Here’s a story forwarded by Defense Tech contributor Aharon Etengoff, our mideast expert.
From the Sunday Times (of London)
NOTHING seemed very remarkable about the short, bearded man who mingled with other guests on Tuesday evening at a reception in Damascus, the Syrian capital, to mark the 29th anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeinis Iranian revolution.
Yet before the night was over he was dead in the twisted wreckage of his car and the inevitable assumption was that Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service, had killed him with an ingeniously planted bomb.
The news spread rapidly that the dead man was Imad Mughniyeh, an elusive figure known as the Fox who had been one of the worlds most feared terrorist masterminds.
Robert Baer, a former CIA agent who spent years on his trail, said Mughniyeh was probably the most intelligent, most capable operative weve ever run across.
As the Israelis rejoiced, Iran and Hezbollah, the militant Shiite group, which together had harnessed Mugniyehs expertise, mourned his death at a huge funeral in Beirut, where he established his terrorist network.
Mughniyehs mother, Um Imad, sat amid a sea of black chadors, a lonely, sombre figure as mourners held their heros picture aloft.
If only I had more boys to carry on in his footsteps, she sighed, confessing that she did not have any pictures of him, even from his childhood, as he had taken them away. He was the third of her sons to die in a car bombing.
With a price of $25m (12.7m) on his head, he was always vigilant. Some say he had had plastic surgery to alter his face in an effort to elude the Americans and Israelis who blamed him for plane hijackings and other bloody attacks which killed hundreds of their citizens in the Middle East and as far away as South America.
He had grown accustomed to living dangerously and there was no reason he should have feared for his safety last Tuesday as he sipped fruit juice at the party at the Iranian cultural centre. Mughniyeh was on fairly good terms with everybody present almost all the leaders of the Damascus-based militant groups were represented.
At 10.35pm he decided to go home. Having exchanged customary kisses with his host, Hojatoleslam Ahmad Musavi, the newly appointed Iranian ambassador, Mughniyeh stepped into the night.
Minutes later he was seated in his silver Mitsubishi Pajero in a nearby street when a deafening blast ripped the car apart and killed him instantly.
According to Israeli intelligence sources, someone had replaced the headrest of the drivers seat with another containing a small high-explosive charge. Israel welcomed his death but the prime ministers office denied responsibility. Hezbollah accused the Zionist Israelis of killing its brother commander but believed the explosive had been detonated in another car by satellite.
Read the rest of the Times story HERE…
– Christian
I’m sure it was not hard to tell a bomb was planted in a head rest. Maybe his head was blown off and the head rest was missing… connect the two ideas… yeaa..
I’m confused. one of the witnesses said, “I held his head in my arms as he died.” Would he of had a head left if the bomb was in the head rest?
it was misquoted.
the correct translation should read:
’i had his head all over my arms after the attack.’
It certainly looks like a terrorist act. But what happens if it’s traced to a government? Do we just say “that’s ok then”?
well that surely is some wonderful imagery, rejoicing. They say that war ain’t pretty.
But covert operations can be just as downright gut-churningly disgusting as they are effective.
How many time do we have to say it. We didn’t do it!
DoubleTapper
doubletapper@gmail.com
http://doubletapper.blogspot.com
It’s pretty standard for the terrorists to claim the corpse was in perfect shape. “He was killed by the blast but his face was perfect.” Propaganda is as important as reality. Who knows who killed him. If it is the headrest, I would say the Israeli’s. Anyone else would just have used half a ton of high explosives and not worried about collateral damage.
Muslims Against Sharia congratulate the organization responsible for elimination of terrorist Imad Mugniyeh on a job well done!
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2008/02/targeted-killing-of-imad-mugniyeh.html
just made the connection: this makes the reprinting of the danish mohammed cartoons much more entertaining.
and maybe someone can whip up a pic of this putz with a bomb for a head(d)res(s)(t)?
Not that I have any problem with another enemy
of our country getting tattooooed.….…
But gee.… With their history, you’d think they might check their cars (or something like that) a little better ???
( I recommend the Audi A8, but what do i know
DW
“Anyone else would just have used half a ton of high explosives and not worried about collateral damage.“
Early reports said that a passerby was killed in the explosion. So evidently, not discriminating enough.
After all of this everyone of you seam to have forgotten who started this and we need to finish what was started and send our troops home they did not worry about our people so why are we worried about thiers?