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in 1982, when, shortly after Israel invaded Lebanon, President Reagan ordered U.S. Marines to Beirut, Lebanon, to serve as a peacekeeping force. On October 23, 1983, a suicide bomber killed 241 of the U.S. Marines stationed in Beirut. Congressional pressure and anger from the American public forced President Reagan to recall the Marines from Lebanon in March 1984.
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In 1986, it was revealed that Robert MacFarlane, President Reagan's national security advisor, and Oliver North, a member of the National Security Council, had brokered a deal with Iran, a terrorist nation, to sell it American missiles, the proceeds from which MacFarlane and North used to fund the Contras, a Nicaraguan conservative rebel group, in their fight against their communist-leaning government. The deal also included the release of American hostages held in Lebanon.
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Seventy-three seconds after lift-off, the NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. The disaster killed all seven astronauts aboard, including Christa McAuliffe, a teacher who was to have been the first civilian in space. An investigation revealed that two rubber O-rings responsible for sealing the rocket boosters had failed due to the cold temperature on the morning of the launch.
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When Iraq invaded the small but oil-rich nation of Kuwait in
1990, Congress granted President Bush approval to intervene. The United States laid the groundwork for intervention (Operation Desert Shield) in August of 1990 and commenced combat operations (Operation Desert Storm) in January 1991. -
Bill Clinton was elected as the 42nd President of the United States of America.
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In 1998, a standoff between Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, and the United Nations over weapons inspections led President Bill Clinton and the United Kingdom to launch punitive airstrikes aimed at debilitating what was thought to be a developing chemical weapons program. The attacks occurred from December 16, 1998, to December 19, 1998. The military operation was code-named Operation Desert Fox. Congress accused Clinton of using it to divert attention from his impeachment proceedings.
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George W. Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush, was elected as the 43rd President of the United States of America.
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On September 11, 2001, 19 operatives of the Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda, hijacked four U.S. passenger planes. Two of the planes were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. A third hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon near Washington, D.C. The fourth plane, intended for the White House, crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA, when passengers tried to recapture control of the plane. Almost 3,000 people were killed as a result of the terrorist attacks.