suspenseful music
[children chattering]
[indistinct radio chatter]
[speaking Arabic]
[guard speaking Arabic]
[in English] Hey, how's it going?
Hey, man. All good, thanks.
intense music
[woman] Excuse me?
[man] Grenade! [grunts]
[explosion]
-Don't move! Don't fucking move! -[telephone ringing]
You!
You're coming with us.
[grunting]
Don't resist! Do it!
[Jim on laptop] There are indoor-outdoor Jacuzzis
connected to each bedroom,
and yet also protected from the cold.
Wow.
How about you? How was your day?
-[cell phone ringing] -Hang on.
Duty officer.
Okay.
I gotta go. Bye.
suspenseful music
[indistinct chatter]
[telephone ringing]
[Susan] This was two hours ago in Karbala.
Our vehicles, our uniforms.
-[Lena] And they drove right in? -[Susan] Yeah.
Civilian admin center, lightly guarded.
They wounded two American soldiers
and captured two of our liaison officers.
And where are the hostages?
[Susan] Whoever did this was heading towards Iran.
Play the intercept.
[man 1, in Arabic]
[man 2, in Arabic]
-That's a Lebanese accent. -[Susan] In Iraq?
[officer] We have a live feed near the border.
I'm on my way. Send in Task Force.
Don't touch anything.
[indistinct radio chatter]
suspenseful music
This is how we found them.
[flies buzzing]
[dialing]
Hey, it's Radwan.
Imad Mughniyeh. 100%.
dramatic music
Imad Mughniyeh has maintained a sort of a...
aura of mystery throughout his existence.
Everybody was looking for Imad Mughniyeh.
But we couldn't find him.
This story, it's one of the most complicated,
morally ambiguous stories that I know.
And it then unfolds into, really, a nightmare story.
He was the absolute Machiavellian mastermind
of a lot of the violence
against Westerners, against America,
against fellow Lebanese even.
He is the guy behind everything.
This was yesterday in Karbala.
[Lena] What do you know about the team who did this?
I was there. It looked very professional.
Iran would never do anything like this.
So, when was the last time you saw Imad?
Which Imad?
Imad Mughniyeh.
Radwan, Abu Dukhan.
[Asgari] Where did you say you're from?
-Michigan. -[Asgari] Yeah.
[in Arabic]
[Lena chuckles]
[Lena, in Arabic]
Ah.
[chuckling]
[in English] These attackers were Lebanese.
And they were trying to take their hostages
over the border, into Iran.
Now, why would they do that?
Either you're a Christian Maronite
and you hate me,
or you're a Shia Muslim,
and you need to prove yourself to your bosses.
[Lena] My family had to flee Lebanon.
Do you wanna know why?
It's because of people like you.
[Steve] That's enough.
We brought you here
to ask one simple question about yesterday.
Yesterday, Lena, in Iraq.
Not to scare off
the Deputy Defense Minister of Iran,
who, by the way, is singing like a bird
about their nuclear program.
This is what's important today.
Steve, this is the same group.
This is Radwan, okay?
It's the same guy from 25 years ago,
same guy who's outplayed us ever since.
I was there. You don't need to remind me.
I can pin him to Radwan. He was his recruiter.
This is our best chance.
So tell me about your friend Imad.
That's you in the training camp you set up in Lebanon, right?
[Asgari] Um...
This is all you have?
That was 25 years ago.
What I have is a taxi ready to dump you back in Iran,
where I understand General Soleimani
is not willing to protect you anymore.
How much did you steal?
20 million?
Sixty?
[Asgari sighs]
Ali-Reza... come on.
He was your recruit.
I really wanna know.
[traditional music playing]
[imperceptible]
[speaking Arabic]
[officer speaking]
[shopkeeper speaking]
[fighter jets whooshing]
[panicked shouting]
[Pur speaking]
[Imad speaking]
[elevator bell dings]
[in English] There he is, our peacemaker.
[applause]
-[woman] Congratulations, Bob. -Thank you.
Welcome home, Bob.
[Doug London] Robert Ames was revered.
He was a role model.
This is what you wanna be.
You wanna be someone who is a classically good spy,
but also has tremendous substance.
Robert Ames was a genuine American hero in my book.
He was sort of like the traditional American ideal.
Um, not loud, not pushy, but tough and smart.
[Ames] The PLO are already out of Beirut.
Now, the Israelis need to leave Lebanon.
We secure the Israeli-Lebanese border here with UN troops,
and we initiate peace negotiations
between the Israelis and the Arabs.
In the meantime,
we consolidate stability in Lebanon
and eventually push
to disarm the militia and strengthen the military.
If we play this right,
I'm confident we'll be able to move all parties
to a genuine two-state solution.
Beautiful.
Got something to say, Dewey?
No. Who can argue against world peace?
You know what, Dewey, fuck you!
Whoa, Bob, forgive me for living in the real world.
But this? Again?
This is naive. This is dangerously naive.
[Casey] Oh, calm down, everyone.
All right, listen.
President wants this to work, all right?
He does.
So good work. Good work, everybody.
Take a breath.
Thanks, John.
Dewey, good work.
All right.
Something you want to tell me?
Yeah, it's about Iran.
Oh. We got the revolution boxed in.
Don't worry, all right?
Two operatives close to the Ayatollah
just paid a visit to Lebanon
around the same time someone purchased
an old colonial police station in the Bekaa Valley.
And the satellites are indicating
that it's, uh, being renovated.
I think they're opening a training camp there
under the auspices of the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
-Oh, Jesus. -Yeah.
Expand the revolution, yeah.
Attack while you're most vulnerable.
-So, what do we do? -We don't fuck it up.
-[speaking Arabic] -[Imad speaks]
[Imad speaking]
[Saada speaking]
[phone line ringing]
[Yvonne, in English] Ames residence.
-Oh, hey. Hi. -Oh, hi.
How's my favorite city in the world?
Still beautiful, even after eight years of civil war.
Hey, uh, bring me back
some of that fig jam again, will ya?
[chuckling] Fig jam. It's already on the list.
How are you feeling?
Good. Yeah, good.
What could go wrong, right?
-Short of everything? -Or nothing.
I'll vote for nothing.
I miss you. I gotta go, though.
-I love you. -I love you, too.
All right, bye.
[Sam Wyman] I wouldn't say he was pro-Arab
or pro-Israeli.
He was a realist.
And there is a way this could be done,
a genuine two-state solution.
[PLO source] Robert, my friend.
-Good to see you. -Yeah, good to see you, too.
How is Chairman Arafat?
He was sorry to leave Beirut.
He's waiting for your next move now.
This is from the President.
A framework of peace.
President.
Where's his signature?
One thing at a time.
And what about the Israelis?
They will withdraw also, right?
We will use all our leverage.
Please tell Chairman Arafat
that the President is counting on him
to keep things quiet while the Israelis withdraw.
Yeah. We'll keep quiet. Yeah, for sure.
But, uh, you see, when, uh...
When Arafat left Beirut, he...
He gave the keys to our armory to a former bodyguard.
And the thing is, the Iranians have made contact with him now.
Do you have a name?
He only uses nicknames.
Radwan.
Nothing else.
[Saada speaking Arabic]
[Imad speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Imad speaking]
[engine starts]
slow dramatic music
[indistinct chatter]
[Imad inhales deeply]
[Pur speaking]
[recruits replying in affirmative]
[Imad speaking]
[inhales deeply]
[Pur speaking]
[in English] Friends, friends.
Thank you. Good evening.
Thank you so much for coming tonight.
We are here to honor an historic occasion,
a new President,
and a new opportunity for Lebanon and the region.
My message from our president
is that we Americans all sincerely believe
that a just settlement is possible.
And by just, I mean one that takes into account
the legitimate needs off all persons,
all religions, and all factions.
[woman] Hear, hear.
That future is within our grasp now
if we have the courage to seize the moment.
-To a new Middle East. -[guests] To a new Middle East.
-Cheers. -[guests] Cheers.
[speaking Arabic]
[explosion in the distance]
[explosions continue]
[Frank Reynolds, in English] Bachir Gemayel,
the newly-elected President of Lebanon,
has been assassinated.
[reporter] Within minutes of his assassination,
Gemayel's militias began extracting revenge,
tipping Lebanon to the breaking point,
and putting America's regional peace plan
in danger of total collapse.
[Charles Gibson] Perhaps as many as 1,000 people in all
have been massacred
in two Palestinian refugee camps in West Beirut.
[Sam Donaldson] The United States and Israel,
locked in a grave policy confrontation
as a result of this weekend's bloody massacre
of Palestinian civilians in West Beirut,
considered their next move today.
Unless Israel moves quickly and courageously to withdraw,
it will find itself ever more deeply involved in problems
that are not its own and which it cannot solve.
[reporter 1] President Reagan hopes
the presence of 800 Marines in Beirut
will stabilize the situation
and pressure Israel to withdraw.
[reporter 2] This is all within the context
of the power struggle in Lebanon.
Various people are not pro-Khomeini
or anti-American.
The problem is that things are fundamentally out of control.
I believe nobody is controlling this area anymore, you know.
Not the Shia, not Iran,
not United States of America, not the Soviets, nobody.
It's some sort of cocktail.
Cocktail, you know, a terrorist cocktail.
[reporter 3] As the death toll from this week's massacres
passes 2,000 civilians,
Lebanon's population is traumatized,
desperate to escape the chaos
that has engulfed this once-peaceful country.
[scrubbing in the distance]
melancholic music
[Saada speaking Arabic]
[Zeinab sobbing]
[explosion in the distance]
[sirens and gunfire in the distance]
[Imad sighs]
[Mustafa speaking Arabic]
[Haidar speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Haidar speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Haidar speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Imad speaking]
[Haidar speaking]
[Ahmad and Ali conversing in Arabic]
[Imad speaking]
-[Ahmad speaking] -[Imad speaking]
[Ahmad speaking]
[Imad speaking]
[Ali speaking]
[Ahmad speaking]
[exhales deeply]
[Imad speaking]
[Ahmad speaking]
[footsteps approaching]
[helicopter blades whirring]
[in English] Commander.
Thank you.
Israel needs to leave Lebanon as quickly as possible.
We will implement our peace plan.
[Mossad commander] Wake up, Robert.
What peace plan are you talking about?
It died the minute they killed Bachir.
No, it didn't. You still have to withdraw--
Uh, let's say... Hey, let's say we leave Lebanon.
Your president will stop the shooting on Israel?
Or maybe it will be you, Robert.
[Mossad commander breathes deeply]
Go on, Robert.
Our services need to find a way
to step back from the abyss and work together.
Abyss.
[speaks Hebrew]
[in English] Mr. Ames,
we value your guidance, as always.
But there's a feeling that the Arabists in the CIA
are say, uh, um,
too romantic about our neighbors.
[Ames] No, don't insult my professionalism
or that of my officers.
Our friends are expected to get onboard with our plan,
and those that don't will pay a very heavy price.
Do I make myself clear?
Yes, you do.
And with all the respect,
you can fuck off, sir.
Meir, can you show our friend the way out, please?
[helicopter blades whirring]
[Imad speaking Arabic]
dramatic music
[guards yelling]
[tires screeching]
[explosion]
[Tom Brokaw] A huge explosion
flattened the Israeli military headquarters
in Tyre, Lebanon, today.
At least 28 people were killed, dozens injured.
Rescue workers still are digging.
The seven-story building was reduced to rubble.
The cause of the explosion is not clear,
but there's speculation about a gas
or an ammunition explosion.
[woman speaking Arabic on radio]
[speaking Arabic]
[Imad speaking]
[Saada speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Haidar speaking]
[Mustafa speaking]
[Saada speaking]
[Saada] Mm.
[in English] You got anything new on that explosion in Tyre?
Israelis still say it was a gas leak.
-[knocking at door] -[speaking Hebrew]
[door closes]
[muttering softly]
[in English] We're pushing for a phased withdrawal.
-[telephone ringing] -Working north to south.
If they commit, the Israelis could be out in two weeks.
Are they gonna go for this?
Well, Ken, Reagan's had enough.
[man] Mr. Ames, phone call.
Yeah. I can take it in my office.
Ames.
Mr. Ames, it's Meir Dagan.
[car engine starts]
suspenseful music
[Meir] As you know, Islam forbids suicide.
[Ames] But in the name of jihad, the self-sacrifice is permitted.
A young kid, ordinary.
Nothing special about him,
except all his family was killed by our forces.
What about the, uh, recruiter?
[Meir] Someone who came from Beirut,
but has relatives here.
That's it.
-[speaking Arabic] -[Asgari speaking]
[in English] No name, no picture.
Just a nickname, Radwan.
[Asgari speaking Arabic]
[Ames] What do your commanders think of your theory?
That it was a gas leak,
and I might be suffering from PTSD,
and fuck them.
They're idiots.
Well, we have idiots at the CIA, too.
I know.
[Imad speaking Arabic]
[Asgari speaking]
[Imad speaking]
[Meir, in English] That's his house, Ahmad Qassir.
Robert, these are not the same terrorists we've known before.
These are fanatics motivated by Imam Khomeini.
And they will come for you as well.
[speaking Arabic]
[Ames, in English] Somebody recruited this kid
around here.
But what we need is assets
inside the Iranian training camp,
here near Baalbek.
Hmm. Bekaa Valley.
That's tough.
Well, I'm sure you'll find a way.
Gentlemen.
[gunfire in the distance]
[Imad speaking Arabic]
[Imad speaking]
[door opens]
[door closes]
[elevator bell dings]
[Dewey, in English] Islamic Jihad.
-What does that mean exactly? -[Ames] Holy war.
[Dewey] Oh, Christ.
Okay, so this, uh, kid blows himself up,
earning a one-way ticket to paradise.
Why is the Mossad still saying it's a gas leak?
[Ames] Because they knew it wasn't.
Didn't wanna make a hero out of the guy, right?
We need a window into that training camp.
[chuckles] No, I'm not sending my case officers to Baalbek,
chasing your crazy-ass theory about the Ayatollah.
What if Bob's right?
What if it is Iran?
-[girl 1] He's on fire. -[woman] That is a very good...
-[girl 2] No! Pass, pass, pass! -You okay?
-[boy] Yeah. -Ready? Watch this, guys.
-Oh! Dad! -[boy] Yeah!
-Hey! Here. -[children yell]
Dad gets two.
-[telephone ringing] -[girl 2] Two for two.
Ames residence.
It's the switchboard.
[whispers] It's ridiculous. I can't...
[Yvonne, softly] I thought you told them about family time.
I did.
I'll take it in the office.
[in normal voice] Ames.
[Casey] Bob, listen.
Mossad called, all right?
We're a go on the deal.
What did you tell those bastards?
I told them the truth.
[Casey laughs]
That's a good one.
Listen, the White House
wants you back in Beirut now, okay?
Get the Israelis out and close the deal.
[explosions in the distance]
[Jane Mayer] It was just such a loss of innocence
for the United States, looking back,
because we felt we were there
as neutral peacekeepers,
and, in fact, we thought--
And we thought we were the good guys
doing the right thing,
trying to bring peace to the world,
and we were perceived instead, locally,
as enemies and combatants.
And we were in a war
we didn't even realize we were in.
somber music
-Is everything in place? -[Ken] Yes.
The UN?
[Ken] They'll monitor the Israeli troops
on their way out.
[Ames] Any update on the new organization,
Islamic Jihad?
[Ken] We're not sure it's real, Bob.
[engine starts]
[Ames] And the Iranian camps?
[Ken] Like a black hole.
No assets?
No prospects?
But if Khomeini really did wanna export his revolution,
why wouldn't he start here in Lebanon?
This is where the Shia are being ignored.
I mean, that's what I would do.
All right, gentlemen, maybe that's, uh, lunch break.
[sighs] Look, uh...
I know what it's like to start from nothing.
We've all been there.
It's the hardest thing for a case officer,
so just hit the streets, start listening.
Do our job.
[gunfire in the distance]
[car engine revving]
-[explosion] -[yells]
ominous music