Beirut 1985: William Casey's Denied Car Bomb Hit on Sheikh Fadlala

A city at war. A CIA director who refuses to play by the rules. After the 1983 embassy and Marine barracks bombings, Washington is reeling and a shadowy group called Islamic Jihad claims credit. Inside CIA Declassified, we follow William Casey as he pushes analysts, taps Mossad leads, and sends Robert Baer into a burning Beirut while station chief William Buckley vanishes into the city’s underworld. The trail points to a black-turbaned cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Fadlala — and to an operation the U.S. still denies. What was agreed in a garden meeting? Who funded the truck, and why did a single street-side conversation change everything? This episode pieces together first-hand briefings, covert tradecraft, and the unintended shockwaves that helped birth the Counterterrorism Center and a new way of striking from the sky. The full story isn’t in the headlines — it’s in the details. Watch now. SEO: Primary keyword: Beirut 1985 car bomb Secondary keywords: William Casey, Sheikh Fadlala, CIA Beirut, Marine barracks bombing, Hezbollah origins Search intent: Understand the alleged CIA-backed 1985 Beirut car bomb targeting Sheikh Fadlala and its fallout. #CIA #Beirut #WilliamCasey #Hezbollah #ColdWar #Counterterrorism #MarineBarracks #Documentary