Soccer Dad

Anti-terror fantasies

Did Israel do it?

Who knows?

Uzi Mahnaimi claims to know. Uzi Mahnaimi claims to know lots of things, not all of them are true.

Mr. Mahnaimi is one of three reporters credited with "Israel kills terror chief with a headrest bomb." (via memeorandum) None of the reporters is bylined in Damascus so how do they know:

At 10.35pm he decided to go home. Having exchanged customary kisses with his host, Hojatoleslam Ahmad Musavi, the newly appointed Iranian ambassador, Mughniyeh stepped into the night.

Minutes later he was seated in his silver Mitsubishi Pajero in a nearby street when a deafening blast ripped the car apart and killed him instantly.

According to Israeli intelligence sources, someone had replaced the headrest of the driver’s seat with another containing a small high-explosive charge. Israel welcomed his death but the prime minister’s office denied responsibility. Hezbollah accused the “Zionist Israelis” of killing its “brother commander” but believed the explosive had been detonated in another car by satellite.

One witness said: “I held his head in my hands, kissed him farewell. His face was burnt but intact and he had received serious injuries to his abdomen.”

Other than the one item attributed to "Israeli intelligence sources" how could any of them have known such details not being in Damascus?

Israel Matzav expresses skepticism.

The only named source is described as "a former major in unit 504 of Israeli military intelligence who was in charge of Mughniyeh’s file." If my google search of the source is correct, he is currently living in the United States and is not likely to be privy to the current goings on in military intelligence. In short, while I believe that the manner of the killing may be correct, I have serious doubts whether Israel really did it. And as to what Mugniyah had been up to in the last two years, anyone could have guessed that.

Blackfive expresses admiration.

I like Mr. Dagan's style. I mean, what kind of sick and twisted individual would give a guy, who is an undisputed and unrepentant terrorist murderer like Mughniyeh the M-18 Claymore mine headrest he so sorely needed?

Maybe Israel killed Mughniyah, maybe not. I remain skeptical about the detail. (Even Mahnaimi writes "Whatever the truth about the bomb..." Certainly if all those terrorists have been killed by Israel, that is impressive and Meir Dagan deserves credit for rebuilding the Mossad's effectiveness.

The manner of Mughaniyah's death isn't the only area where there's been misinformation. We've also seen it from state and non-state actors who see his death as sign of moderation among non-moderates.

Martin Kramer scores the Hezbollah sympathizers who differentiate between the political and terrorist divisions of Hezbollah. JudeoPundit observes that the price for telling the truth about Hezbollah, is falling out of its favor.

I am reminded of the fact that when Human Rights Watch attempted to follow its reports criticizing Israel's conduct during the Lebanon war with one critical of Hezbollah, its relationship with Hezbollah immediately soured. You have to wonder what price it paid for its previous access to South Lebanon.

The cost of maintaining an exclusive relationship with Hezbollah is a very short leash.

And Contentions.James Kirchik skewers the "hands-off Syria" crowd.

“Reasonably behaved with regard to Israel?” You’ve got to love how Clemons uses the construction “Seymour Hersh argues” as if it were de facto proof of the charge’s veracity. He then goes onto applaud Syria for its “restrained” response to Israel’s attack last year on suspected nuclear facilities, as the Baathists in Damascus held back from causing “domestic strife” in Israel, a terrific euphemism for terrorism I’ll remember the next time my younger brother and I get into a fight about playing X-Box or something. When Hezbollah inevitably retaliates for the murder of Mughniyeh at an El-Al airport counter or Jewish Community Center, perhaps Clemons will wag his finger at Syria for its “bad behavior.”

Dumb still looks free has related thoughts concerning the Presidential race.

Often actions that occur in the shadows end up getting shrouded in even more confusion than clarity.

UPDATE: Someone else questioned an aspect of Times story, Shrinkwrapped. (h/t Seraphic Secret)

Far be it for me to disparage the perspicacity of the intrepid reporters of the Times, but doesn't it seem just a tiny bit unlikely that a headrest bomb could be so carefully constructed as to cause serious damage to the victim's abdomen but leave his head, the presumed target of immediate interest, intact? Maybe its just my natural skepticism, but I would think the layers of editors about which the MSM is so proud, might have noticed the seeming anomaly.

Of course, as I mentioned before, how the reporters got a statement from an eyewitness in Damascus when none of them were located there, is a bit of question. So it's not all that surprising that a manufactured witness would give manufactured testimony.

Crossposted on Yourish.

Imad Mughniyah, syria, hezbollah.