Analysis: Imad Mughniyah snuffed



News Analysis

The Killing of Hezbollah’s Imad Mugniyah is a significant event that can be read in many ways.

In the past 10 years, Hezbollah worked hard to conceal the aspect of their party represented by its co-founder, Imad Mughniya. In a large rebranding effort, Hezbollah convinced the Lebanese people and their political allies that their party is exclusively involved in legitimate, local resistance against Israel.

As a result, a lot of young Lebanese no longer associate Hezbollah with mass suicide killings, embassy bombings and plane hijacking in foreign lands. Yet that is precisely what Mr. Mugniyah, one of the shadiest figures in Hezbollah, was implicated with.

The killing of Mr. Mugniya, Hezbollah’s No. 2 and one of the top wanted men by the FBI, was neatly executed in Syria, using a small bomb planted in his vehicle that took him out immediately. The usual and likely suspects are the CIA or the Mossad, who had the highest interests in taking him down.

If that is true, then this would be a resounding success for those intelligence services, and a huge embarrassment to the Syrian authorities, not least because of the location of the killing -next to an Iranian School- and its timing -coinciding with a 2-day visit by the Iranian foreign minister to Syria-

But should we totally dismiss conspiratorial thinking? After all, this is Syria, with its famously draconian security apparatus. Could such a significant killing happen on its turf without the regime’s knowledge? Could it be that Syria is sending Mr. Obama a peace offering that precedes Mr. Brzezinsky’s visit to embarrass Mr. Bush?

What about Lebanon? Mr. Walid Jumblat said yesterday that the Lebanese could “no longer coexist with Hezbollah”, and alluded to a Hezbollah role in Killing captain wissam Eid. Did Mr. Jumblat know something we didn’t know? And finally, is it a coincidence that Hezbollah will hold a funeral for Mr. Mughniya at the same day that March 14 is planning to demonstrate en mass?

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Discussion

No comments for “Analysis: Imad Mughniyah snuffed”

  1. Regardless of who killed Imad and of the message behind the killing. Many Lebanese (mainly Christian) families will be happy to hear the death of a sniper (when he was part of the PLO in 1976 at the age of fourteen stationed on the green line) who coldly killed many of their relatives; and many non-Lebanese will rejoice as well.
    Like I said on my page:
    “His funeral is due to take place tomorrow in south Lebanon, where he will be buried with great honor by his fellow terrorist Hizbullah.
    Whilst tomorrow in down town, Lebanese will be demonstrating against Syrian hegemony and for Freedom, Independence, Sovereignty; Those thugs will be honoring what they consider a hero and Shahid.
    Can you (Lebanese) still talk of tolerance and “Wifak Watani”?”

    Posted by marillionlb | February 13, 2008, 11:45 am
  2. I think your last point is key moustapha. they needed an excuse for a showdown and a confrontation tomorrow… they got it.

    let’s wait and count the bodies and the wounded tomorrow… after all, it is valentine’s.

    Posted by _z. | February 13, 2008, 1:17 pm
  3. believe me :
    each one of us is very angry now ,
    not only angry but also full of well to erase “the Free World ” out of our lands and especially “Israel ”
    who can be happy when he hear the news of killing people is a monster not a human
    believe me there are a lot of “Imads”and you will notice that soon .
    Imad was a very admirable free man and the truth is that we have men want to be like him and own the well to be even better than him .
    i remind you that the obvious just and truth is that USA and “Israel ” are the real murderers and the head of terrorism in the whole world and should be punished and nearly washed from our lands .

    Posted by m4r | February 13, 2008, 1:18 pm
  4. Here’s me theory:
    Syria recognized that the International Tribunal is coming and it wants to eliminate any one who can connect the assassination of Harirri to the Asad clan (Bashar, Maher and Asef). To the Asad clan everyone else is dispensible!

    Mughanieh looks like was one of the planner of the Harirri assassination and was eliminated. So, when the Tribunal starts its questioning, all fingers points to Mughanieh and the Asad clan is saved!!! By the way, don’t be surprised that Roustum Ghazaleh commit suicide by 2 shots to his head.

    Posted by Ghassan | February 13, 2008, 1:28 pm
  5. m4r,

    who can be happy when he hear the news of killing people is a monster not a human

    F@¢& you.

    This bastard made Zarqawi look like an angel. And I noticed your crew seem to get themselves in a pretty festive mood whenever they have a “divine victory”, so again… f@¢& you.

    Ghassan,

    So, when the Tribunal starts its questioning, all fingers points to Mughanieh and the Asad clan is saved!!!

    They could have done that, anyway. Mughanieh has been on the international hit list and has been a fugitive from justice for more than 20 years.

    Posted by Craig | February 13, 2008, 1:57 pm
  6. Who the hell cares about Brzezinski?! Come on Mustapha…

    Posted by Tony | February 13, 2008, 1:59 pm
  7. [...] This Blog Only   « Previous Post   Wednesday, February 13, 2008 [...]

    Posted by Israeli Media Ecstatic Over Mughniyah’s Killing | The Beirut Spring, a Lebanese Blog | February 13, 2008, 2:09 pm
  8. RIP Mughnieh!! Hassouneh…DUCK….

    Hassan has instructed the funeral to be on Thursday instead of Wednesday as per Islamic tradition…
    I guess he’s looking for trouble. I’d love this rat to be exterminated along with his all leadership during the funeral. I really do not care about the collateral damage. Lebanon has been the biggest collateral damage in the history of mankind…

    Ghassan, your anlaysis is very plausible. This guys was ultra cautious all these years. Again, if I were in Hassouneh’s place I’d duck and not get out of the rat hole…
    M4r…Buzz off. So now we should grieve over the extermination of a mass murderer!! yup…

    Posted by Danny | February 13, 2008, 2:14 pm
  9. I think it would be wrong to focus on one mobile.

    It might be an internal assassination inside the hezbollah as a result of a “cold war” btw Nasrallah and Kassem (pro iran)
    It can be a target to destabilise lebanon by opening a new front in south lebanon with the retaliation of the hezbollah (so you should as well see the active palestinians groups in damascus or even al qaida related groups)
    It can be israel, it can be lebanese groups trying to weaken the military wing of the hezbollah and its military commander as moughniyeh was said to be the chief of staff.
    It can be a retaliation of the US for the assassinations of its marines etc… etc…

    Focusing on the International tribunal is a way to divert maybe from the real objective.

    This assassination has a very bad timing if we consider the lebanese actual situation.

    Posted by frenchy | February 13, 2008, 3:43 pm
  10. They tracked him and blew his (evil) brain out of his skull at the right time (after talks of confrontation) and in the perfect place (deep in basharland).

    If the syrian (un)inteligence services + hezballahs (islamist brainwashed)SS think they can blow anybody they want and anywhere they want at the time they want, the same can happen to them.
    I always supported Bush’s way of handling the islamist threat, use their methods to fight them, there is no talking with those who have cut their own ears, who have a stone instead of a brain…

    m4r,
    hope all of you end up just like this assassin that you call a free man (what an insult to freedom) and your role model (another insult to humanity’s future) deep underground and closer to Hell. Time has come for you to taste the terror you have been preaching for years.

    Allah yghame’lo!!!
    Go CIA and go Mossad and all my respect to the Arab who pointed them where this rat was hiding. We need men like you.

    Posted by Krach | February 13, 2008, 4:15 pm
  11. m4r :

    Car bombs were Mughanié’s gift to Hizbollah opponents. It is God’s will to see him die in the same way he killed his victims!

    It is a very dangerous event! Let’s hope the consequences will bring good to Lebanon.

    Posted by sam | February 13, 2008, 4:19 pm
  12. Could such a significant killing happen on its turf without the regime’s knowledge?

    Probably not. What may be more important, in my opinion, is that Hezbollah felt no need to conduct an investigation as to who did it. Which implies Hezbollah - and thus Syria and Iran - know absolutely who is at fault, maybe even beforehand, regardless of who Hezbollah publicly blames for this incident.

    Posted by Solomon2 | February 13, 2008, 4:38 pm
  13. I don’t think it was a gift, Mughniyah is a big symbol for the resistance and it’s prestige, same for Iran and Syria. The message for me is clearer.
    We will get you, and there is no safe haven for your thugs, even if it will take years.
    We will egt you!!!

    Posted by Krach | February 13, 2008, 5:11 pm
  14. So, after every M14 figure gets assassinated, and people point the finger at Syria, a host of idiots show up on these blogs and attempt to convince us that “We don’t really know who did it.” and that it could very well be Israel. Right?

    So, to be fair, I’m expecting the same idiots to show up today and inform us that “We don’t know who killed Mughnieh” and how it could very well be Syria itself. Right?

    Either that, or those idiots are also hypocrites who just pretend to want to be “fair” but who never want to accuse Syria of anything, and want to blame everything on Israel.

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 13, 2008, 5:45 pm
  15. M4r:

    “who can be happy when he hear the news of killing people is a monster not a human”

    I am sure you weep tears of sorrow every time an Israeli or a M14 legislator is killed.

    Posted by Akiva M. | February 13, 2008, 5:53 pm
  16. If Syria wanted to get rid of him they would not use a car bomb. The Syrian regime doesn’t want the car bomb infection to look like it’s spreading from Iraq and Lebanon into Syria.

    This event should serve as a pause to Bashar that too much chaos in his neighboring countries might start to spread to Syria. But he wont get it.

    Posted by Ramzi | February 13, 2008, 6:02 pm
  17. Very good point Ramzy.
    i’m sure bashar felt the heat of the explosion yesterday, same for all the Syrians. The message is clear: You will not be safe from car bombings either!
    I think the bycicle stock market in syria is going to gain points. Time to invest!

    Posted by Krach | February 13, 2008, 6:29 pm
  18. First - we really only have Syria & Hezbo’s word that Imad Mughniya was killed. Maybe it’s going to be another on of his reincarnations.

    OTH - let’s say he is dead. I’ve no doubt he will be heavily implicated in the Tribunal which is scheduled to start soon, and although he has been a fugitive for many years - better safe than sorry and dead men tell no tales. I believe several have said that Captain Eid had evidence of Hezbollah involvement in the assassinations - and they almost have to be involved in some way. Am I the only one who has noticed these mysterious Hezbollah martyrs that keep cropping up with no explanation? They are cleaning house.

    Then we should also consider all the reports for months now about a shake-up in Hezbollah with Nasrallah being pushed aside. Imad Mughniya was very high in Hezbo, even higher than Nasrallah, and his ties are more to Iran than to Lebanon. This is rumored to be part of the problem - Nasrallah being too close to Syria. Mossad is good - are they good enough to “suddenly” get the man they have been chasing for so many years?

    It’s an inside job, and I think it’s doubtful that Hezbollah or Syria have suddenly developed “bad timing”. The funeral on Thursday is no accident - now Hezbollah has an excellent excuse to go to the streets, and it won’t be blamed as a Shiite thing - it will be a Martyr thing.

    Posted by Ace | February 13, 2008, 6:36 pm
  19. First - we really only have Syria & Hezbo’s word that Imad Mughniya was killed. Maybe it’s going to be another on of his reincarnations.

    OTH - let’s say he is dead. I’ve no doubt he will be heavily implicated in the Tribunal which is scheduled to start soon, and although he has been a fugitive for many years - better safe than sorry and dead men tell no tales. I believe several have said that Captain Eid had evidence of Hezbollah involvement in the assassinations - and they almost have to be involved in some way. Am I the only one who has noticed these mysterious Hezbollah martyrs that keep cropping up with no explanation? They are cleaning house.

    Then we should also consider all the reports for months now about a shake-up in Hezbollah with Nasrallah being pushed aside. Imad Mughniya was very high in Hezbo, even higher than Nasrallah, and his ties are more to Iran than to Lebanon. This is rumored to be part of the problem - Nasrallah being too close to Syria. Mossad is good - are they good enough to “suddenly” get the man they have been chasing for so many years?

    It’s an inside job, and I think it’s doubtful that Hezbollah or Syria have suddenly developed “bad timing”. The funeral on Thursday is no accident - now Hezbollah has an excellent excuse to go to the streets, and it won’t be blamed as a Shiite thing against Lebanese (keep in mind they can’t mobilize the orangettes anymore) - it will now be a Martyr thing which is a better excuse.

    Posted by Ace | February 13, 2008, 6:38 pm
  20. A good example of why I call these people “sheeple” and “imbeciles”:

    (from Naharnet’s story about Mughnieh)

    “He was a legend. We always heard of his victories against Israel although we never knew him personally,” said Ahmad, a 22-year-old man as he climbed an electricity pole to erect a black flag.

    In other words, you’re mourning a guy you never knew, just because you’ve been TOLD you should mourn him. And what exactly are these “great victories against Israel”? Car bombing fellow Lebanese during the civil war? Kidnapping Americans in Beirut then trading them for weapons to Iran? Car bombing 300 US marines?
    FUCKING IDIOTS!

    Goes to show exactly what the kind of mentality these sheeple have, and why the word “brainwashsed” is so easy to apply.

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 13, 2008, 7:50 pm
  21. And you want to build a country with these people. Sorry guys, it seems lebanon is going toward division.
    i don’t think it will be healthy to live under the same flag with these “undermunchen”!

    Posted by Krach | February 13, 2008, 8:53 pm
  22. Yalla enough with Mugniyah.
    Who is coming tomorrow to the commemoration?
    .

    Posted by Amir in Tel Aviv | February 13, 2008, 8:59 pm
  23. Lets see….Syria says:

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1202742148715&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

    “Syrian parliamentarian Mohammad Habash blamed Israel for Mughniyeh’s assassination.

    “Of all possible suspects, Israel would have the most to gain,” Habash told BBC Arabic.

    Habash went on to say that the killers knew that Thursday marks the anniversary of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination, expressing hope that commemorative events in Beirut would not spiral out of control in the wake of Mughniyeh’s death. ”

    Yes, I’m SURE Syria does not want stuff spiralling out of control….lol

    Anyone who can’t see who really did this needs to put their training wheels back on.

    Posted by Ken | February 13, 2008, 9:11 pm
  24. Are you suggesting Syria did this?

    Israeli government & media are extatic, But when asked their opinion. No it’s the Israeli secret service.
    K’mon, to be fair - Hariri was a Syrian Job, and Imad Mughniyah was an Israeli job. To be Fair!

    We all have conspiracies.

    Posted by theCourtFool | February 14, 2008, 12:16 pm
  25. Who actually profits from this? ISrael? No way! As you can see on this blog alone already, the finger pointing at israel has started already and the blame game turned on already. “So what that he killed many innocents, he got killed by Israel (as a fact) and that is why he is a martyr”-idea.
    Disgusting.

    It’s more plausible however that Hezbollah did this to themselves. It would not be the first time that people kill their own in order to reach their goals. A recent shooting incident at the Lebanese-Israeli border did not even lit a little fire between the two countries, a killing with Israel to blame, however, will be an easy way out to “retaliate”.

    Lebanon! Wake up! Israel is not the enemy!

    Posted by Suzanne | February 14, 2008, 2:04 pm
  26. I like how when a pro-Syrian type is killed, the logic is:

    “It’s obviously Israel who did it, because he was so anti-Israeli. Common sense.”

    But then when anti-Syrian politicans get killed in Lebanon, people want to still blame Israel, instead of using the same logic. I mean, if Israelis kill anti-Israelis, then it stands to reason that Syrians kill anti-Syrians, right?

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 14, 2008, 5:46 pm
  27. GRAIG :
    according to your “politeness” , listen :
    f$$$ you back
    your believes and thoughts are built on the hate and rage , while our believes are built on our right to live and to make a decision , you are slaves , you just follow your masters ” America , Europe and even Israel ” so i am telling you that if you love them that much why don’t you leave this land to their’s .
    and believe me again :
    if you stay as a “proxies” to your masters ,

    WE WILL F$$$ you all !

    note- we don’t like that but someday it will be very necessary to accomplish that job,
    and if that day come , all what you can do is watching !

    Posted by m4r | February 14, 2008, 5:54 pm
  28. we don’t hate any body for sure ; we don’t hate you and actually we can love you all !
    not only that , but we can like our enemies if they stop invading and occupying and killing us.
    why you hate us and want us to die that much ?
    why you are allies to our enemies against us .
    how can you be allies to the monsters who invade other countries , stealing their resources and killing their people!
    who has aircraft carriers (why they were invented in minor ), powerful rockets and bombs , huge armies ,assassins and jackals all over the world ,…….
    , who is developing lethal weapons and has nukes and who used them .
    who is burning regions in the flames of war ???!
    are we ?!

    some of you want us to die like Imad but we don’t want that for you !

    reminding you :
    please note that all of info you’ve got about Mughniyah was written by his enemies ,
    you are blaming him for many operations he may not be responsible for,
    honestly if he was , i will consider him a terrorist .
    what i knew and think is true that he was a free fighter who resisted his homeland invaders , can any one tell me how a man can resist a powerful and cruel enemy ??
    can you !?
    you will be surprised if i tell you that i don’t hate MARCH 14 people and even leaders ! , bad wishes are not in my dictionary of feelings or attitudes ,
    but they are obviously leading you against me and my people .
    politics and people fate are not children games .

    best wishes

    Posted by m4r | February 14, 2008, 7:03 pm
  29. Then stop seeing Israel as an enemy and start to cooperate on tourist industry and other economic fields of which both countries will only benefit!

    Posted by Suzanne | February 14, 2008, 8:36 pm
  30. Suzanne,

    Don’t bother trying to reason with these people. All they understand is their culture of death and martyrdom.

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 14, 2008, 9:54 pm
  31. to Suzanne :
    how can we stop considering Israel as an enemy , we didn’t occupied their lands , they did ! we didn’t kill their people , they did !
    i don’t have a problem with jews , but Israel yes , they are invading , killing , occupying all the time since Israel appeared
    do you think that we like the none ending war , then you are wrong , they want all thing or they will make a war to get all thing if they couldn’t in other ways .
    and honestly i will not give my house to a man telling me that i must or i will die , i prefer to die then .
    as an example : do you think that Israel will allow palestinians to come back to their homes in palestine , and if the obvious answer was “NO” ? then what they will do ? and do you accept them as lebanese people just like you in your country .
    can you forget your home and homeland if i forced you to give them to me and washed you away . !!

    Posted by m4r | February 14, 2008, 11:24 pm
  32. m4r,

    You are full of crap. Israel didn’t occupy our lands until 1978, after years of PLO infiltration that DID kill their people. So while technically, it wasn’t “us” (the Lebanese) killing their people, from their standpoint, we did kill their people (or at least, the killing was coming from our direction).

    I don’t want to defend Israel here. Israel has committed it’s share of brutality in Lebanon. But please stop being disingenious and acting as if “we” didn’t do anything. Israel hasn’t invaded Jordan or Egypt. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because they don’t get rockets lobbed at them from that direction.

    You want to claim you’re a humanist, and you have no hatred for your enemies? The FIRST thing to do is to put yourself in your enemy’s shoes and understand WHY they do what they do. As far as I can tell, every invasion (including the 2006 july war) were actually provoqued from the Lebanese side of the border (even if it wasn’t by actual Lebanese).

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 14, 2008, 11:39 pm
  33. Bad Vilbel :

    your speech is the real crap indeed ,and not only your speech but also you are too .

    first of all : i didn’t speake to you ,
    it was clear that i was talking to suzanne!
    at this point i expect a question like ” what are you doing in this site ?” i will answer quickly : i am withdrawing cause i did not know that only one say is expected which is ” welcome Israel , welcome America can you ride us after the syrians left , cause we can’t really stay without a rider ”
    i hope you get more wiser to see the truth !
    bye i am leaving , congratulations!

    Posted by m4r | February 15, 2008, 12:30 am
  34. Uhm ok.

    I just spoke of actual facts. So you’re gonna leave and pout. Great. Next time, try debating like a grown up, with actual facts.

    No one said “Welcome Israel”.

    I certainly didn’t say that. I love how people like you use that strawman argument to fight back when someone puts facts in front of you. You scream bloody murder, and talk about being unwelcome. No one asked you to leave. No one said “only one side of the story is accepted here”. So don’t go claiming that’s what happened.

    You made claims in your original post, about loving your enemy. And then you proceeded to inform us that you fight back because you’re invaded. Fair enough.
    All i said is, if you really love your enemy, you have to put yourself in their shoes and see WHY they invaded us, and maybe, just maybe, admit that since the Cairo agreement in the late 60s, Lebanon has been used by the Arab world as a battlefield for the Palestinian cause, and maybe, just maybe, that is why we keep getting bombed and invaded.

    Can you deny that fact?

    Posted by Bad Vilbel | February 15, 2008, 2:27 am
  35. interesting conversation. So Israel is not terrorist huh. I guess displacing 10 million palastinians, occupying their land and opressing them for 60 years does not count as terrorism. I find this very humerous. What did you do to make those poor palistinians want to blow up?

    Posted by whatever | February 16, 2008, 3:43 am
  36. @whatever,

    10 million Palestinians? Where did you get this figure from? What “state” are you talking about as well? The Arab part of the British Mandate which was rejected by the Arabs?

    Were you satisfied with the situation for these “Palestinians” (Golda Meir was also Palestinian,… btw) when Jordan and Egypt controlled Westbank and Gaza?

    Posted by Suzanne | February 16, 2008, 4:57 pm
  37. Did there exist an Israel in 1910 or 1920? The UN and world powers allowed them to do that after Hitler did what he did. Only problem is Palestinians did not have anything to do with Hitler and what he did.

    Why don’t we give the jews a big piece of land in the US? how about in Europe somwehere? Why is that the palestinians have to give up everything to fix what Hitler did? Why do they have to pay the price alone?

    Posted by whatever | February 17, 2008, 12:47 am
  38. Did not the Jewish state cease to exist in the year 70 or so when the romans detroyed Jerusalem and took them captive to Europe? So almost 2000 years later they have the right to come and take the land back and do upon the palestinians what Hitler did upon them. What a shame.

    Posted by whatever | February 17, 2008, 12:55 am
  39. Suzanne –> “”Were you satisfied with the situation for these “Palestinians” (Golda Meir was also Palestinian,… btw) when Jordan and Egypt controlled Westbank and Gaza?
    “”

    Not sure, I was not born yet. But they should have had some dignity back then. I cannot say that now after the civilized and rich terrorist Israel took control.

    Posted by whatever | February 17, 2008, 1:50 am
  40. accept even

    :)

    Posted by Suzanne | February 23, 2008, 12:32 am
  41. There was no Palestine and Jews were living in Israel pre-1948 as well. Give it a rest and accept Jews to live as neighbours!

    Gee.

    Posted by Suzanne | February 23, 2008, 12:32 am
  42. forget my post nr. 40. That was a mistake!

    Posted by Suzanne | February 23, 2008, 12:33 am

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Hello, my name is Mustapha and I blog in The Beirut Spring about Lebanese society and politics. I started in February 2005 after the killing of P.M. Rafik Hariri.

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