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Rafik al-Hariri - Former Lebanese PM - Assasinated

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  • #46
    FT:

    'What happened yesterday was a clear and strong warning to the opposition,” said Abdelwahab Badrakhan, a columnist at the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper. “Hariri was the strongest opposition leader and the most internationally protected. His killing sends the message that no one is protected.” '
    "A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for.” Martin Buber

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    • #47
      Originally posted by lord of the mark
      WaPo

      "During the debate last October, a car bomb severely wounded Marwan Hamadi, a former economy minister, and killed his driver days after Hamadi had resigned his cabinet post in protest. Hamadi is aligned with the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a vocal critic of Syria's presence in Lebanon and a Hariri ally. "

      Odd how these gangster types mainly seem to assasinate Lebanese pols who have opposed Syria.
      At this point you should notice that I only said it was possible there were crime links. You wouldn't want to be fighting strawmen, now would you?
      "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
      - Lone Star

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      • #48
        LOTM:

        Why are you arguing with him? It's pointless.
        No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

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        • #49
          Originally posted by The Mad Monk
          LOTM:

          Why are you arguing with him? It's pointless.
          Pfft. You guys should learn to debate before trying to act all intelligent.
          "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
          - Lone Star

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          • #50
            See?
            No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.

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            • #51
              "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
              - Lone Star

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              • #52
                [conspiracy nut mode] The bomb was probably placed there by the CIA or a group working for them (possibly aliens). To destabilize the region and give the US a reason to attack Syria. It can not happen you say? Think, the Berlin Reichtag in 1936 and the Tonkin Bay in 1964...

                OMG US is teh Nazi!!!! [/conspiracy nut mode]

                Nah, seriously. Syria had the most to gain by killing Hariri (as lotm has shown)
                I love being beaten by women - Lorizael

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                • #53
                  At this point I should also point out that my beef in this thread was mainly the US admin's statements following the assassination. It doesn't matter who did the bombing, it's still stupid.

                  Personally, I don't think it was the Syrian government. They're not exactly comfortable in their power, and blowing up a huge suicide car bomb in Lebanon just to scare the opposition seems an entirely stupid move.
                  It's more likely that Hariri pissed off some Islamist fundies for one reason or another.

                  But if it does turn out to be the Syrians, then so be it.
                  "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
                  - Lone Star

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                  • #54
                    Jerusalem Post:

                    'Still, analysts and Lebanese were confused by the murder. While everyone agreed that Syria was the obvious culprit because of Hariri's calls for its withdrawal, killing him does more harm than good for Syria.

                    "It's totally illogical that Syria would do it," said Prof. Eyal Zisser, a Syria expert at the Dayan Institute for Middle East Studies at Tel Aviv University. "It would be such a stupid move on their part. Everyone is watching them and they don't want to destabilize Lebanon."

                    But, the order for the assassination may not have come from the Syrian government.

                    "I wouldn't point the finger at Damascus necessarily," Simon Williams, a senior analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, told The Jerusalem Post. "I would look at those acting on behalf of Syria. There are people making decisions inside Lebanon on Syria's behalf that I really don't think have the backing of Syrian leadership."

                    Reuven Merhav, the former director of Israel's quasi-embassy in Beirut in 1983 and later a director-general of the Foreign Ministry, pointed to Hariri's conflict with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.

                    "He didn't make it a secret that he thinks Lahoud is a puppet of the Syrians," he said.

                    Merhav said Hariri could have been killed for business-related reasons, adding, "He did very big reconstruction projects in Beirut."

                    Most agreed that the sensational attack did not suit the style of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

                    "Bashar? It's certainly not his style," said Edward Walker, president of the Middle East Institute in Washington. "I don't think it's something he would do."

                    Walker told the Post it was not inconceivable that Bashar knew nothing about it and intelligence agents were acting independently with their Lebanese counterparts.

                    "The same Syrian security services that were there during the civil war in Lebanon are still around," he said.

                    If Assad was not behind the murder then, as US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said recently, "Bashar is not in control."

                    Analysts agree.

                    "Bashar doesn't have control over his country and his people," Walker said. "He doesn't have the death grip [that his father did] over the security forces."'
                    "A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for.” Martin Buber

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                    • #55
                      Now that JP article isn't that much off from what I just said, don't you agree?
                      "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
                      - Lone Star

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                      • #56
                        If Assad's grip is slipping, should we start worrying about Syria itself imploding?
                        Why can't you be a non-conformist just like everybody else?

                        It's no good (from an evolutionary point of view) to have the physique of Tarzan if you have the sex drive of a philosopher. -- Michael Ruse
                        The Nedaverse I can accept, but not the Berzaverse. There can only be so many alternate realities. -- Elok

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                        • #57
                          Originally posted by Last Conformist
                          If Assad's grip is slipping, should we start worrying about Syria itself imploding?
                          That's a scary proposition, because the fundies will try to seize power if that happens. And Syria's screwed economy sure doesn't help in keeping things stable.
                          "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
                          - Lone Star

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                          • #58
                            This is obviously a Syrian job. This is Syria saying "You can elect anyone you want as long as he's our b*tch."

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                            • #59
                              US Ambassador in Syria Summoned Home
                              "On this ship you'll refer to me as idiot, not you captain!"
                              - Lone Star

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                              • #60
                                The US it appears is pulling the diplomats out.

                                AP Story

                                Feb 15, 12:41 PM (ET)

                                By BARRY SCHWEID

                                WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria amid rising tensions over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

                                Before departing, U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey delivered a stern note, called a demarche in diplomatic parlance, to the Syrian government, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

                                The Bush administration condemned Monday's killing in Beirut of Hariri, the billionaire construction magnate who masterminded the recovery of his country and insisted that Syria comply with a U.N. resolution calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

                                damn x-post
                                "Just puttin on the foil" - Jeff Hanson

                                “In a democracy, I realize you don’t need to talk to the top leader to know how the country feels. When I go to a dictatorship, I only have to talk to one person and that’s the dictator, because he speaks for all the people.” - Jimmy Carter

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