Word: lebanons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...forces at play were beyond American control. The surge of Islamic fundamentalism that carried the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini to power struck a resonant chord with Shi'ite organizations in Lebanon. So did the Iranian mobs that stormed into the American embassy in Tehran and held 52 hostages for 444 days...
...occupation of the self-proclaimed security zone nine miles deep into Lebanese territory uprooted Shi'ite towns and sparked the creation of Hizballah, the radical Party of God, built up with Iranian advisers and money. Its proclaimed mission: to drive the Israelis and their Lebanese auxiliaries of the South Lebanon Army out of the country. The U.S. became a target when it moved Marines into Lebanon to support the Israeli-backed Christian government in Beirut, reinforcing Hizballah's belief that Israel's strength came from the aid and political support the Jewish state got from America. Said one of Terry...
Similar objections apply to bombing a Lebanese town or a training camp in the Bekaa Valley. Israel does it, of course, but Israel is at war with Lebanon. It would be diplomatically and domestically impolitic for Washington if its bombs landed on anyone but active terrorists. And bombing targets in Iran or Syria would have horrified most Arabs and soured U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and Egypt...
Asked where the U.S. should use its muscle, the Iranian replied, "Lebanon. If you tell him, 'You have to release all the hostages in Lebanon within five days, otherwise we are going to launch a military strike against you,' and not only that, you'll do it. You have to show you are strong." There were Americans who felt the same way, but apparently none of them could make a solid case for what the U.S. should do if Khomeini called the bluff...
...Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, decided it was necessary to cool revolutionary rhetoric in order to woo desperately needed trade and investment from the West. The slow shift in Iran toward more pragmatic policies to end the country's pariah status was the biggest single reason the last U.S. hostages in Lebanon were finally released...