U.S. Hails 'Close' U.S.-Lebanese Ties, Failure of 'Enemies of Democracy'
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the last 30 years of “close” cooperation between Washington and Lebanon proved that the goals of “terrorists” who struck U.S. interests in the country in the 1980s were not achieved.
“Hizbullah and other terrorist organizations like it hoped through these violent attacks to deter the United States from maintaining our strong relationship with the Lebanese people, and from working with all elements of Lebanese society to insure the stability and sovereignty of Lebanon,” Kerry said on Thursday in a statement on the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy bombing in Beirut.
“Yet the last 30 years of close cooperation between the United States and Lebanon - especially at the people-to-people level - proves the terrorists' goals were not achieved,” he said.
“They underestimated the resolve of the United States to fight terrorism and to bring terrorists to justice wherever they may lurk,” Kerry added.
The statement said that on April 18, 1983, a suicide bomber detonated a vehicle laden with 2,000 pounds of explosives outside the U.S. embassy.
The bombing killed 52 American diplomats, military personnel, and Lebanese embassy employees. It also wounded more than 100 Americans and Lebanese, it said.
The same year the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut was targeted in a bombing. There was also a third attack on the embassy a year later.
“All the Americans lost in these acts of terror had come in peace. They and our cherished Lebanese colleagues made the ultimate sacrifice through their service,” Kerry said.
But he stressed that on the 30th anniversary of the mission's bombing, Washington “celebrates close cooperation with the people of Lebanon that proves the enemies of democracy failed.”
He reiterated that the U.S. supports a sovereign, stable, independent, and prosperous Lebanon.
On the same occasion, U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly led on Thursday a remembrance at the mission in Awkar, north of Beirut.
“The very presence of the embassy was an assertion of hope – that Lebanon would soon return to normal life. Unfortunately, many more years were to pass before Lebanon achieved a degree of stability. Even today, Lebanon’s normalcy is a fragile thing that requires constant attention,” she said.
“We cannot bring back those whom we lost in 1983 and 1984. But we can honor their memories and the memories of all those who have fallen to terrorism by ensuring we do not lack conviction,” Connelly said.
“The terrorists will not survive,” she stressed.
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