Friday, December 27, 2013

car bomb in Beirut

You all know--or should know--that the heinous "weapon" of car bombs was first introduced--typically--by Zionist gangs in Palestine in 1946.  This is a weapon that is intended to be indiscriminate even if directed at a one person, because innocent people always get killed.  The victim, former Minister of Finance and former Lebanese ambassador in Washington, DC was one of the most powerful figures of March 14 and the Hariri movement although he kept a very low profile.  When I interviewed key personalities in Lebanon about the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, the speaker of parliament, Nabih Birri, told me that his role was even more powerful than that of Fu'ad Sanyurah during those days.  Shatah handled all the foreign policy files of March 14 and was the key man between the Hariri family and the US government.  At the personal level, he did not create enemies and his statements (public) were rather mild in comparison to other figures of March 14.  This may prove to be a signal or a watershed: that the conflict in Lebanon has been elevated to only to the regional level but even to the international level.  I think that those who are managing the war in Syria--both sides--figured that it would suit their interest to extend it to Lebanon.