Pressure Mounts Against Lebanon, Syria

[Syrinx]

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- International pressure mounted on Lebanon to
find the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri as this shocked
nation prepared to bury the man credited with rebuilding post-civil
war Lebanon and seen as quietly opposing Syrian influence in his
country's affairs.

A huge security operation has been organized for Hariri's funeral
service, which will start Wednesday at his palace in a posh Beirut
neighborhood and wind for nearly two miles through the capital to his
burial place at the towering Mohammed al-Amin mosque, the construction
of which has been funded by the billionaire.

Tens of thousands of mourners are expected to attend the service which
Hariri's political supporters and family have warned government
officials not to attend. The funeral follows massive street
demonstrations in Beirut on Tuesday and clashes between dozens of
Hariri supporters and Syrian workers in the slain tycoon's home town
of Sidon, southern Lebanon, that left five Syrians with minor
injuries.

Many in Lebanon are blaming Syria for killing Hariri or at least
having a hand in Monday's huge car bomb that killed 17 people,
including the man who was this country's prime minister for 10 of 14
years following the 1990 end of the 15-year civil war. Syria denies
the charge and has instead condemned the assassination.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Lebanon-Bombing.html

[chicagojoe]

1. Gee, how can Bush use THIS sad incident

to advance his plan for Mid-East domination?

[billbuckhead]

2. Who benefits?

The top of the list is the CIA, Mossad and Al Queda.

[The Magistrate]

3. Why Do You Say That, Mr. Buckhead?

[moobu2]

4. They're thinking it was a suicide bomber.

I was suspicious of the CIA or Mossad at first because the NeoCons have the most to gain from this and the Syrians have the most to lose but since when do those folks utilize a suicide bomber? Now I'm thinking it was a Wahabist related group of some sort.

A few hints...

Lebanon's information minister, Elie Firzly, said most evidence pointed to a suicide bombing, although investigators on the scene had not reached any conclusion. Mr. Firzli said investigators had found that the blast occurred laterally between the cars in Mr. Hariri's motorcade, which had spread apart as they drove through a wide section of the roadway where the bombing occurred.

According to one theory, Mr. Firzly said, a suicide bomber was able to enter the motorcade just as the cars had spread out and detonated the bomb. He noted that Mr. Hariri's car was equipped with special security devices that block signals from remote control detonators, eliminating the possibility that a parked car or bomb along the roadway had killed the Lebanese billionaire.

Before the blast, construction work was taking place at the site, leading Mr. Hariri's personal security detail to investigate whether the bomb had been placed in a sewer or buried in the pavement. Government officials stressed that the 30-foot crater left by the bomb was in the middle of the road rather than at the side, further supporting the car-bomb theory.

The police were also comparing DNA samples taken from the home of Ahmad Abu Adas with body fragments found at the scene of the bombing. On Monday night, Mr. Adas had appeared on a tape aired on Al Jazeera saying that he was a suicide bomber and that he intended to kill Mr. Hariri because of his support of the Saudi royal family. The police stormed Mr. Adas's home on Monday and found he had been missing all day.

New York Times

[Wright Patman]

7. Why is everything revised

to be a suicide bombing the day after anything like this happens?

Robert Fisk said yesterday there was no doubt it was a large remote-controlled device and even claimed to know where the vehicle which detonated was parked.

In Iraq, you will read of a mortar attack on a "secured" base and then a few hours later the authorities have always recategorized it as a "suicide bomber." Well, yes, I suppose this is true in away. The bombs are committing suicide and will never detonate again.

[BonjourUSA]

6. You're absolutely right.

But, EU and UN will be in this operation because three reasons :

1) Liban population is very close to European one (France in particular).

2) we can't let Bush with free hands anymore and we're fed up with the American hegemony.

3) the USA don't have the military means to keep stability in this world area very close to our borders

[President Jesus]

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