Mughnieh killing exposes Hizbullah

One is tempted to view the killing of Imad Mughnieh as a case of the "wicked witch is dead". Indeed, many who believed that he was behind the attacks on the US embassy and the US marines in the 1980s, have cause to celebrate his being blown up to pieces. Western media linked  Mughnieh to most attacks and kidnappings targeting Americans in the 1980s. Time Magazine even linked him to the kidnappings of Israeli soldiers in July 2006, which sparked a reprisal by Israel that even took the Hizbullah leadership by surprise.   

The reactions to the assassination, which took place near a Syrian intelligence office in the heart of Damascus, indicate that the man's assassination was a big blow not just to Hizbullah, but Iranian intelligence.

Hizbullah, which spent years trying to publicly disassociate itself from the man, is now mourning him as a resistance leader, vowing revenge and what have you. To now claim that he was an active member of the group is to finally admit to being an international terrorist organization that never really "changed" after the end of the Lebanese civil war, as many had convinced themselves. Mughnieh was practically an Iranian intelligence operative, and was linked to attacks in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. His assassination left Hizbullah exposed. The group that could no longer argue for the holiness of their weapons, could no longer claim their theater of operations is restricted to Lebanon.

Although Hizbullah officially blamed Israel, one interesting theory today was delivered by the leader of the anti-Hizbullah group, the Free Shia Movement.

President of the Free Shia Movement (FSM) Sheik Mohammed Hajj Hassan condemned the assassination of Hezbollah security leader Imad Mugniyah, saying that “Syrian intelligence carried out the operation as an attempt to assassinate Lebanon and incite civil unrest.”

Hajj Hassan also suspected the assassination was the first sign of a Syrian-Israeli deal and said that the FSM must reconsider their relations with the Syrian regime...  Hajj Hassan added that the concurrence of the assassination and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki’s visit to Damascus, and the site of the crime, are “strange.”

“Did Mugniyah control operations in Lebanon from a Syrian intelligence site? And are the assassinations and explosions in Lebanon linked to a cooperation between Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence?” Hajj Hassan asked.  Mugniyah’s assassination, he added, may be a Syrian attempt to evade the Special Tribunal.  (Now Lebanon)

The above sounds far fetched. Why would Syria kill an Iranian operative on its own soil? The New York Times argued that it could have been a case of "Intelligence agencies exchanging favors". I for one, find this hard to believe. The symbolism and weight of what happened, and where it happened, should not be missed. What is interesting about Hajj Hassan's statement is the link to the Hariri assassination. In this case, I see why someone might want to argue that Syria and Iran got rid of the agent who orchestrated the killing. But it's not like Mughnieh was acting independently. Let us not dismiss the possibility that he was killed by someone whose accomplishments will never be known to the public.

Even March 14 and PM Siniora condemned the killing. The March 14 condemnation reeked of insincerity. Not too long ago, Jumblatt accused Hizbullah of assisting Syrian intelligence in the assassination of the ISF counter-terrorism chief, Wissam Eid. It is ironic that Mughnieh, who would have been well placed and trained to have killed Eid, died a similar death. And in Damascus of all places.

The March 14 statement said Mughnieh's assassination should be an occasion for unity, especially that it took place on the eve of a planned demonstration to commemorate the killing of Rafik Hariri. Unity of what, I wonder. The two men had nothing in common, and worked towards opposite goals. Mughnieh could have killed Hariri for all we know. I would like to think that today, Hizbullah and March 14 became united in vulnerability. It could be wishful thinking, but why not.

Comments

[Homo Libanus]

I find it shocking and disgusting that Seniora and March 14 condemned the killing.

How long do they intend to keep up this nonsense? They are becoming as idiotic as Aoun.

[Vox P.]

I am inclined to think that it was a warning to Syria: you can get our friends, but we can get yours. Anyway, nobody in his right mind will mourn the fuck.

[Ken]

The key to it is not who is HAPPY it happened but who GAINS from it. A version of follow the money, if you will.

[Bad Vilbel]

I have already expressed my sentiment about idiot Saniora/Hariri and co expressing their "condemnation" of this killing. Why condemn the death of a terrorist? Hell, why even acknowledge it. You don't have to "rejoice" or offer baklava (like some in Dahieh did when M14 figures got assassinated), but just ignore it. There is absolutely no reason to express any kind of condemnation for the death of wanted terrorist. It makes you look stupid and ignorant (not that Saniora needed any help in that department).

All so they can continue to play the "evil zionist enemy" card and talk about "Resistance". Give that up already. Just because Hizballah lives by those slogans doesn't mean you have to out-catholic the pope every time, to make yourself look good (not that it works). Stick to YOUR principles (Lebanese state, law and order, sovereignty, independence) and let the idiots trumpet their Resistance and their martyrs till kingdom come.

[Ace]

I don't think M14 had any choice. They have to "condemn" assassination but they also firmly linked this guy to Hezbollah and said as little as possible. The rest of the statement is all about the Feb 14 rally, using Hezbo's favorite word - Unity. At this very moment - the important thing is to try and keep HA from going berserk.

One of the best parts about this whole thing is that some of the orangettes are waking up a bit. Lot's of questions about "what do you mean this guy is part of Hezbo?!?! You always told us you had changed, and he was NOT part of your operations or leadership. Exposed indeed.

Pretty funny to watch.

[danny]

Muggs was offed as he knew too much. Also, every operative has its life span. I think it was mutual operation by Iran/syria to clear out some dead wood. He was just an assasin. I would not read more than that into it...

Seniora/Hariri are assholes. Why acknowledge anything???

Good riddence and enjoy many happy virgins in hell....

[Ex-Aounist]

I still believe it is a sham , he is not dead, they are all playing us
I had a Long post exposing my opinion about it..this fuck might turn out to be more dangerous DEAD than alive....mark my words.

[Bad Vilbel]

Ace,

Why acknowledge anything at all? Who cares if some random guy got blown up in Syria? Why should we condemn it? You don't have to applaud it, just move on.

Are the orange crew really waking up? I don't follow their blogs, and i haven't seen any "What do you mean he's with Hizb" posts anywhere yet. Is there actual evidence that the orange sheeple are waking up? Or are they gobbling Tayyar.org's "Martyr" lines?

[Bad Vilbel]

Ace,

Why acknowledge anything at all? Who cares if some random guy got blown up in Syria? Why should we condemn it? You don't have to applaud it, just move on.

Are the orange crew really waking up? I don't follow their blogs, and i haven't seen any "What do you mean he's with Hizb" posts anywhere yet. Is there actual evidence that the orange sheeple are waking up? Or are they gobbling Tayyar.org's "Martyr" lines?

[danny]

BV,

Orangebutts are on agent orange...On contrary my friend, they were mourning the passing of the "shaheed" M...As for comments we've been exposed to oranges galore acting as a beautiful appologetics for this mass murderer on this and other blogs/posts!!

The drugged masses are gobbling up all the opium...

[Bad Vilbel]

That was my question, danny. Ace above seemed to indicate that the orangies were "waking up". Frankly, I don't see it. Those guys (or what's left of them) are so brainwashed, they are now singing the praises of a shia "shaheed" who was pretty heavily involves in the slaughter of their christian relatives back in the 70s and 80s....One has to wonder what kind of kool-aid they serve over there..Must be some potent stuff.

[danny]

I could be wrong as I do not have any proof...I think a big %age of the stoned masses of orangeland must be on a stipend a la HA. ClAoun has been visting Qatar and returning with bags of $$$$$$....There's no other plausible explanation. They almost denounced their religion by constantly attacking their religious authority...

Ace, again...show me numbers my friend!!!

[danny]

BV and AK,

I had emailed Tayyar.org regarding their depiction of the martyr...Funny thing has happened; all posts regarding the martyr have disappeared...am i dreaming?? please let me know!! Did they realize their fuck up???

[Bad Vilbel]

I said commented on Tony's blog, I believe it was a grave mistake (politically speaking) for Aoun to jump on the martyr-Mughnieh bandwagon. He should've given it a bit more thought. His supporters have been leaving in droves already, and only the hardcore remain. And of those, you have to figure a good chunk remember the 75-90 civil war days, and what guys like Mughnieh meant to Christians (which Aoun claims to represent). It's one thing to think you're allied with Hizb against a corrupt government (what the brainwashed orange masses believe) and it's another entirely to have a guy like Mughnieh shoved down your throat as a "martyr".

I am guessing enough people raised a fuss over at Tayyar, or maybe some one in the Aoun camp realized the faux pas and quickly buried this whole line of thinking by pulling the stories/comments.

This has got to be one of Aoun's stupidest political mistakes so far. Goes to show what a bunch of rank amateurs they have on that team. You'd NEVER catch Hizballah making such a grave mistake.

[Ace]

The fact that Tayyar pulled some of this stuff supports what I was saying. There are 3 groups of FPMers that post. The "core" are those who have been with Aoun for years - the real activists. Many are mostly silent now or even gone. Not all, but many. They love Aoun and the "ideals" of FPM, but they are seeing the change and they don't like it. The second group are the kids who know nothing of war and think it's some video game. Very vocal, but say little of value. The most vocal group are Hezbollah - and they are beginning to scare some of the others. HA wants war and FPMers don't. They don't like the violence, they don't want war, and they don't like supporting a guy that the whole world knows was a top terrorist. Nothing fast here - but lots of cracks beginning to show.

[Andre]

The killing of Mughniyeh favors Israel and the US, but I wonder if he knew too much or had become a huge burden to his masters as a result of high profile assasinations given the upcoming IT. If he was indeed guilty of carrying out the Hariri murder then how ironic that he would be killed on the eve of that anniversary and even more ironic (or moronic) the fact that M14 is also eulagizing him. Things never cease to amaze me in Lebanon. Go figure.

[Ex-Aounist]

How can we consider hizzies or mughnieh lebanese if:
1-muqtada decrees 3 days of mourning
2-nijad promises revenge and 1 million moghnias
3-the terrorist himself was killed in syria and
4-had an iranian passport.
5-Muttaki iran's FM was the first to speak at his funeral... and still hassin threatens israel and says u "took the battle away from the NATURAL battlegrounds" meaning lebanon...

so now lebanon is a NATURAL battleground?!
Does he mean thats Lebanon's destiny????
SO all lebanese should either die for hassin or leave because when they refuse to die they become zionist and american traitors.
Where did mughnieh die remind pls ... shebaa? oops nope.... damascus!

BTW How come hassin did not THANK SYRIA this time ?????

[Ex-Aounist]

Mughannieh was a mastermind behind Hariri's assassination, now that the IT is about to start investigating...Some heads are bound to fall a la Ghazi Ken3an in order to cut ties for implicating bigger heads...
REMEMBER what Jumblat Said after Hariri's assassination about the "Mouraba3at Amnieh, Stolen cars and PREPARING THEM for assassination"????

Yalla, the show began........

[Super Dude]

Ex-Aounist,

Me thinks you still have some orange stuff left over in your system from days past, please try to take it easy with the theories :)

[Ex-Aounist]

About the Memorandum of Understanding claoun pretends it had set a climate of trust and peace!!!

-Aoun signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah on February 6, 2006
-Hezballah proves it after Basmat Watan riot, attacking peaceful neighborhoods in Mono Achrafieh June 1st, 2006
-Amal and Hezballah riots attacking peaceful neighborhoods in Ain El Remaneh and setting cars on fire and threw a handgrenade 27, January 2008

The only thing the MoU did was to give Hezballah a free hand in terrorizing the Lebanese population, and a christian cover for a shiite opposition.

When Aoun says that the Memorandum of Understanding protected Lebanon, from whom, Hezballah? Was Hezballah threatening the other Lebanese before the Memorandum ? How many times did the Amal and Hezballah convoys make their way to Sassine square Achrafieh in 2005 and to try and provoke the people there? Did the Memorandum restrain Hezballah's sheeple ? The Mono and Ain El Remaneh happened after the MoU.

When Naim Qasem threatened to break the head of anyone trying to break the MoU, who was he threatening ? The only two parties that can break the Memorandum are the two parties that signed it.So this THREAT was addressed to whom exactly ?? Did you notice that the FPM rushed to defend the Memorandum after Qasem's threat?

Why did Aoun and his MPs spend the last two weeks defending the MoU instead of defending the Lebanese Army and the people of Ain El Remaneh, I tried to post this in Tayyar, FAILED, and besides no one in tayyar cares to answer...

And now the mourning of mughniyeh...GIVE ME A BREAK!

Assafir feb 8 2008:

ان ترشيح العماد ميشال عون لقيادة الجيش عام 1985 كان بمبادرة من الرئيس نبيه بري وكذلك ترشيحه للرئاسة عام ,1987 وان القناعة لدى الرئيس حافظ الاسد كانت تتجه للحسم، لولا تدخل وليد جنبلاط وعبد الحليم خدام من جهة والاميركيين والبطريرك صفير من الجهة الاخرى لدفع الامور في اتجاه آخر

so now we all know that aoun has always been a syrian agent, and thats according to his ally Nasser Kandil the ally of hassin baath pssp and Co.

In the meantime, I just hope that hassoun won't make Israel blow up Lebanon to smithereens by igniting July war Part II
Cause EVERYTHING IS "HALAL" for the fucks of hizb to defend Syria, their arms, Iran and stop the IT, or why are they so deadly about obstructing litterally everything ??? mughniyeh was involved to his ears ( Jameel essayed cooperation ???? )

[Solomon2]

"so now lebanon is a NATURAL battleground?!"

Long-time readers on this blog may recall that I've stated several times that it is the Syro-Iranian-Hezbo plan to fight the ultimate battles with Israel on Lebanese soil. The sooner Hezbo is de-fanged the less likely that will be.

Oh, you plan to let Hezbo keep its weapons, you say? Then you may wake up one morning to discover Lebanon a radioactive wasteland. For those who think they can profit from the devil for now yet escape later, remember that the first things hit in the 2006 war were the bridges and airport, and that the Israeli attack on Syria last summer shows that Syrian soil won't be immune next time. And who is to say that Israel, facing eventual attack from Lebanese-based weaponry, won't strike first?

For the moment, Lebanese can take comfort from Nasrally's declaration that vengeance ops won't be occurring on or from Lebanese soil. And the fact that a terror master has departed, one whose individual skill at weaving evil was matched by few if any others.

[Bad Vilbel]

That "Lebanon is a natural battleground" comment is VERY telling. To all those who still believe for a second that Hizballah's agenda is some kind of peace, some kind of patriotism and defense of Shia rights, and all the other claptrap.

This single comment reminds us all (as if we needed reminding) that Hizballah's SOLE purpose in life is fighting Israel until Israel is no more. Only when that point is understood does the rest make sense: The need to hold on to their weapons is an EXISTENTIAL matter, not a political matter, not a Lebanese matter, and nothing to do with protecting the Shia.

Hizballah is not here to work for Lebanon (even their own vision thereof) as a state. Hizballah is here to fight a battle (one that has no end) and it views Lebanon as the battleground. Nothing more. All this other crap (veto power, elections, blah blah blah) has to be viewed within this context. Pure and simple.

[Ex-Aounist]

Super Dude,

Me thinks lad, better THINK of…..(in my ex-aounist case) "theories" rather than NOT think AT ALL...

killing this SPECIFIC man in syria at this time...is no coincidence....not bcz he’s important and his past infamous, it is more what/how the consequences his assassination would affect Lebanon , the shock wave is bound to hit Lebanon … neither Syria nor Iran.

P.S. If you feel that you have the right to sarcasm, for someone’s past political stances be my guest. It is not going to make me MORE of an ex- Aounist neither you less of an...( fill in the blank with a theory if you can come up with one ) !

[Super Dude]

Ex-Aounist,

You can think as much as you like, but your comments are becoming too long, I humbly suggest you blog them as posts instead.

As for the sarcasm, I am the most sarcastic SOB you'll meet, and I can see you're a good sport, so no offense meant and (as you have kindly shown) none taken.

Thank you.

[Ex-Aounist]

Dude,
Just skip my posts dear, and stop whining !
for the rest .... takes one to know one !

[Andre]

Nasrallah's threats are just a way to deflect the truth about this assasination. The usual suspect is always the zionist enemy no matter what logic says, first and foremost. Israel would not have denied such act if it was responsible, to the contrary it would have boasted as is the case when Hamas leaders are executed. This is a decision hatched b/w the Syrians and Iranians to take out soemeone who just knew too mauch about many things that they did not want known. This is the beginning of a purge perhaps to cover any tracks that may lead to culprits within the syrian regime as the all too important and inevitable IT gets ready to be convened. I think that in their zeal for cover up and attempts to hide the truth they are bound to make a mistake that will eventually doom them. They are feeling the heat right now!

[Super Dude]

I have no valentine so I have to do something...

I'll try your suggestion though.

[Ex-Aounist]

Andre,
You are right about israeli baosting if they were the real killers of mughnieh.

And talking about this purging, it reminds me of rumours spread last year about hassan Nassrallah being replaced by Naim Qassem ( hardcore Iranian ) as head of the military branch in hizb by the ayatollah ??
dunno if anyone remembers the article in the Kuwaiti newspaper forgot the name...Al Siyassah maybe...

Rumours has it that Mughniyeh was kept in total ignorance as to the whereabouts of Nasrrallah ...among other things...also in hizb itself there were rivalries ( Qassem Pro iranian, against Nassrallah pro-syrian ) besides Iran has other things than saving syrian's ass from IT ( they do not want a sunni shii strife ) losing all their 25 years investments in hizb !
If this guy is really dead, it is clear who's the prime suspect ...and it is not Israel.

[Vox P.]

Israel's carefully crafted statement didn't deny, or recognize, any involvement in Mughniyah's assassination. In my opinion, Nasrallah was a little bit too quick to accuse Israel, considering that the US and France have been trying to get even with Mughniyeh for decades. However, threatening the US would be a dangerous thing to do for Nasrallah, so I guess he had to settle from a less dangerous foe.

As for the conspiracy theory, I believe it's crap. As AK wrote, the fact that the bombing happened in Syria publicly exposes Damascus' links to international terrorism, which is the last thing Syria needs right now. And considering the ranks of the people who attended the funerals, I can't imagine that Mughniyah was an 'expandable' asset.

[danny]

Vox P.

Everyone is expandable....

[Solomon2]

If this guy is really dead, it is clear who's the prime suspect ...and it is not Israel.

My second thought is that the Israelis wouldn't fail to take credit for this. My third thought is that the current Israeli gov't is a little different - they've kept absolutely quiet about just what that building was they destroyed in Syria. My fourth thought is that creating dissent within Syria/Iran/Hezb might be the purpose behind Israel keeping quiet.

But I'm sticking with my first thought: If it happens in Damascus, Syrian security forces did it, reinforced by the casual sentence in one report that the authorities removed all evidence of the car bombing in a short period of time - exactly the same mutilation of forensic evidence that has been encountered after car bombings in Lebanon.

So it's much more likely that the Syrians or Iranians, acting in an area where they felt they had absolute control, did it themselves. Really, they were far too quick to blame Israel, they didn't even go through the motions of an investigation.

[Vox P.]

I doubt that Nasrallah, Fadlallah, Iraq's Sard, and Qassem went berserk for an expandable asset. Or they should start thinking about an acting carreer.

[Vox P.]

What's the next step? The Syrians will get rid of Nasrallah who's rumored to have been sidelined by Qassem? And why stop there? They could assassinate Khamenei and put the blame on Israel as well.

Get real people.

This was a clear act of counter-terrorism. I don't know who did it, but it's certainly not Syria or Iran.

[danny]

Vox P.

Was ghazi kanaan's two bullet suicide a counter terrorism act?? I do not understand why you do cannot see a simple take out as a possibility. As they said there a 10,000 muggs coming up! Who the hell cares about a car bomber??

He was getting too old!!

Ciao

[Solomon2]

"Get real people."

Maybe I'm having too much fun with this! I don't think either the Syrian or the Iranian regimes ordered Muggie to be rubbed out. That doesn't eliminate Muggie competition from within the security services, however: remember, they compete against one another, with an As'ad ruling on top. Someone may have felt threatened by M and decided to dispose of him. We know what happens whenever an Arab regime gets embarassed: they blame Israel, then the West.

[Andre]

Come to think of it...does it really matter who murdered him? In the end it does not really help Lebanon get rid of the vicious circle everyone finds themselves in. I find comfort in the fact that there were many outstanding citizens that braved weather and other hazards to come together and once more make their voice heard in martyrs square for unity and independence as the weirdos on the other side were in fact eulagizing a known thug and terrorist on Iran's payroll who was always up to no good! I hope that M14 gets off its lethargic rear end and use this massive demo to exercise 50+1...enough already! The true people of Lebanon have spoken yesterday in Martyrs Square. Let the mullahs and their cohorts shed their crocodile tears..they have already appointed another thug to replace the one that was disposed of. Everyone is expandable when it comes to these dubious characters, there will always be another jihadist to step in. What a wonderful world they all live in.

[Ex-Aounist]

The Syrian killed him to protect Nassrallah
Iran wanted to move Nassrallah and give more power to Mughniyeh as all the reports said last month.

But, apparently Syria has more faith in Nassrallah than M or Qassem.

Besides Many never heard about Mugnhiyeh, in fact many didn't know who he was especially among the aounies and that's part fo the problem.

apparently they can't be bothered doing some research about who is hizbollah? how does it function? what are its objective?...

we know that hezbollah has a majless el shoura where the decisions are taken and have an amin el 3am...hassan is NOT the amin el 3am, in fact the amin 3am is only allowed to 2 mandates of 3 yrs each, so at best hassan is not amin 3am for last 10 yrs...the party though decided to keep him as public face as he was very popular...Well informed sources say that lately the amin 3am was Imad Mughniyeh !!!!

Also this man is known the be the hizb member the closest to Khamenei the faqih...thus he is the most POWERFUL in the hizb ( hence the wing pro nasrallah and by extension pro -syrian kept his whereabouts decisions etc secret from Mughniyeh ....)
Mughnieh was the most important lebanese decision maker in "mou3arada watania".

Besides where is it EASIER for israelis to kill him in Syria or in Lebanon ????

Nasrallah was a sinking ship in Lebanon after 2006, Iranian mullahs aren't that satisfy after paying billions opf dollars and letting their people starve, Assad wants Nasrallah in control not the pro-Iranian wing like Mughniyeh and Qassem...besides it is killing 2 birds by one stone, a service to Israel and US or a down-payment and on teh other keeping His LOYAL ALLY in PLACE....and GIVING HIM an ALIBI for another WAR to hinder IT, and to save his sorry ass from the mess he is now in , ALL of this of course ASSUMING Mughniyeh is REALLY DEAD!

[Ace]

I think it's that "assuming he is dead" thing that's interesting. Syria says so, HA says so, Iran says so - and I guess it's a sure thing none of them would lie. He was their Mastermind & great strategist - also one of the world's most hunted men. Makes you wonder.

I saw this a couple of days ago in a long thread about the assassination. Post that said -
"the picture being shown on TV and on websites of the heavily bearded man isn't Imad Moughaniyeh! That man is called Fawez Younis and he was an official in Amal and he was in prison for 20 years in the USA after being lured into a trap near Cyprus by the FBI but now he is back in Beirut". A picture of Fawez Younis was included. When I look at the old picture of Younis, the old picture of Moughaniyeh and the NEW picture of the "dead" Mougnaziyeh .... I gotta tell you. It looks like Younis - a lot like Younis.

[Vox P.]

All those bearded f**** look the same to me, fat & ugly.

[Ex-Aounist]

Ace,
Have you heard of "Taqiah Siyassiyah"??? ( practiced especiallyby Hizb and Iran )
It is Hiding the truth, if at best it is not simply lying...
Do you really want me to believe what Syria and Iran claim?? Hizb is bound to say what he is ORDERED to say by their faqih...

[Ace]

I've heard of it ... and I don't want anyone to believe anything in particular. I'm just tossing info and "possibilities".

Bottom line - the jury is out as far as I'm concerned.

[Abilama]

For your information gentlemen:

Muhammad-Najar Iran's defense minister's association with Imad Moughniyeh and their associated bloody hisstory in Lebanon and elsewhjhe in th M.E.

The defense minister of Iran Muhammad-Najar is notorious for his role in the earliest terror attacks on US targets in the Middle East. The first was the October 23, 1983, suicide bombing of US Marines headquarters in Beirut which killed 241 Marines. The second was the Khobar Towers blast in eastern Saudi Arabia on June 25, 1996. This was a joint Iranian intelligence-al Qaeda operation targeting the facility housing American fighter pilots and air force crews guarding the Dharan oil fields. The death toll of that atrocity was officially put at 19 with 200 injured, but was certainly much higher.

In 1982, after the Iran-Iraq war, Muhammad-Najar was placed at the head of the Revolutionary Guards Middle East department which controls Iranian intelligence bodies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf emirates, and runs clandestine projects for the “export of the Islamic revolution” to these countries. He quickly proved himself an able organizer and operations chief. He forthwith planted 1,500 Revolutionary Guardsmen in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley. Their transit through Syria was approved by the Damascus government. This Iranian outpost established the first recruiting center for the new Lebanese Shiite terrorist organization calling itself Hizballah.

Right from the start, Muhammad-Najar worked closely with a rising star in the Islamic terrorist firmament, Imad Mughniyeh, who debuted with spectacular abductions of foreigners, mostly American and British and French hostages. The two became firm friends in this period. In February 1988, the pair organized the kidnapping of Colonel William R (Rich Higgins, the most senior American intelligence officer in Lebanon. He was tortured to death by Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen and Hizballah operatives on an unknown date. Later in the 1980s, when Lebanon became too hot for him, Mughniyeh fled the country ahead of American pursuit. His Iranian friend and future Iranian defense minister arranged for Iranian intelligence to protect him and smuggle him to safety in Tehran. Muhammad-Najar also has a history of deadly strikes against Israel. More than one account ascribes him a role in the suicide bombings of Israeli army command posts in the southern Lebanese towns of Tyre and Sidon in 1983.

After his 1985 appointment as head of Iran’s Military Industries Organization under the aegis of the Revolutionary Guards, he kept up his connections with the Iranian terrorist machine including the Hizballah. One of his jobs was to develop weapons adapted to terrorist warfare outside Iran. He took a personal interest in developing the 230mm Iranian super mortar that was supplied to the Revolutionary Guards’ al Quds battalion and the Hizballah for use in the Middle East and also in Europe.

The defense minister is also credited with organizing the 12,000 Katyusha short-range rockets Hizballah has positioned on the Lebanese-Israeli border as a deterrent against Israeli attacks on Iran and itself.
In October 2000, a month after the outbreak of the Palestinian suicide terror war against Israel, Muhammad-Najar took a hand in the Hizballah’s kidnap of three Israeli soldiers, Adi Avitan, Benny Abraham and Omar Suweid. At the end of 2001, he helped prepare the 50-ton illegal weapons cargo for loading at Kish Island aboard the Karine-A smuggling ship. Vessel and cargo were seized by Israeli commandos on the Red Sea before they reached Arafat’s terrorist squads in the Gaza Strip.

In nearly five years of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iranian defense minister stayed in close touch with the Hizballah’s 1800 Unit, which interacts with the Palestinian terrorist organizations and whose agents are actively present in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and among dissident Israeli Arabs.

Ahmadinejad picked him as defense minister in appreciation of his expertise as an intelligence and terror mastermind with long experience of violent covert operations against American and Israeli targets in such places as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and his work in conjunction with Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist organizations. Muhammad-Najar’s presence in a key position in the Iranian government is bad news above all for the United States and Israel. They see him as an omen of the imminent stepping up of Iranian involvement in Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist campaigns across the Middle East.

[aboujahl]

wishful thinking indeed. what is really ironic in all this that we can now safely and categorically blame some "conspiracy" on the syrians and the iranians after decades of having brought up on blaming it always on israel and the americans; as for the march 14 condemnation of the "elimination", it is too stupid an act to even comment on; some of the hypocrite or naive or both leaders of march 14 have not yet learned that silence on issues such as this one says much more than presumed nationalistic urge that promts them to comment stupidly on every trivial "national concern" matter....