October 23, 2008 will mark 25 years from the day that 241 United States Marines were killed following a suicide attack on a barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.
September 26, 1983 the order is given:
"an official with the Iranian Intelligence Service in Tehran phoned the Iranian ambassador in Damascus and issued an order to have them killed."They Came in Peace:
"At dawn this 23 October, a solemn candlelight vigil will begin the day at the foot of the Beirut Memorial, nestled in the pines of North Carolina. Families, veterans, and friends will gather to pay tribute to those who "Came in Peace" on this, the 25th anniversary."At the Behesht-E-Zahra cemetery in Southern Tehran lie those that died during the Iran-Iraq war fought during the 1980's. In 2004 a monument in commemoration of those that died carrying out the suicide bombing that killed our Marines, was erected at the cemetery. On October 23, 2008 there will be a ceremony celebrating death at this particular monument.
A question the answer to which, escapes many regards Iran's "peaceful" nuclear ambitions. Confidently we can reply "we don't know," with a near 100% certainty that is. It's one of those "we know what we don't know" scenarios.
Unfortunately, too often "certainty" is historical.
