human drones…

Posted on Saturday 20 February 2010


Modern Day Ludlum Thriller in Dubai
by Taylor Marsh
18 February 2010

A tale of stolen identities, intrigue, long awaited revenge, and deep covert planning. The legendary Mossad at the center of an international thriller conjuring up the world that Jason Borne inhabits. Having read everything Ludlum ever wrote, then re-read them, I’ve been following this since the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was reported. Al-Mabhouh was the founder of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedeen al Qassam Brigades. The details that have been uncovered so far and so quickly are truly stunning. Identities of real people used to create false entry with fake passports, with a base to communicate that is linked to Austria. Targeting a senior Hamas leader who arrived in Dubai alone, presenting the perfect opportunity for his enemies.

 

The assassins, suspected to be Mossad agents, found a moment when the top Hamas leader was traveling alone, without bodyguards, to allegedly arrange a shipment of weapons, according to the UK Times.
    As an international manhunt began for the 11 suspects yesterday, one particular anomaly in the case remained. Folliard is the only woman named so far, but footage of the final surveillance shows a second woman arriving at the hotel accompanied by a man in a Panama hat and a beard. It is not known whether this woman is one of two Palestinians arrested in Dubai last week in connection with the murder.
Britain’s foreign secretary David Miliband, via the BBC, is “outraged” and pledged to “get to the bottom” of how British identities were utilized via fake passports to carry off the assassination. Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor and Sir Peter Ricketts, the head of the UK’s diplomatic service have met, but Miliband wasn’t talking about what was said. But the notion that the Israeli Ambassador would know squat about a Mossad operation is laughable. If Mossad did orchestrate the assassination in Dubai, which is the assessment so far.
    “Our investigations reveal that Mossad is involved in the murder of al Mabhouh. It is 99 per cent, if not 100 per cent that Mossad is standing behind the murder,” said Gen Tamim.
We’re about to see how well Israel can cover, deflect, but also bridge across this wily international plot, as outrage and stunned allies realize that Israel is a nation that will do whatever it deems necessary to avenge and make clear that they may be a small nation, but they will not allow violence towards them to go unpunished. Let’s hope someone is already busy writing the screenplay. We need to stay well away from this one. All eyes on Israel.

It’s 27+ minutes long, but worth watching – this extensively documented assassination. The players don’t look like the Hollywood actors we’re used to seeing in the Thrillers on Cable, but it’s otherwise similar in all respects [I guess the perpetrators didn’t care about the CCTv cameras everywhere]. Life imitating Art? Art imitating life? More of the insanity of the Middle East that seems determined to draw us into the Middle Ages?

While it’s a legitimate question whether the human animal is regressing, it seems to me more likely that the information communication age is exposing the darker underbelly of life for general consumption. To recall a 50’s song, “And my secret love’s no secret, anymore.”

Although Israel is widely suspected as being the offending party, there’s this:

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hamas claimed Friday that two ex-officers from the rival Fatah organization were involved in the assassination of a Hamas operative in Dubai, and Fatah shot back by insinuating Hamas members were the ones who collaborated with the killers.

The slaying of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a luxury Dubai hotel room last month has widely been blamed on Israel’s Mossad spy agency but it also has sparked bitter recriminations among the rival Palestinian factions, which have long competed for influence in the Palestinian territories. Dubai said police had two Palestinians in custody for alleged involvement in the murder of Mr. Mabhouh, whose body was found on Jan. 20.
  1.  
    February 21, 2010 | 11:25 AM
     

    […] his own secret war. In case you missed it, the whole assassination is on tape for easy viewing [human drones…]. As I mentioned before, it’s just like in the movies except the agents aren’t […]

  2.  
    February 23, 2010 | 10:19 AM
     

    […] Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from the American Iraq misadventure. Dick Cheney came to the Vice Presidency with a fixed mind-set about Iraq – presumably building from his stint as Secretary of Defense during the First Gulf War. In the face of overwhelming evidence that he was wrong on a number of counts, he pressed us forward based with his unsustainable bias. There will come a time when Israel’s fate will depend on making a change from rigid Zionism to a position requiring something other than paranoia. It is unlikely that that can happen with Meir Dagan as a key figure in the Israeli government – and the head of Mossad is a very key figure there. No question that Mossad pulled off the operation with their expected competence, but at what cost? The unexpected competence of the Dubai police was equally impressive [human drones…]… […]

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