Posts Tagged ‘damagnificent seven’

A moment of crisis

Posted: October 17, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Marine Sgt. Steve Russell was on guard duty. It was Sunday, a day of rest.

As he gazed out of the compound’s gates in Beirut, he saw a truck turn and head for the Marine outpost.

Then a wave of flames swept across the truck’s bumper, sending tons of explosives in a suicide attack.

Amazingly, Russell survived. But the explosion killed 241 military personnel—almost all of them Marines, who had come as part of a peacekeeping mission after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. It was the largest loss of life among the Marines since Iwo Jima in World War II.

A seminal event in the chaos of the Middle East, the bombing 40 years ago still provides some insight into what led to today’s events.

As an investigative journalist for ABC’s 20/20, I spent several months back then in an attempt to piece together who was behind the attack and why.

Here are the reports:

Here’s what we found:

–Iran financed the attack on the Marines to humiliate the U.S. government and its presence in Lebanon, particularly when the Reagan administration pushed for Arab countries to make peace with Israel.

–Syria, a longtime ally of the Islamic Republic and enemy of the United States and Israel, provided the logistical support for the operation.

–Islamic Jihad, a front organization with ties to Hezbollah, provided the manpower in Lebanon. Heading the operation was Imad Mughniyeh, one of the Middle East’s prolific terrorists and bomb makers. As a chief strategist of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia group, he deployed truck bombs and improvised explosive devices throughout the region, including the war in Iraq.

–The Reagan administration failed to recognize the danger the Marines faced in Beirut. For example, the guards protecting the compound were under strict orders to keep their guns without any rounds in the chamber to protect against civilian casualties. Moreover, the American military command failed to inform the Marines about the possibility of an imminent attack—information received a few days before the explosion.

–The Reagan administration largely ignored the attack’s impact on the Marines for two reasons. First, only days after the attack, the United States invaded Grenada to rescue American medical students. Second, a significant divide existed within the administration between those who wanted retaliation against the terrorists and those who argued that the government had no definitive proof of whether Iran and Syria were involved.

What can we learn about today’s issues from the past?

First, a clear connection has existed for decades among Iran, Syria, and the Palestinians. You don’t need a smoking gun to know that a link exists between the trio. Syria cannot play as prominent a role today because of its ongoing civil war.

Second, Hezbollah has become a powerful influence in the region, particularly as the leading party in the Lebanese government and an ally of Iran. Moreover, Hezbollah provides aid and assistance to Hamas, the main instigator of the attacks on Israel.

Third, Shia Muslims, the smaller of the two main branches of Islam, control a vast swath of the Middle East, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. That’s a significant shift from the balance of power in the past 40 years when Sunni Muslims controlled much of the territory. That’s why Saudi Arabia leaders, who are from the dominant Sunni tribe, have started to talk with their longtime enemies from Iran.

Fourth, it’s important to note that the Sunni-Shia détente also includes the Palestinian leadership, which is primarily Sunni. Moreover, it’s important to note that the Palestinian political groups, which historically made no differentiation among Sunnis, Shia, and Christians, have created ties with distinctly religious regimes.  

Lastly, the United States has a history of putting itself in harm’s way in the Middle East, wagering that a show of military strength will somehow frighten its adversaries. So, too, has shuttle diplomacy played a role in the U.S. strategy.

Let’s take a good, hard look at how many failures the United States has had in the Middle East over the past four decades. Only the first Gulf War stands as a victory.

It may be time to sit this one out.                                                                  

Once upon a time in Israel

Posted: October 10, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

It’s incredibly ironic and sad that the best chance for peace between Israel and the Palestinians happened almost 30 years ago.

I remember watching in the Rose Garden at the White House as Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin shook hands and signed the so-called “Oslo Accords” on September 13, 1993.

For many years, I reported on the Palestinians for Newsweek and ABC News. I spent a lot of time with Arafat and later met Peres. Both saw the accords as the best chance for peace. One U.S. expert wrote recently: “In many respects, the early years of Oslo were a U.S. negotiator’s dream. Israelis and Palestinians had finally done what we had been encouraging them to do for years: get together and work through their own problems themselves.”

What went wrong? The accords were an interim plan. Territory would be transferred gradually to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for its assumption of security responsibilities.

Essentially, Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization had different interpretations of the final outcome. For Palestinians, that outcome was an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. For Israel, the government was unwilling to commit to two states. 

Both sides had complex constituencies. Arafat led an organization with so many factions that it was difficult to keep them going in the same direction. These groups include Fatah, Arafat’s group and the largest of the PLO. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was the second-largest faction, mainly because it launched the most effective terrorist operations. But there were groups allied with Iraq, Syria, the Muslim Brotherhood, and others. 

Israeli leaders had to govern a country with just as many factions as the PLO. These groups ranged from far-left socialists to conservative religious factions. 

As a result, both sides had to compromise with their constituencies before they could compromise with one another.

For example, Rabin had also locked himself into a public commitment not to dismantle any settlements during the interim period. The settlement issue came to a head when, just after the accords were signed, an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinians in Hebron, and he did virtually nothing about it because of his promise.

Nevertheless, Rabin was one of Israel’s most sensible and influential leaders. His death in 1995 at the hands of an assassin who opposed any deal with the Palestinians finally put the final nail in the coffin of the agreement. 

The hopes and dreams on that sunny September day 30 years ago came crashing down, leading almost inevitably to the chaos and war that exists now. 

Philadelphia: A city on the brink of chaos

Posted: October 3, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

I spent nearly 16 years in Philadelphia. I enjoyed an occasional trip to watch the Phillies or the Eagles. The museums are excellent, notably the Barnes and the Constitution Center.

Although I’m not partial to cheese steaks, the restaurants are terrific. I particularly enjoyed a Brazilian restaurant in Center City.

I could put away my car and take rapid transit to most places I needed to go, although I’ve seen better systems in other cities like New York and Chicago.

The people of Philadelphia can be a bit hard-edged, chip-on-the-shoulder types, but I’ve seen that in many other cities where I lived.

So it angers and saddens me that the city that saw the creation of the nation and served as its capital for a while is being torn apart.

About five years ago, I realized that the city was in trouble. It happened on the Temple campus, where I taught. I stopped by the local Chinese takeout to find a group of young teenage women stealing soft drinks from the shelves. The women weren’t old enough to be college students and probably came from a nearby high school.

As 20 customers stood by, I grabbed one of the girls and asked the owner to call the campus police. He declined and told me to let her go.

As I stepped outside, five girls surrounded me and started to spit and harass me. No one stopped to help me, even though the harassment and taunting were obvious to the dozens of people passing by. No one wanted to get involved.

Fortunately, I hold two black belts in martial arts and easily frightened the girls with two quick demonstrations of my abilities without hurting anyone.

Before the girls fled, they threatened to bring their fathers back for a beatdown.

When I wrote about the incident on this website, I was ostracized by several fellow faculty members because I was a racist.

I also got a call from the campus police. I expected questions about the incident or an apology. Instead, I got a threat that I could be fired if I followed through on my suggestion that people on campus should be allowed to arm themselves.

When the looting came in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, it was apparent that it was time to leave Philadelphia, especially when the rioters got away with their actions and paid $9.25 million because the cops used tear gas!

The recent looting happened when a judge dismissed charges against a cop who killed a Black man wielding a knife.

Even though the interim police chief correctly described the looters as “criminals,” I doubt many will be held responsible for their actions.

It’s worth noting that Philadelphia, like many other cities I’ve lived in and won’t visit again, like New York, Chicago, Washington, and San Francisco, is run by Democrats. As Philadelphia elects a new mayor this year, I hope at least some of the voters realize that something has gone wrong in their city and won’t be fixed by the current crew that runs the place.

When the music’s over…

Posted: September 26, 2023 by chrisharper in Uncategorized
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By Christopher Harper

Two longtime friends—who helped me in my celebrated but short career as a rock ‘n’ roll singer—died this past week, causing me to recall the fine times we had with the band.

Ken Mills, who died at 75 in Minneapolis, served as the manager and booker of my band, The Trippers. Steve Ettles, who died at 72 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was the first roadie for the band.

Based in Sioux Falls, the Trippers played gigs throughout the Midwest, first as a cover band for rhythm and blues and later as an emerging acid rock group in the 1960s. We weren’t good enough to make it beyond the Midwest, but we earned spots in the Rock Halls of Fame in South Dakota and Iowa. Our one hit reached No. 99 on the Billboard’s Top Tunes.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh2r3G7a1Tg&list=PL48ywZUEnrB7ZhkJPP5VfwPw3nHIze2Kb

I’d kept in touch with Ken and Steve over the past 50-odd years and seen them both a few years ago.

In the 1960s, Ken fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll. He began managing, booking, and promoting bands as a junior in high school. After promoting bands, Ken started working in radio as a disc jockey and worked at KISD, KLOH, KELO, KXRB, and KLYX in the Sioux Falls area, as well as developing and launching his own station, KSKY, in the Black Hills. Ken was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. As he got older, Ken developed a problem with his vision and became an advocate for those with severe eye disorders and blindness, using his voice to communicate with his audience.

Steve had a tougher life. His engaging smile earned him friends throughout his life. Unfortunately, his smile also got him entangled in a savings and loan association scandal. He spent a year in federal prison for doing what he thought was a favor for a friend. It turned out the friend was embezzling money unbeknownst to Steve. I told his story and those of others in a book I wrote a few years ago, Flyover Country. The book focuses on the 1969 high school graduating class from Lincoln High School in Sioux Falls.

As the introduction states: “Flyover Country focuses on a group of baby boomers who graduated from high school in 1969 in the Midwest before setting off into the world in a time of turbulence to fight in Vietnam, to protest against that war, to find jobs, to have families, and to live lives throughout the United States and overseas. Many of these people have made significant contributions to their communities as business owners, doctors, lawyers, ministers, politicians, and teachers. Many have suffered through tough times, losing their way due to alcohol or drugs or facing family crises from divorce to the death of a spouse or a child.”

Steve’s story was one of those lessons. Over time, he managed to regroup and rebrand, never losing that smile. See https://www.amazon.com/Flyover-Country-Boomers-Their-Stories/dp/0761853324

Already, two band members are gone: Mike Ward, a prominent news executive, and Terry Park, a psychiatrist. Only four of us remain.

Together, we played until the music was over. Long live rock ‘n’ roll!

ICYMI, here is my swan song at the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Music Association Hall of Fame. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6xwsQzygtA&list=PL48ywZUEnrB7ZhkJPP5VfwPw3nHIze2Kb

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