A Postcard from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut

Early last Sunday, I received an email from Dan McCarthy who is a security officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. I have never met Dan, but his brother, Tom, is my editor at Lyons Press which published two of my books.

Dan wrote, "It's noon in Beirut. There is a very large and growing, violent demonstration in downtown Beirut. They canceled Rice's visit, scheduled for later this afternoon and are now demanding the withdrawal of the U.S. Embassy. They are headed this way--hopefully to be stopped by the Lebanese army. Thank God the Marines are still on the compound."

An hour later, Dan emailed, "I have just been told to pack a bag."

Well, as of midweek, Dan, is still in Beirut--and still at the embassy compound. I was curious to know more about the situation in the beleaguered capital from his special vantage point. In a subsequent email, he responded to my questions and provided this personal perspective (emphasizing that these were his views, and not the U.S. government's):

"I am retired from the Diplomatic Security Service and am here in Beirut as a family member. My wife is a Foreign Service officer assigned here. Only family members over 21 are permitted at the post. I am currently the American supervisor for the motor pool and the property and supply units of the embassy.

"I have been in Beirut for a year with my wife. She has been here two years; it's a one year assignment, but you can extend. During her first year, I visited Beirut twice. I was first in Beirut with the State Department in 1976. I was traveling with Secretary of State Kissinger on his protective detail and we were in Paris. I received a call from my headquarters informing me that our ambassador to Beirut, Francis Meloy, had been assassinated and that I was to meet the new ambassador, Talcott Seelye, in Paris and accompany him to Beirut as his bodyguard.

"We stayed in Beirut for about 45 days living in the embassy in West Beirut. The civil war was still in its infancy, but there was still lots of fighting. We had tanks parked outside the embassy. I think we may have left the embassy, with very heavy security, about ten times during that period. Later, that was the first U.S. embassy to be blown up here.

"There are several Lebanese employees of the embassy who were here for the bombings of the Marine barracks and our embassy in East Beirut in 1983. I don't have to ask them to know that all they want is a peaceful, normallife, which they pretty much had until three weeks ago. But in my job, I have never met any Hezbollah or Israeli officials.

"The southern suburbs of Beirut are 15 miles away. During the first two weeks, you could hear the distant explosions, and if they happened at night you could see some of them. You could hear {Israeli} jets high overhead, but never see them. It has been very quiet for the last week. If CNN is right, there isn't much left there to target.

"Life in the areas not affected by the bombings, while far from normal, goes on. The Lebanese are very resilient people.

"I can't comment on the precise number of Americans here. We all live and work on our compound. In normal times we can't leave the compound without armored cars and bodyguards (if approved in advance by the security office). Now, of course we can't leave the compound at all except for those who need to conduct official business. The morale of our employees, despite the long hours is very good. Everyone here is a volunteer.

"The security here at the compound and outside our perimeter is extremely substantial and tight. Both from our internal forces and security provided by the Lebanese armed forces. I was in Tehran just before the hostage taking and we had no security from the government of Iran. The situation here is much better.

"When I look out from our apartment balcony, my view of the Mediterranean and the Lebanese skyline is unchanged. Except that instead of looking at freighters and pleasure craft, I see the U.S. Navy. Beirut and Lebanon were a great place to live a few short weeks ago, and the hope is that it will be again."