In recent years the once vaunted Mossad has had its reputation slightly tarnished. But now with the assassination of Hamas leader Iz a Din al-Sheikh Khalil in Damascus, it is certainly back. Hamas, of course, will find more recruits for its endless cycle of suicide bombers, but it is getting more difficult for them to operate. But according to veteran Haaretz columnist Amos Harel, the real loser here may be Syria.
More than for Hamas, the assassination is an embarrassment for Damascus. Bashar Assad’s regime already suffered a blow earlier this year with a series of Muslim Brotherhood attacks in the Syrian capital. Now it’s someone from Hamas who was targeted – after Hamas ostensibly ceased operating in Damascus. And it’s all happening while Assad is under intensifying pressure from the Americans to stop aiding terror and to pull his troops out of Lebanon.
Lately, France surprisingly joined that call, with a joint resolution at the UN with the U.S. for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon. Assad, already facing a severe economic crisis at home, now has to find work for thousands of soldiers (who moonlighted as construction workers in Lebanon) and officers (who earned their extra money by selling drugs). Syria, in any case, probably couldn’t respond with force.
Et tu Chirac? Bashar must feel surrounded. And this won’t be the first time for Syria. One of the most fascinating stories in the history of spying is tale of Israeli intelligence operative Eli Cohen. This man, a Syrian Jew from Aleppo who became an Israeli citizen, went underground and arrived in Damascus in 1962 as an Argentinian businessman. Gaining the confidence of the Baathists, he was able to rise in the Syrian government almost to a high ministerial level and was ultimately responsible for much of the Israeli success in the Golan Heights. An Israeli agent could almost have been running Syria, before his transmissions were caught by the Russians and he was hanged.
Much more of the story is available at the above link. And don’t think for a moment the Syrians don’t remember it. They are worried right now there is another Eli Cohen in their midst. Could be.
WHODUNIT UPDATE: Haaretz and Maariv Inernational say the information for the assassination came from an Arab intelligence agency, Egypt. Debka has another theory. And Maariv itself has Egypt in opposition to Israel over Iran in another report… Hmmm… Maybe it’s none of the above. Maybe it’s all of the above.
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12 Comments
1. Terrye:Yes there could be another Eli Cohen, It could also be CIA. The Syrians should be paranoid. I think there are big changes in the future for countries like Syria.
Can you imagine the courage and the nerve it would take to live such a life in the midst of your enemy?
Sep 26, 2004 - 6:43 pm 2. richard mcenroe:A new Eli Cohen? I nominate Robert Fisk.
Sep 26, 2004 - 7:12 pm 3. chuck:Could it not be the Muslim Brotherhood or some Al Qaeda affiliate that carried out the assassination? I wonder if there is not a rush to grab control over the Arab “resistance”. I have no idea about such things, but it’s a lot of fun to indulge in speculation.
Sep 26, 2004 - 7:38 pm 4. Taj:Israel offers help and expertise in Russia’s fight against terror after Beslan. Now what could the Russians bring to this partnership? Hmmmm.
Sep 26, 2004 - 8:07 pm 5. richard mcenroe:Suspect in Pearl slaying killed… ó That’s one.
Sep 26, 2004 - 8:48 pm 6. Otter:They are worried right now there is another Eli Cohen in their midst. Could be.
*Very* interesting article in Maariv (read the whole thing!) about an al-Awsat article on an alleged Grand Plan by Mubarak and Egypt. In a nutshell, Mubarak is supposed to be leaning on Hamas for a deal with Israel to be announced shortly before the US election — scoring points for Bush with a quid pro quo of US backing for Mubarak’s son as his successor.
One of the pressure points on Hamas was supposedly Egypt’s passing crucial bits of intelligence to Israel…
Sep 26, 2004 - 9:17 pm 7. heather:I have been brooding over Walmart’s selling of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and finally figured out what is an equivalent outrage: selling videos of the various beheadings starting with the Danny Pearl event.
I would not be surprised that such videos are best sellers through the Islamic underground, and I would bet that the distributor of the Protocols book is active in both lucrative areas.
I know, there is all that blather about ‘the right to know’, etc., but given the history associated with the Protocols, there is no justification for selling it through Walmart – unless Walmart wants to make a package deal -a DVD of beheadings shrink wrapped with a copy of that dear old anti semitic classic.
Sep 26, 2004 - 9:22 pm 8. mshyde:The assassination was efficient to the highest order.
Looking at the photos of the aftermath, seeing how controlled the explosion was, it is indeed a work of art.
Everyone seems to be looking in Israel’s direction, but after the message Putin put out it seems his people could be included in the asking.
Damascus was indeed visited by a talented hand.
Sep 26, 2004 - 9:57 pm 9. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):We haven’t seen an overt Russian retaliation yet. Putin needs a public, bloody one. I doubt this was Putin’s doing. Expect something very nasty in Chechnya.
More likely, Mossad. After all, sometimes you get lucky and happen to have an agent in the right place. Sometimes hard work pays off.
I wonder if the US was consulted/involved.
In any case, if Bush wins, I don’t think Assad will be in power long, although there is a waiting list…. Iran’s Ayatollahs, Dear Leader, the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia.
Sep 26, 2004 - 10:54 pm 10. Otter:Note that Syria appears to be signing on to the Maariv/al-Hayat theory I mentioned above…
(Sorry about the confusion of al-Hayat with al-Awsat.)
Sep 27, 2004 - 6:20 am 11. richard mcenroe:Heather ó Nothing underground about it. You can buy them over the counter in the MidEast, and I wouldn’t be surprised you can do so in American and European cities with large Islamic-speaking populations, after all, how many western cops and journalists speak and read enough Arabic to be able to read jacket copy? Certainly you can find videos celebrating 9/11, complete with graphic imagery, for sale in the Arab neighborhoods of Brooklyn these days. And a popular video game in China used graphic footage from 9/11 with a voice-over proudly declaring it “proved there was no reason to fear the American paper tiger…”
Roger, Typekey is getting really bad. Maybe you could give Charles Johnson a quick yell for help?
Sep 27, 2004 - 7:18 am 12. Lola:I was surprised to hear about the assassination. Especially in the midst of Damascus. This sort of things would never have happened under Assad pere, which makes one wonder just what is going on in Syria.
Regarding Typepad, I haven’t had any problems with it, both on this PC and on my PowerBook. Dunno if this info will help y’all having problems with it, though.
Sep 27, 2004 - 7:29 am