Timeline of the Lebanese Civil War From 1975-1990

Timeline of the Lebanese Civil War From 1975-1990 The Lebanese Civil War took place from 1975 to 1990 and claimed the lives of some 200,000 people, which left Lebanon in ruins. Lebanese Civil War, 1975 to 1978 April 13, 1975:  Gunmen attempt to assassinate Maronite Christian Phalangist leader Pierre Gemayel as he’s leaving church that Sunday. In retaliation, Phalangist gunmen ambush a busload of Palestinians, most of them civilians, killing 27 passengers. Week-long clashes between Palestinian-Muslim forces and Phalangists follow, marking the beginning of Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. June 1976: Some 30,000 Syrian troops enter Lebanon, ostensibly to restore peace. Syria’s intervention stops vast military gains against Christians by Palestinian-Muslim forces. The invasion is, in fact, Syria’s attempt to claim Lebanon, which it never recognized when Lebanon won independence from France in 1943. October 1976: Egyptian, Saudi, and other Arab troops in small numbers join the Syrian force as a result of a peace summit brokered in Cairo. The so-called Arab Deterrent Force would be short-lived. March 11, 1978: Palestinian commandos attack an Israeli kibbutz between Haifa and Tel Aviv, then hijack a bus. Israeli forces respond. By the time the battle was over, 37 Israelis and nine Palestinians were killed. March 14, 1978: Some 25,000 Israeli soldiers crossed the Lebanese border in Operation Litani, named for the Litani River that crosses South Lebanon, not 20 miles from the Israeli border. The invasion is designed to wipe out the Palestine Liberation Organization’s structure in South Lebanon. The operation fails. March 19, 1978: The United Nations Security Council adopts Resolution 425, sponsored by the United States, calling on Israel to withdraw from South Lebanon and on the UN to establish a 4,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in South Lebanon. The force is termed the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Its original mandate was for six months. The force is still in Lebanon today. June 13, 1978: Israel withdraws, mostly, from occupied territory, handing over authority to the breakaway Lebanese Army force of Maj. Saad Haddad, which expands its operations in South Lebanon, operating as an Israeli ally. July 1, 1978: Syria turns its guns on Lebanon’s Christians, pounding Christian areas of Lebanon in the worst fighting in two years. September 1978: U.S. President Jimmy Carter brokers the Camp David accords between Israel and Egypt, the first Arab-Israeli peace. Palestinians in Lebanon vow to escalate their attacks on Israel. 1982 to 1985 ​June 6, 1982: Israel invades Lebanon again. Gen. Ariel Sharon leads the attack. The two-month drive leads the Israeli army to the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Red Cross estimates the invasion costs the lives of some 18,000 people, mostly civilian Lebanese. August 24, 1982: A multinational force of U.S. Marines, French paratroopers, and Italian soldiers lands in Beirut to assist in the evacuation of the Palestine Liberation Organization. August 30, 1982: After intense mediation led by the United States, Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had run a state-within-a-state in West Beirut and South Lebanon, evacuate Lebanon. Some 6,000 PLO fighters go mostly to Tunisia, where they are again dispersed. Most end up in the West Bank and Gaza. September 10, 1982: The Multinational force completes its withdrawal from Beirut. Sept. 14, 1982: The Israeli-backed Christian Phalangist leader and Lebanese President-Elect Bashir Gemayel is assassinated at his headquarters in East Beirut. Sept. 15, 1982: Israeli troops invade West Beirut, the first time an Israeli force enters an Arab capital. Sept. 15-16, 1982: Under the supervision of Israeli forces, Christian militiamen are bused into the two Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, ostensibly to â€Å"mop up† remaining Palestinian fighters. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Palestinian civilians are massacred. September 23, 1982: Amin Gemayel, brother of Bashir, takes office as Lebanon’s president. September 24, 1982: The U.S.-French-Italian Multinational Force returns to Lebanon in a show of force and support for the Gemayel’s government. At first, French and American soldiers play a neutral role. Gradually, they turn into defenders of the Gemayel regime against Druze and Shiites in central and South Lebanon. April 18, 1983: The American Embassy in Beirut is attacked by a suicide bomb, killing 63. By then, the United States is actively engaged in Lebanon’s civil war on the side of the Gemayel government. May 17, 1983: Lebanon and Israel sign a U.S.-brokered peace agreement that calls for the withdrawal of Israeli troops contingent on the withdrawal of Syrian troops from northern and eastern Lebanon. Syria opposes the agreement, which was never ratified by the Lebanese parliament and canceled in 1987. October 23, 1983: U.S. Marines barracks near Beirut International Airport, on the south side of the city, are attacked by a suicide bomber in a truck, killing 241 Marines. Moments later, French paratroopers’ barracks are attacked by a suicide bomber, killing 58 French soldiers. Feb. 6, 1984:  Predominantly Shiite Muslim militias seize control of West Beirut. June 10, 1985:  The Israeli army finishes withdrawing out of most of Lebanon, but keeps an occupation zone along the Lebanon-Israeli border and calls it its â€Å"security zone.† The zone is patrolled by the South Lebanon Army and Israeli soldiers. June 16, 1985:  Hezbollah militants hijack a TWA flight to Beirut, demanding the release of Shiite prisoners in Israeli jails. Militants murder U.S. Navy diver Robert Stethem. The passengers were not freed until two weeks later. Israel, over a period of weeks following the resolution of the hijacking,  released  some 700 prisoners, insisting the release was not related to the hijacking. 1987 to 1990 June 1, 1987:  Lebanese Prime Minister Rashid Karami, a Sunni Muslim, is assassinated when a bomb explodes in his helicopter. He is replaced by Selim  el Hoss. September 22, 1988:  The presidency of Amin Gemayel ends without a successor. Lebanon operates under two rival governments: a military government led by renegade general Michel Aoun, and a civil government headed by Selim  el Hoss, a Sunni Muslim. March 14, 1989:  Gen. Michel Aoun declares a â€Å"war of Liberation† against Syrian occupation. The war triggers a devastating final round to the Lebanese Civil War as Christian factions battle it out. September 22, 1989:  The Arab League brokers a cease-fire. Lebanese and Arab leaders meet in Taif, Saudi Arabia, under the leadership of Lebanese Sunni leader Rafik Hariri. The Taif agreement effectively lays the groundwork for an end to the war by reapportioning power in Lebanon. Christians lose their majority in Parliament, settling for a 50-50 split, though the president is to  remain  a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of Parliament a Shiite Muslim. November 22, 1989:  President-Elect Renà ©Ã‚  Muawad, believed to have been a reunification candidate, is assassinated. He is replaced by Elias Harawi. Gen. Emile Lahoud is named to replace Gen. Michel Aoun as commander of the Lebanese army. October 13, 1990:  Syrian forces are given a green light by France and the United States to storm Michel Aoun’s presidential palace once Syria joins the American coalition against Saddam Hussein in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. October 13, 1990:  Michel Aoun takes refuge in the French Embassy, then chooses exile in Paris (he was to return as a Hezbollah ally in 2005). October 13, 1990, marks the official end of the Lebanese Civil War. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people, most of them civilians, are believed to have perished in the war.

How to Get Started in Your Career After Graduating College

How to Get Started in Your Career After Graduating College After graduating college, building a career isn’t an easy thing to do. And when you’re just starting out, it’s hard to hone the kind of perspective one gains over the course of a long career. If you’ve ever wished you could get the wisdom of a work life well lived before you have to live through all of it and earn that wisdom by making a ton of mistakes, then look no further. Here are 10 career strategies everyone just starting out should know. So save yourself the heartache and the hard lessons, and just skip to the growth and success part.1.  Only you can advocate for yourself.You may think you just have to keep your head down and wait for the promotions and raises and career opportunities to happen to you, but you should realize early and keep in mind that the planning and execution of your career is ultimately your responsibility and no one else’s. Remember: you are in the driver’s seat. Stop assuming and start asserting earlier than yo u think you’d need to.2. Find your meaning.It’s no coincidence that the word â€Å"meaning† includes the word â€Å"me.† Only you can set yourself on a career path that means something to you and includes work that you find important and fulfilling. Now is the time to make the choices that will determine how much you love your work. Remember that stability, security, and income matter, but professional fulfillment matters so much more. Ward off burn-out and unhappiness now by choosing something you care about and worrying less about the outside benefits. Let your priorities dictate the course of what you do.3. Caring will bring about success.When we’re invested in what we’re doing, we end up doing better work. Once you’ve picked something you like, make sure to keep learning and keep yourself interested, because it will mean that you devote yourself to tasks with more care and attention. You’ll get more done, and better.4. Bad situations don’t get better.If you’ve landed yourself in a situation with a toxic boss or a dysfunctional work environment, know when to say enough is enough. Get the courage up to take a leap into something better, and trust that everything else will sort itself out once you do.5. Be your best in times of crisis.Your true character just might be best revealed when the chips are down and the situation is most dire. Keep this in mind in times of crisis. Figure out how you’ll show up when the going gets tough, and set a tone for the kind of person and employee you’ll be throughout your life. You never know when you might deeply impress the right observer in a position to change the course of your career.6. Don’t be selfish.Skyrocketing to success- or even climbing slow but steady- is one thing. But don’t forget that you’re not the only one in the world wanting to move upwards. Sometimes the rise is even sweeter when you help somebody el se up with you. Pay it forward and look out for people other than yourself.7. Embrace originality.Don’t be arrogant, but don’t leave your uniqueness and originality under a bushel. Speak up, voice your ideas, speak your passion. You won’t get anywhere by sitting in the background. Have the guts to take the risk and put yourself out there in the world.8. Aim to do the right thing.Don’t just do what you think you have to do to succeed. Stand up for what you know is right. Comport yourself with integrity. Take the extra time and energy to riddle out what the best and most honest thing would be and devote yourself to doing it. It’s called integrity- and it doesn’t suffer puncture wounds. It’s worth building and maintaining, and can become one of your most precious assets.9. Not taking risks is the biggest risk.You have to have skin in the game to win the game. A ship in the port may seem safe, but isn’t. Ships are meant to sail. So get your little boat out there and see what you can do. Learn from your mistakes and find a way to be magnificent, rather than mediocre.10. Leave something better behind you.A legacy can be a beautiful thing. It’s never too early to think about the kind of mark you’d like to leave on the world. When your life and career are over, what sort of things do you want to hear said about your contribution? What kind of imprint do you want to leave behind? Start thinking how to shape your legacy while you have your whole career before you. Just think what you could accomplish if you put your mind to it.