The Washington Post has a large article today detailing the killing of Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s international operations chief, in 2008. According to the Post, Mughniyah was killed in a joint CIA-Mossad operation in Syria. Mughniyah had the blood of hundreds of Americans on his hands; he was involved in or ran the attacks as diverse as the bombing of the barracks of American marines in Beirut as peacekeepers in 1983 to attacks on US embassies a decade and a half later. Mughniyah had also run attacks on Israelis and Jewish targets around the world (such as in Buenos Aires). There is no surprise that both the USA and Israel wanted him dead.
The key question about the article, however, is not how the killing took place or why it happened. No, the key question is why is this article about a seven year old event being published now. For seven years, the USA and Israel have not acknowledged responsibility for killing this terrorist murderer. Now, suddenly, the story of the death of Mughniyah is splashed across the pages of the Washington Post, one of the two favorite places for leaks from the White House (the other being the New York Times). Was this leaked to the media by the Obama White House? Was it leaked to the media by Mossad in a way that would make it look like a leak from the White House? We don't know for sure.
We can be pretty certain that this story was intentionally leaked, however. There was no reason for the news organizations to suddenly revisit a 2008 event absent an intentional leak that provided the story to the Post. The detail had been kept secret for years.
I also think we can rule out an Israeli leak. At the moment, things are very tense on the border that separates Hezbollah from Israel. In the last few days, Israeli soldiers were killed by an attack by Hezbollah and before that Hezbollah and Iranian officers were killed in an Israeli strike. The area is very close to war, and no Israeli leader would want to stir that up further. Indeed, if Israel wanted to go to war with Hezbollah, it would be much more likely to try to mount a surprise attack, something that would call for keeping tensions down, not stoking them with tales of stories like this one.
That leaves the likely source as the White House. But why would it make sense to leak this story now? What purpose does it serve? It does put pressure on Israel. For the first time, Israel is identified for certain as part of the group that got rid of Mughniyah. But it also puts the USA in the middle of the story. After all, the CIA ran the operation that killed Mughniyah. It may be that some genius in the White House thought that since the attack took place when George Bush was still in office, Hezbollah would not hold it against the USA. That sounds like Obama Administration type thinking, but it is a fantasy. After an admission like the details in the Washington Post story, there will be some sort of retaliation by Hezbollah against American targets.
But why would Obama want to pressure the Israelis anyway? Obama is angry that Israel is pushing for a deal with Iran that would actually prevent the Iranians from getting nukes. Israel is not just going along with the latest effort by Obama to reach an agreement at all costs even if that agreement ultimately provides the basis for an Iranian nuke. Obama is more interested in saying he got an agreement than in making sure that the agreement is a good thing for the world. This news story could be just another way for Washington to tell Israel that it better get in line and shut up.
All of this may sound a bit farfetched, and it is only analysis, not fact. Still, it seems pretty clear that the leak is another crazy tactic used by Obama and his people.
The key question about the article, however, is not how the killing took place or why it happened. No, the key question is why is this article about a seven year old event being published now. For seven years, the USA and Israel have not acknowledged responsibility for killing this terrorist murderer. Now, suddenly, the story of the death of Mughniyah is splashed across the pages of the Washington Post, one of the two favorite places for leaks from the White House (the other being the New York Times). Was this leaked to the media by the Obama White House? Was it leaked to the media by Mossad in a way that would make it look like a leak from the White House? We don't know for sure.
We can be pretty certain that this story was intentionally leaked, however. There was no reason for the news organizations to suddenly revisit a 2008 event absent an intentional leak that provided the story to the Post. The detail had been kept secret for years.
I also think we can rule out an Israeli leak. At the moment, things are very tense on the border that separates Hezbollah from Israel. In the last few days, Israeli soldiers were killed by an attack by Hezbollah and before that Hezbollah and Iranian officers were killed in an Israeli strike. The area is very close to war, and no Israeli leader would want to stir that up further. Indeed, if Israel wanted to go to war with Hezbollah, it would be much more likely to try to mount a surprise attack, something that would call for keeping tensions down, not stoking them with tales of stories like this one.
That leaves the likely source as the White House. But why would it make sense to leak this story now? What purpose does it serve? It does put pressure on Israel. For the first time, Israel is identified for certain as part of the group that got rid of Mughniyah. But it also puts the USA in the middle of the story. After all, the CIA ran the operation that killed Mughniyah. It may be that some genius in the White House thought that since the attack took place when George Bush was still in office, Hezbollah would not hold it against the USA. That sounds like Obama Administration type thinking, but it is a fantasy. After an admission like the details in the Washington Post story, there will be some sort of retaliation by Hezbollah against American targets.
But why would Obama want to pressure the Israelis anyway? Obama is angry that Israel is pushing for a deal with Iran that would actually prevent the Iranians from getting nukes. Israel is not just going along with the latest effort by Obama to reach an agreement at all costs even if that agreement ultimately provides the basis for an Iranian nuke. Obama is more interested in saying he got an agreement than in making sure that the agreement is a good thing for the world. This news story could be just another way for Washington to tell Israel that it better get in line and shut up.
All of this may sound a bit farfetched, and it is only analysis, not fact. Still, it seems pretty clear that the leak is another crazy tactic used by Obama and his people.
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