18 Comments

1. Bostonian:

Samir Franjieh said: “We will not grant the authorities our resignation. The parliamentary seats are the people’s property.”

I have a new hero.

Feb 18, 2005 - 7:18 pm 2. BigFire:

Syrian Military Intelligence is sort of odds on favorite for the assasination plot. Afterall, who else has the resource of actually track a billionaire who installed the best security money can buy?

Feb 18, 2005 - 7:34 pm 3. chuck:

The Syrians certainly seem the most likely, though I still think it possible that Al Qaeda was involved through one of their local affiliates. IIRC there was some fighting taking place in southern Lebanon between fighters displaced from Afghanistan and the local Palestinian groups. But what do I know? I just rely on bits and pieces I read here and there. Heh, maybe it was both.

Anyway, the question is how can we help. We need to keep the pressure on Syria while at the same time making sure there is no slaughter of the Lebanese. Tricky. And won’t it be a change if we get together with France to pull this off.

Feb 18, 2005 - 7:55 pm 4. chuck:

I am also curious to see how the left responds. If they end up supporting the Syrian side they will have gone directly over to supporting Baathist imperialism. That will be interesting to see.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:07 pm 5. richard mcenroe:

Chuck ó Only if you like reruns…

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:15 pm 6. John Moore ( Useful Fools ):

There are enough malefactors in Lebanon for there to a variety of suspects. But of course the Syrian secret police, and Syria’s domination of Lebanon as a puppet state (to be made part of “greater Syria” when it becomes possible) are high on the list.

We shall have to wait and see if we hope to understand this event.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:17 pm 7. Katherine:

Chuck,

Is Bush administration taking adversarial position wrt Syrian Baathist?

Yes? Then the Left is going to support the Ophthalmologist and his goons. The only reason the Left speaks against Saudi Arabia is that they think that the Saudis are particular friends of Bushís family; they donít realize that Saudi money was always spread evenly on both sides of the isle.

Enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:23 pm 8. neo-neocon:

Dare we hope that the “positive domino” effect can be starting so soon? That the Lebanese have caught the idea that they, too, can throw off the yoke of the Baathist oppressor–the Syrian one, this time?

Before the 1970s, Lebanon was one of the lights of the Middle East, a land where Christians and Moslems lived in relative peace–and with a city, Beirut, of cosmopolitan sophistication and culture. Then the long night came–with our good friend, Arafat, having a leading role in bringing that to pass. Is it possible that some sort of dawn might finally be approaching? If so, how paradoxical and astounding that it might come as an unintended consequence of such a vicious crime as the assasination of the ex-Prime Minister.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:34 pm 9. Kevin P:

Chuck:

The left has already responded. This is from wednesday’s LA Times editorial titled “The Devil We know in Lebanon”- “But Syria,for all its repressiveness and propensity for mischief, also has to be given a share of the credit for providing the security that made Hariri’s reconstruction possible”

Don’t you just love how Kinsley blends repressivness and MISCHIEF into the same sentence.As if providing the funds and training for suicide bombings can be termed as innocent hijinks. Syria and the PLO jump started the Lebanese civil war and Kinsley gives Syria the credit for putting out the fire they helped start.In their hate for Bush the old sixties radicals have gone from being the supposed beacons of light for the downtrodden to the status qou supporters of stable but repressive governments. Since Bush called for freedom and democracy the left has to reflexily say the opposite. Can you imagine Kinsley and Pat Buchannon being ideological bedmates. The irony is to much to take.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:47 pm 10. Bruce W.:

neo2con: Sort of reminds one of a certain world war a few years back, don’t it? But this one could actually lead to some real and lasting good.

May the domino fall, but may it fall gently. And may only the best come of this.

Assad is a marked man from many directions now…and we all know what cornered dogs do.

I think he’ll be taken out from within; then we’ll see what we are really dealing with in this Axis country.

Feb 18, 2005 - 8:48 pm 11. chuck:

“But Syria,for all its repressiveness and propensity for mischief, also has to be given a share of the credit for providing the security that made Hariri’s reconstruction possible”

Kevin,

These guys are getting damn disgusting. Now they will support the oppressors against a genuine people’s rebellion? Gah. No morals, no principles, no nothing. It’s all a sham. There is nothing they believe in except perhaps their innate superiority.

I feel myself sliding from Independent to Republican at this very moment.

Feb 18, 2005 - 9:19 pm 12. John©:

Roger: Kudos for blogging this story. It’s more than a little distressing to discover you’re nearly alone in trying to generate interest and clarity on the issue of Rafik Hariri’s assassination. Where is the MSM? I’ve been waiting–in vain–for the big New Yorker or NYT (60 Minutes?) investigative piece that places this terrible act in the necessary global WOT perspective.

BTW, in addition to all his other good works, Hariri was responsible for more than 30,000 (match that Soros!) scholarships, grants and loans to Arabic students–many of them (including a student of mine who recently received a PhD) for study in the US. Hariri also had unusually strong ties to the US; e.g. Boston U’s B-School (”the best B-school campus in the US,” Princeton Review) was funded by– and named for Rafik. I can’t help but think that his killing is a reprisal again his secular Islamic internationalism and a major blow to US-Arabic relations. It’s a real disgrace that the MSM has completely ignored the import of his assassination.

Feb 19, 2005 - 4:42 am 13. Lola:

Let’s not forget the people within Syria who would like a change of the government as well. Reform Party of Syria has a website – see link below

http://reformsyria.org/

Feb 19, 2005 - 5:48 am 14. charlotte:

Chuck,

Don’t slide. Jump! We need all the smart people, men and women of principles, and even gay prostitute journos we can get our hands on.

Feb 19, 2005 - 7:20 am 15. JB:

“No morals, no principles, no nothing. It’s all a sham. There is nothing they believe in except perhaps their innate superiority.”

A choice quote from Eric Alan Beltt’s Liberalism is a psychology:

“Liberalism isnít a political ideology; itís a psychology – the psychology of self-satisfaction to be precise.”

Feb 19, 2005 - 9:22 am 16. richard mcenroe:

Let’s see if we can get Kinsley to say this: “But Bush,for all his repressiveness and propensity for mischief, also has to be given a share of the credit for providing the security that made Iraq’s reconstruction possible”…

Feb 19, 2005 - 9:43 am 17. Terrye:

I wonder if the people responsible for this killing ever imagined that more than 100,000 people would turn out and say Syria go home.

Feb 19, 2005 - 11:50 am 18. David Thomson:

I still think we will bomb Syria within the next week. The Bush administration is fed up with that countryís shenanigans. At the very least, the Syrian Baathists must essentially get on their knees and promise never again to misbehave. Syria will probably be the next domino to fall.

Will the elite classes be able to slime the President if we take military action against Syria? Nope, Bush only need to provide a good explanation. He has the power, not the silly elitists.

Feb 19, 2005 - 2:27 pm

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