Wampum

This one from AFP, taken from yesterday's Daily Star of Lebanon, where the lead story is the bombing of a convoy, targeting Wissam Eid, a communications and computer engineer who lead the technical office at the Internal Security Force's Intelligence Bureau. Eid worked on the technical aspects of all cases involving bombings in Lebanon -- the (former Prime Minister Rafik) Hariri investigation, investigations involving the Fatah al-Islam armed organization that fought the Lebanese Army in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared, and (via Al-Safir via T_DESCO via Landis), "the investigation of the al-Qa'ida-linked "cell of 13" headed by Hassan Nabaa/Khaled Taha and to which Ahmed Abu Adass was connected, possibly linking the Hariri case to the Fatah al-Islam/al-Qa'ida/Dinniyeh group investigations."

Compare the treatment of the prior bombing, where the apparent target was a US diplomatic asset with Hugh Macleod's piece below, which he describes as "I wrote an analysis for San Fran Chron on the attack on the US embassy vehicle and how there appears to be a new strand of political violence emerging in Lebanon, that seems more the work of Al-Qaeda style fundies than hit squads taking out anti-Syrian figures . . "

Here's the Daily Star of Lebanon's "news" copy:

...
Ten days ago a US embassy vehicle was targeted in a car bomb attack. No one in the US car was killed in that attack but three other people who were driving in the area died.

That bombing was the first such attack against US interests in Lebanon since the mid-1980s and came during a visit to the Middle East by US President George W. Bush.

Lebanon is grappling with its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The country has been without a president since pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud stepped down on November 23 with no elected successor because of a standoff between the Western-backed government and the opposition.

Here's the SF Chronicle's "analysis" copy:

The attack on a U.S. embassy vehicle that killed four people last week represents a dangerous widening of political violence that includes international targets, and shows how al Qaeda-inspired extremists are attempting to push the politically deadlocked country toward civil war, some analysts say.

"Al Qaeda is now unleashed in Lebanon and they are here to stay," said Ahmad Moussali, professor of political science and Islamic studies at the American University of Beirut. "Al Qaeda thrives in civil war and chaos. International players should be very careful in Lebanon."

...

A stand-off munition on a transport axis regularly used by a target really isn't a lot to go on to infer organizational ability, and origin, but in Nancy Pelosi's district, the narrator jumped straight to the desired outcome, and only several paragraphs later mentioned Lebanon's politics, and no where the fact that Bush was in the region when a US asset was targeted.

Like the hanging chad of the Winograd report on Olmert's 33 Day War, due any day now, Serge Brammertz, the UN chief investigator, is due to submit a report to the UN security council updating his findings into the death of al-Hariri in 9 days.

No group has acknowledged carrying out the attack. My guess however is that Hugh MacLeod's "analysis" that the "new strand of political violence emerging in Lebanon, that seems more the work of Al-Qaeda style fundies than hit squads taking out anti-Syrian figures . . " will not be supported by the respective investigations.

I'll make it simple. There was a fire last night at a casino in Las Vegas. It may not have been the work of Al-Qaeda-in-Gamble-stan, but the Homeland Insecurity clowns could spin it that way too by the end of the day.