Wow. I noticed yesterday scattered reports of an explosion in Damascus - this is generally an unusual occurence in this heavily-secured city. So I get to my news this morning and see that Hizbullah is announcing that Imad Mughniyeh, the military commander of Hizbullah and the alleged mastermind of the US embassy and marine barrack bombings in Lebanon in the 1980s is dead.
This is actually very huge news. I've been watching for the last several years to see what might happen to this guy.
Someone penetrated a lot - and I mean a lot - of security circles to get to this guy.
A coup for the U.S. and Israel. Trouble - I think - for Lebanon. A worry for Syria.
An article from 2002 provides a lot of details about Mugniyeh - and how he was almost captured by a force of thousands of marines and more. Fascinating.
Bob Baer of CIA fame and an author writes this account:
“He is the most dangerous terrorist we’ve ever faced. He’s a pathological murderer,” says longtime CIA agent Bob Baer, who has chased Mugniyah for years. “Mugniyah is probably the most intelligent, most capable operative we’ve ever run across, including the KGB or anybody else. He enters by one door, exits by another, changes his cars daily, never makes appointments on a telephone, never is predictable. He only uses people that are related to him that he can trust. He doesn’t just recruit people. He is the master terrorist, the grail that we have been after since 1983.”