carrier Eisenhower roared over Beirut and headed toward the mountains of Lebanon. Only a few hours earlier, Super Etendard strike fighters from the French aircraft carrier Foch had conducted similar exercises. Officially, both the American and French warplanes were on reconnaissance flights. In reality, they were sounding a warning to Druze militiamen in the Chouf Mountains of Lebanon: from that day forward, the planes could be ordered to strike and destroy any artillery that continued to fire at troops of the four-country multinational force...
...week following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Beirut area and the Chouf to new positions along the Awali River, some 17 miles south of the capital, two more U.S. Marines and two more French soldiers were killed by artillery fire, presumably from Druze positions in the hills above Beirut. That brought the death toll among the multinational force to five Americans and 16 Frenchmen...
...Socialist Party, declared that its forces had decided not to shell military positions in which the Lebanese Army and the multinational force had a joint presence. That seemed to be good news, since it applied to a large number of military locations throughout the capital and could have freed Beirut from the constant threat of shelling from the mountains. That night, in fact, the city was peaceful for the first time in almost a week. But next day the shelling resumed, once again striking positions around Beirut International Airport and outlying sections of the city. In response, a U.S. warship...
...forces in the mountains were receiving the active military support of both Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organization. There is no question that Syria is providing arms and ammunition to the Druze, in the hope of undermining the Gemayel government. But in the view of most Western observers in Beirut, few Syrian or Palestinian soldiers are involved in the actual fighting...
Throughout the week, the position of the multinational force was becoming increasingly precarious. U.S. Marines at Beirut airport spent most of Monday night in their bunkers after rockets and artillery shells began to land on the encampment. Dawn was scarcely an hour away when a rocket crashed into a bunker in Alpha Company's position to the east of the airport runway, killing Corporal Pedro Valle Ramos of San Juan, P.R., and Lance Corporal Randy Clark of Minong, Wis. The following day, an artillery shell struck the French military headquarters in West Beirut, killing Lieut. Colonel Louis Sahler...