Ghosts of Beirut

As "Ghosts of Beirut" (2023 release; 4 Episodes of about 50-55 min each) opens, we are reminded that this mini-series is a "Fictional Account of Deeply Researched Events". We are in "Southern Iraq, January 20, 2007" and four SUV's brazenly enter a US base and kidnap several US military. We switch to the "CIA Tactical Headquarters" when a CIA agent claims that the kidnapping has all of the hallmarks of being orchestrated by Imad, the long sought after terrorist. We then switch to "Beirut 1982" where we get to know the young Imad. At this point we are less than 15 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: I can't recall ever having seen a movie or TV series with the disclaimer of being a "fictional account of deeply researched events". Do you? Of course, plenty of "based on" or "inspired by" or some such, but this particular wording? No. I have no idea how closely to the actual facts this mini-series sticks, As Episode 1 played out, it took me quite a while to figure out exactly what was going on. Many, many characters to sort out. Also what role exactly the US was playing in Lebanon in the early/mid 80s. By the end of Episode 1, though, things were much clearer, at least as far as figuring out the plot. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out from here.

"Ghosts of Beirut" started streaming on the Showtime app yesterday (Friday), and Episode 1 will actually be shown on SHO TV tomorrow (Sunday). The remaining 3 episodes will be released over the next 3 weekends. If you have any interest on geopolitical events in general, or in the Middle East in particular, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

What a tremendous look back at some very important events in the ongoing horror that is Israel and their surrounding Arab enemies.

The enmity and hatred between the Jewish state and Iran, The Lebanon and American assistance to Tel Aviv and Israel is well displayed here. The pure love between Imad and his lovely wife cut deep throughout the series. I found it to be a marvelous juxtaposition between the love and loathing that is on display throughout this short but amazing series.

The amazing actress Dina Shihabi and her character is mesmerizing, entrancing, absorbing and demands the camera. She is enthralling with her lovely voice, hair and pure intelligence and empathy. I found myself pausing the show and going back to her and her scenes. She is thrilling!

Highly recommend this show to everyone. You most certainly will not regret it.

This line is so apropos imo regarding the ongoing hell that is the state of Israel, the USA and all the nebulous nefarious and righteous activities of their rivals and friends in the roiled region of tumult and turbulence. 'In the turmoil of knowledge, insanity abides.' I long ago decided to pay as little attention to the horrors there as possible. It is so sad and sorrowful and does not seem to ever ever end because an ending of it is impossible or may be the next WWIII flashpoint and the end of all things within that region.

I want to end this review with, "Peace out", but I can't for obvious reasons. May all the deities bless you all. Shokran.

8 episodes wouldn't even be enough to present properly the number one terrorist of that era. The character of Radwan is superficial, many facts are neglected, and his relationship with Iran and Syria is weakly presented. More importantly, his deep relation with hizbullah is totally omitted. Actors tried their best, but they weren't convincing with their poor Palestinian and Moroccan lebanese accent. This story deserves much more invistigation, thoughtful script, 3 dimensional actors, and a professional production. Otherwise, it's a simple introduction for audiences that don't know about that legendary terrorist.

Well, it seems that some people can't grasp that this is a dramatisation, based on real events, that took place in Beirut in the mid-80s. The facts that the some of the actual people involved in the incidents are talking about them at various points in each episode seems to have also passed them by.

The characters are well-drawn by the actors and it soon becomes clear that, at this time, many in the CIA were thoroughly incompetent when it came to understanding what was happening with the development of many radical Muslim groups in the Middle East. Most of them were completely clueless about what was going on Iran and how that was fomenting radicalism in Lebanon.

This is a very interesting miniseries that demonstrates the level of incompetence in the upper levels of the CIA.

I have tons of respect for Lior and Avi, and I get that they wanted to show the whole picture of Imad. But let's face it - the man was a monster. His forces were responsible for murdering so many innocent people and later united with Assad who murdered so many Syrians. We can show that he has a private life but the story wasn't balanced. They didn't show how his actions affected civilians but showed him as a civilian all the time.

As a show, the acting (apart from the actor who played Imad) was horrendous. It was like me reading this review out loud in a monotone voice. This is the network that brought us Dexter and the people who brought us Fauda. I blame Barker for this, obviously.

So, interesting historically but you can just read a wiki page.