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Mehlis Report on Hariri Assassination Points to Syria
While the conspiracy theorist have maintained that the US was going to attack Iran after it marched into Baghdad, the pretext was never there. A nuclear program that is permitted under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (generating electricity with uranium is OK) was not going to be sufficient after the Bush administration misled the world with its weapons of mass destruction claims against Iraq. However, a pretty good pretext for attacking Syria has arisen with the UN report that fingers Syrian leaders as the murderers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Now, the fun begins.
Back in February, Rafik Hariri was killed by a suicide bomber, along with 22 others in a sudden burst of highly coordinated terrorism. Mr. Hariri had been Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again between 2000 and 2004. He had come to rabidly oppose the never-ending Syrian occupation of Lebanon. Meanwhile, Syria had made sure that President Lahoud of Lebanon got to stay in office after his term expired – he liked the Syrian troops who were all over his nation until they were shamed out after Mr. Hariri’s death.
The Mehlis report, named after Detlev Mehlis, the German investigator who led in its compilation, concluded,
It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge.
It is also the Commission’s view that the context of the assassination of Mr. Hariri was one of extreme political polarization and tension. Accusations and counter accusations targeting mainly Mr. Hariri over the period preceding his assassination corroborate the Commission’s conclusion that the likely motive of the assassination was political. However, since the crime was not the work of individuals but rather of a sophisticated group, it very much seems that fraud, corruption, and money-laundering could also have been motives for individuals to participate in the operation.
Now, Messrs. Bush and Blair want the UN Security Council to act. “These are very serious charges, and they have to be debated at the level of foreign minister,” Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told the BBC. Which means that the troops aren’t going in right away. However, it will be very difficult for the Syrians to oppose any demands for further investigations, and the precedent for an attack should the Syrians refuse to hand over suspects was set when Osama bin Laden was protected by the then-Afghan government.
One bright spot in this very serious situation is the reaction of Saad Hariri, the son of the murder victim. He has said, “We call on the international community to uphold its support for the international commission into the assassination of Mr. Hariri... and bring the perpetrators to justice in an international court.” There is everyone’s escape from this mess. And all it takes is for the powers that be to do the right thing – punish those who have taken a life. But don’t bet on it happening. The BBC reports, “The names deleted from paragraph 96 include that of President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher, and of Asef Shawkat, the head of Syrian military intelligence, who is married to President Assad's sister.” They won’t be tried without a fight.
© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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