Who Killed Mr. Lebanon?

Confusion abounds over who is responsible for the bomb that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon. The mob is blaming Syria, upset at the constant presence of Syrian troops in their country (y'see, occupations are never popular - the Syrian presence was hailed as a good thing by the US and others when it began, a sign Syria was joining the international community of peascekeepers). The US has been careful to blame Syria without actually blaming Syria:

The United States has recalled its ambassador to Syria amid rising tensions over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri of Lebanon.

Before departing, U.S. Ambassador Margaret Scobey delivered a stern note, called a demarche in diplomatic parlance, to the Syrian government, said an official who discussed the situation only on grounds of anonymity. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, announcing the move, said it reflected the Bush administration's "profound outrage" over Hariri's assassination. Boucher did not accuse Syria of being involved in the bombing Monday in Beirut. "I have been careful to say we do not know who committed the murder at this time," he said. But he said the deadly attack illustrated that Syria's strong military and political presence in Lebanon was a problem and had not provided security in the neighboring country. "It reminds us even more starkly that the Syrian presence in Lebanon is not good," Boucher said. "It has not brought anything to the Lebanese people."

An Islamic group has claimed responsibility in retaliation for Hariri's strong ties to the Saudi government.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government has issued a statement disavowing responsibility and describing the assasination as an "odious crime... aimed at striking Lebanese national unity and civil peace". The Islamic media and one of Hariri's advisors are saying, perhaps predictably, that the killing was done by Mossad agents to destabilise the region, and the jihaadist groups' claim is a further part of the misdirection.

Only two things are certain. Firstly, that Robert Fisk is correct when he writes that:

Lebanon is built on institutions that enshrine sectarianism as a creed, in which the president must always be a Christian Maronite, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim - like Hariri - and the speaker of parliament a Shia Muslim. Anyone setting out to murder Hariri would know how this could re-open all the fissures of the civil war from 1975 to 1990.

The second is that the hawks at PNAC and in the White House will use this tragedy and any destabilisation that follows as an excuse to further their own agenda - imposing their will on the Middle East - no matter who is responsible. Let's face facts, the White House does not want a stable Middle East unless it is on their own terms. All their actions to date have proven this, and their statements over Hariri's assasination have continued the theme.