"A diplomatic tsunami is brewing over the corpse of Lebanon's government"

[TexasLawyer]

From the Daily Star, Lebanon

A diplomatic tsunami is brewing over the corpse of Lebanon's government

Monday, February 21, 2005

<snip>

As the storm gathers force, Syria's supporters here are becoming less imaginative by the day. Indeed, the government appears leaderless and directionless except for a blind obsession to cling to power. Prime Minister Omar Karami, for all intents and purposes, may as well not exist.

This lack of leadership has created a vacuum into which other actors are stepping. Hizbullah secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and parliamentary speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri have, it seems, nominated themselves to represent a disheveled and disoriented government. Once again it is possible that Lebanon is witnessing the ascendance of community leaders to fill the gap left by a crumbling national government.

<snip>


It is quite obvious by now that the Syrian-backed extension of President Emile Lahoud's term in office is not working, and it is also becoming obvious that it is not going to work. It was the trigger to the events we are seeing unfolding today.

These events include, of course,the assassination of Hariri. If Syria is innocent of this crime, it is making many moves that would indicate otherwise. If Damascus has clean hands, then it is acting counter-productively to its own interests. It is as if Damascus is inviting the breakdown of Lebanon. It is a modern Greek tragedy - the inherent flaws in an otherwise great personality lead inevitably to demise. Is this to be the combined fate of Lebanon and Syria? It is a possibility, and an increasingly likely one unless Damascus steps back and reconsiders its actions.

Syria needs to urgently and very seriously rethink its policies in Lebanon and make the changes necessary to allow a stable, representative government in Beirut to emerge.

<snip>

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&article_id=12845&categ_id=17

[xchrom]

1. i don't know if syria is behind the assasination or not

but the killing of harriri doesn't benefit syria.
who does it benefit?
there are possible other characters here at play -- harriri's business dealings in saudi arabia, al queda, hizbullah, etc.
and last but not least -- western interests that want to indict syria.

this is a puzzle that could get very deadly before it's over -- and may never produce the real agents behind this.

[ixion]

2. who benefits from destabilizing Syria...

hmmm... let's see...:eyes:

[Igel]

3. Again, if you're looking for possible perpetrators,

a much better question is, "Who could have thought it would benefit them?"

Focusing on "Who does it benefit?" implies that covert or black ops can never go wrong, and denies the possibility of blowback. So Syria could easily still be a suspect.

I wonder if my popcorn supply is going to hold out?