The explosion in Damascus

Claude Salhani:

...

The startling disclosure of Mughnieh's presence in the Syrian capital must have embarrassed the government of President Bashar Assad. Damascus has systematically denied supporting terrorists, claiming groups labeled "terrorists" by the United States and Israel are considered liberation movements by the Syrian government and by other Arab countries as well.

But what if there is more to this assassination than initially thought? A knee-jerk reaction would be to list the usual suspects and assume Mughnieh was a guest of Syria. Just as a knee-jerk reaction would presume Israel pulled the trigger that killed the man. It's not as though the Jewish state lacked incentives to want him dead.

...

But what if, as one Syria expert adviser to the U.S. government hinted yesterday, things are not always as they first appear. "Think outside the box," said the specialist, hinting that it is possible Syrian intelligence put the finger on Mughnieh for assassins, obviously with the government's blessing.

Why would Damascus do that? Why would Damascus facilitate the killing of one of the most wanted men on the U.S. terrorist lists?

Indeed, knowing the grip Syrian intelligence services maintain on all foreign operatives in the country, it is hard to imagine such an operation could have been pulled off without the knowledge, if not the outright cooperation, of the country's security services.

An assassination operation would have required, first, positive identification and knowledge of Mughnieh's location. He was known to have been extremely security conscious, to have assumed multiple identities and even to have undergone several plastic surgeries to change his appearance.

It would have required continuous surveillance of the target to establish a pattern or identify the appropriate time and location for the hit. And it would have required access to explosives and the means of putting it all together.

...

His presence in Damascus should have been an embarrassment to the Syrian entity, but does not appear to be. Certainly the Hezballah funeral for this disgraceful murderer suggest an embrace of his evils.

Reports from Israel indicate that he was meeting with some Palestinians around the time of his demise. If that is the case, it could have led the Israelis to his location. His death was followed a day later with the death of he head of Islamic Jihad, another Iranian backed terrorist organization. The good fortune of the Israelis in having the head terrorist for two Iranian backed groups die in a matter of a day is an interesting coincidence. It is one that has to trouble the Iranians.

What Damascus should be concerned about is the presence of one of the most wanted terrorist int he world under their very noses. This should give pause to the Democrats and others in the US who seem to think that there is a deal to be had with the Syrians. Whatever that deal might be, it is unlikely to be to our benefit. Will Obama be asked about his adviser's visit to Syria around the time of this event? What was the purpose of the trip?