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Does any one else remember the Marine Captain in Beruit 1983 who made Time Magazine with his bravado?

Israeli tanks dared to take a short cut across a portion of the airfield under Marine control. The Marine Captain pulled his .45 cal pistol and jumped on one tank, telling the tank commander to go around. After an argument, the tanks did go around.

A Marine takes a stand, as U.S.-Israeli tensions rise

As three Israeli tanks approached a U.S. Marine position near the old Sidon road to the south of Beirut, Captain Charles B. Johnson, 30, of Neenah, Wis., did not hesitate. He ran toward the heavily armored, British-made Centurions, then took a position in the middle of the road. When the lead tank halted barely a foot in front of him, Johnson told an Israeli lieutenant colonel atop it, "You will not pass through this position."

After a momentary pause, the Israeli commander dismounted, talked with Johnson, remounted his tank and declared, according to Johnson, "I am going through." Johnson again demanded that the tanks halt, adding, "If you come through, it will be over my dead body." He drew his pistol and held it at a 45° angle, the "ready" position. After another pause, during which the Israelis spoke over their radio, the lead tank turned off the road. Johnson walked beside it.

Then, suddenly, the other two tanks took off at full speed in the original direction. Johnson jumped on the lead tank, grabbed the Israeli commander and yelled at him to stop his tanks. Complying at last, the Israeli, who was subsequently identified only as a Lieut. Colonel "Rafi," told Johnson, "One thing we don't want to do is shoot each other." Replied Johnson: "Yes, but if you keep doing things like this, the likelihood is going to increase."

The incident was the most serious in a rising tide of tension between the U.S. and Israeli forces in Lebanon since the Marines landed five months ago, with French and Italian troops, as part of an international peace-keeping effort.

TIME MAGAZINE FEB 14, 1983

It was in October 1983 that the Marine Baracks in Beruit was destroyed in a truck bomb suicide attack. There was more than a little belief that the Israeli's, who had occcupied Beruit prior to the Marine's arrival, had advance knowledge of a possible truck bomb attack against the Marines. Here's one version of the events:

Now some further background. For some time Israel had imposed a huge import tax on merchandise coming from Lebanon, which naturally resulted in smuggling to evade it. The goods were smuggled by cars and trucks modified for hidden storage. The Mossad station in Beirut had a certain informant who knew people working at a local garage which specialized in such modifications. Thus the Mossad occasionally obtained a good description of a vehicle that they could pass on to Israeli border guards, foiling many smuggling attempts.

Back to our story. In the summer of 1983 this informant tells the Mossad that Shi’ite Muslims are refitting a large Mercedes-Benz truck with extra-large hidden storage areas for holding bombs. Again quoting Mr. Ostrovsky:

“... the Mossad knew that ... there were only a few logical targets, one of which must be the U.S. compound. The question then was whether or not to warn the Americans to be on particular alert for a truck matching the description.

“The decision was too important to be taken in the Beirut station, so it was passed along to Tel Aviv, where [Nahum] Admony, then head of Mossad, decided they would simply give the Americans the usual general warning, a vague notice that they had reason to believe someone might be planning an operation against them. But this was so general, and so commonplace, it was ... unlikely to raise any particular alarm or prompt increased security precautions. ... One more would not heighten U.S. concerns or surveillance.

“Admony, in refusing to give the Americans specific information on the truck, said ‘... we’re not there to protect Americans. They’re a big country. Send only the regular information.’

“At the same time, however, all Israeli installations were given the specific details and warned to watch for a truck matching the description of the Mercedes.

“At 6:20 a.m. on October 23, 1983, a large Mercedes truck approached the Beirut airport, passing well within sight of Israeli sentries in their nearby base, going through a Lebanese army checkpoint, and turning left into the parking lot. A U.S. Marine guard reported with alarm that the truck was gathering speed, but before he could do anything, the truck roared toward the entrance of the four-story reinforced concrete Aviation Safety Building, used as headquarters for the Eighth Marine Battalion, crashing through a wrought-iron gate, hitting the sand-bagged guard post, smashing through another barrier, and ramming over a wall of sandbags into the lobby, exploding with such terrific force that the building was instantly reduced to rubble.
The blast and crushing debris kills 220 Marines, 18 Navy personnel, and 3 Army soldiers, 241 in all, most sleeping in their cots at the time. (70 men are injured. The Lebanese janitor for the building is killed.) It is the highest single-day death toll for American soldiers since the Vietnam Tet offensive.

In April of 1983, the 24 MAU relieved the 22nd MAU (CPT Johnson's unit) so Captain Johnson did not die in the truck bombing.

From the beginning, the Marines were supposed to be a neutral force, providing a buffer between warring sides. ...

“Marines are an assault force, trained to bring the fight to the enemy,” said LTC Geraghty. “We hadn’t heard of this sort of mission. ...".

A Neutral Force ... another way of saying "Treat your Enemies as if they were your Friends, while treating your Friends as if they are your Enemies."

The results are predictable.