US should remember the Marines killed by Iranian backed attack in Lebanon in 1983

Gen. James L. Jones:

Thirty-five years ago, Iran-sponsored terrorists drove a truck laden with explosives into the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 U.S. service members — 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers — and injuring many others, some severely. It was the single deadliest day for the Marines since World War II. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut had been victimized six months earlier by a terrorist bombing that left 63 people dead, including 17 Americans, among them several U.S. soldiers and a U.S. Marine.

At the time of the October 1983 attack, I served as the Marine Corps Senate liaison in the Russell Senate Office Building. The tragedy began several weeks of intense work to try to understand what had happened, and to respond to the deep concerns of senators, their staffs and the public at large regarding the welfare of the Marines and their families. The country’s pain, which intensified as the magnitude of the losses became clear, remains undiminished to this day.

It is clear that Iranian surrogates were behind the attack (it’s reported that, in 2004, a monument was erected in Tehran to celebrate the bombers), just as there is no question that Iran remains the prime exporter of international terrorism today. While the evil done that day can never be undone, the Trump administration has a chance to help achieve a measure of justice for the families of U.S. service members killed in the attack, to punish those responsible for the despicable act and to deter state sponsorship of terrorist groups and their deeds.

After a decade-long legal battle, the families won a landmark judgment against Iran in federal court for its role in sponsoring the attack. Iran, of course, refuses to honor the judgment. As a result, the families initiated an enforcement action against $1.67 billion in Iranian assets secretly laundered through New York by Clearstream, a Luxembourg-based financial institution. The legal battle over these funds has raged for years, with Clearstream and Iran arguing for the return of the funds to Iran’s central bank. Attempting to thwart enforcement of a court order, Clearstream claimed the money was located outside the United States, and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of our courts.

Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the funds could be ordered returned to the United States, where they could be used to satisfy the judgment against Iran. Iran has petitioned the Supreme Court to review this decision. Clearstream has committed to not returning the funds to Iran while the legal process unfolds.

The Supreme Court recently requested the Trump administration’s views on whether it should grant Iran’s petition. An interagency group led by the Department of Justice Solicitor General’s Office has been tasked with developing the U.S. government’s response to the Supreme Court’s query. By recommending that the court deny Iran’s petition, the administration could help the Marines’ families and achieve an important U.S. foreign policy objective in the process. It should be a national security priority to prevent the return of this substantial amount of money to the Central Bank of Iran, particularly given Iran’s funding of terror and since the administration plans to re-impose nuclear deal-related sanctions relating to that very same bank.
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It would be a dishonor to the Marines killed and wounded in the attack and their families for the Supreme Court to give the money to those responsible for the attack.  It would be irresponsible to give that money to a nation still plotting against the US and its troops and allies.  During the Iraq war, Iran also gave weapons to those attacking US troops.  That nation is an ongoing enemy of the US and should be treated as such.