April 18, 1983
Deaths: 17 Americans, 63 total
Perpetrators: Hezbollah (under the name Islamic Jihad) to protest US support of Israel.
President: Ronald Reagan
A suicide bomber drove a delivery truck with one ton of explosives into the parking garage underneath the US embassy. On Sept 20, 1984 another car bomb exploded at the new Beirut embassy killing 20 Lebanese and 2 Americans.
Cause: Insufficient protection of an embassy in a country then in civil war.
Response Taken: None.
October 23, 1983
Location: Beirut, Lebanon
Deaths: 241 Americans
Perpetrators: Hezbollah to oppose US involvement in the Lebanese Civil War.
President: Ronald Reagan
A water truck loaded with six tons of TNT crashed though a gate and drove up to the Marine Corps headquarters barracks.
Cause: Two Marine guards, the only men guarding the compound, were under orders to remain unarmed and so were powerless to stop the truck.
Response Taken: None. Reagan ordered the Marines to retreat soon after.
June 25, 1995
Location: Oklahoma City
Deaths: 168
Perpetrators: Right-wing anarchists to protest US government raids on other anarchists (Ruby Ridge and Waco).
President: Bill Clinton
A Ryder rental truck loaded with a fertilizer bomb was parked in front of the Murrah Federal Building and exploded.
Cause: Right-wing anarchists had targeted the Murrah building in the past so it was a known target.
Response Taken: None.
June 25, 1996
Location: Khobar, Saudi Arabia
Deaths: 19
Perpetrators: al-Qaeda or Hezbollah, depending on who you listen to.
President: Bill Clinton
A truck loaded with 5,000 pounds of explosives was denied entrance to the building so drove to an adjacent street and parked.
Cause: Khobar Towers was a residential building housing US Air Force personnel. While security of the building was sufficient the bomb was large enough it did not need to be within the security perimeter.
Response Taken: None.
There have also been terrorist attacks on US embassy buildings is Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, India, Syria, Turkey, Yemen, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia that equal or exceed the death toll in Benghazi. Some have been bombs, others gunmen. Most have come from al-Qaeda. It is the nature of the modern world.
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