Beirut, Lebanon
Detailed Involvements
Events with rich location context
Beirut is invoked as a moral ledger and historical wound (286 marines) that Leo and Bartlet use to measure the consequences of past force; it functions as a cautionary counterexample to expeditious vengeance.
A specter of past loss — accusatory and grievous when named.
Historical reference point shaping the argument about proportionality.
Represents the moral and practical costs of previous American military engagements.
Beirut is invoked as a historical wound (286 marines) to weigh the moral ledger of retaliation—its mention converts abstract strategy into memory-laden cost and cautions against simple tit-for-tat logic.
Evocative and accusatory within dialogue—an ethical retort rather than a physical place.
Moral reference point in argument about proportionality and past failures.
Represents the human cost of foreign intervention and the long memory of military loss.
Beirut is invoked as a charged referent — the site of 286 fallen marines — used by Bartlet to argue that previous U.S. actions have cost lives and therefore demand moral accounting, not simply military calculus.
Evoked as a painful, accusatory memory rather than physically present.
Moral ledger and rhetorical touchstone in debate over proportionality.
Represents prior failure and the human cost of foreign policy decisions.
Events at This Location
Everything that happens here
Leo shuts the office doors to force a private confrontation where grief, rage and statecraft collide. Bartlet vents a classical, almost biblical demand for overwhelming retribution after the airliner is …
In Leo's office Bartlet erupts, demanding unmistakeable retribution for the downed airliner — invoking Roman citizenship as a moral precedent and insisting overwhelming force will deter further attacks. Leo closes …
In Leo's office, Bartlet's grief-tinged fury about the downed airliner erupts into a moral argument about retribution versus responsible power. Leo grounds him with pragmatic restraint, trading hard-edged historical and …