New Podcast relating to 1983 Grenadan invastion

From WaPo.

This historic episode remains relevant. It immediately followed the world's introduction to Hezbollah - the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Marines, 58 French Military and 6 civilians. President Reagan was so angry we immediately withdrew from Beirut and invaded Grenada in the Caribbean as a distraction.

Many other current echoes. US and French Peacekeepers were in Beirut after an Israeli invasion to evict the PLO, the then intolerable organization. Maronite Christian Phalange militia, Israeli allies (they would later be the South Lebanese Army buffer and I am married to a Maronite for 34 years - they are a strong people), entered the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps, then behind Israeli lines, and systematically murdered women and children - here is a Wiki excerpt

The Sabra and Shatila massacre refers to the 1982 killings of between 460 and 3,500 civilians—mostly Palestinians and Lebanese Shias—in the city of Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. It was perpetrated by the Lebanese Forces, one of the main Christian militias in Lebanon, under the command of Lebanese politician Elie Hobeika. The killings were carried out in Beirut's Sabra neighbourhood and in the adjacent Shatila refugee camp. Two days earlier, on 14 September, Lebanese politician Bachir Gemayel had been assassinated, prompting the Phalangists to call for a revenge attack.[4]

From approximately 18:00 on 16 September to 08:00 on 18 September, the Lebanese Forces carried out the massacre while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had the Palestinian camp surrounded.[5][6][7][8] The IDF had ordered the militia to clear out the fighters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from Sabra and Shatila as part of a larger Israeli maneuver into western Beirut. As the massacre unfolded, the IDF received reports of atrocities being committed, but did not take any action to stop it.[9]

In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon with the intention of rooting out the long-running Palestinian insurgency in that country. By 30 August 1982, under the supervision of the Multinational Force in Lebanon (MNF), the PLO withdrew from Lebanon following weeks of battles in western Beirut and shortly before the massacre took place. Various actors—the IDF, the Lebanese Forces, and possibly also the South Lebanon Army (SLA)—were in the vicinity of Sabra and Shatila at the time of the massacre, taking advantage of the fact that the MNF had removed barracks and mines that had encircled Beirut's predominantly Muslim neighbourhoods and kept the Israelis at bay during the siege of Beirut.[10] The Israeli advance into western Beirut in the wake of the PLO withdrawal, which enabled the raid by the Lebanese Forces, was in violation of the ceasefire agreement between all sides.[11] Israeli troops were stationed at the exits of the area to prevent the camp's residents from leaving and, at the request of the Lebanese Forces,[12] fired flares to illuminate Sabra and Shatila through the night.[13][14]

In February 1983, an independent commission chaired by Irish diplomat Seán MacBride (the then-assistant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations) launched an inquiry into the violence and concluded that the Ione21] The commission also stated that the massacre was a form of genocide.[22] In February 1983, the Israeli government launched the Kahan Commission to investigate the cause and circumstances of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and found that Israeli military personnel had failed to take serious steps to stop the killings despite being aware of the militia's actions. The Israeli commission deemed that the IDF was indirectly responsible for the events, and forced erstwhile Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon to resign from his position "for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge" during the massacre.[23]

This episode also harmed US-French relations. As detailed in David Crist's "Twilight War", Bud MacFarlane, the responsible US Official, told the French we would join them in a retaliatory bombing of the Bekaa Valley. We were no shows, which the French were incensed about (they bombed and lost forces in coordinated attacks), such that they denied overflight rights 3 years later when US planes bombed Libya. Not widely reported that they were angry about Lebanon - US media opined that they were soft on the Libyans. Again Wiki

McFarlane was criticized for having involved the United States armed forces in the Lebanon Civil War with gunship bombardment of Lebanese opposition forces which may have led to the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing where 241 American servicemen were killed.[8]

This is part of regional historic memory.

Anyway, back to Grenada, invaded 50 years ago this week in a surprise. This podcast covers a lot more that I realized at the time (I was 22 but still interested), as news was limited, and adds context. Highly recommend based on first two episodes