Lebanon Crisis
Lebanon Crisis (1958).The underlying cause of the 1958 Lebanon crisis was the instability of the country's Christian‐Muslim political coalition under pressure from the Cold War Pan‐Arab nationalism of Egypt's Gamal Abdel Nasser. Following creation of a pro‐Soviet United Arab Republic by Egypt and Syria in February 1958, severe rioting broke out against the pro‐Western Lebanese government of President Camille Chamoun, a Christian. The crisis came to a head on 14 July, when an Arab nationalist coup in Iraq overthrew King Faisal and similar coup attempts in Jordan and Lebanon appeared likely. Invoking the Eisenhower Doctrine, Chamoun immediately requested U.S. troops.
At Eisenhower's orders the first of the three Marine battalions located in the Mediterranean landed to take control of the Beirut airport on 15 July. The other two were ashore by 18 July, plus a fourth...
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