What happens now...?

So the UN report is out with fingers pointed at both the Syrian government and some key people in Lebanon...so no surprise there. This gives the US govt. another reason to go after Syria and already the US is pushing the UN (by the way, if you haven't already read this book, you should, it's quite a reality check on how the US govt. demands things of the UN and then when things go wrong, blames the UN) to start considering sanctions. That Syria was involved in the murder of Rafik Hariri was, I don't think ever questioned...it was just a question of confirming the suspicions. This article from the Daily Star makes no real mention of the Lebanese involvement in Hariri's murder.

Whatever happens now the political fallout will be huge...and could further destabilise the region.


Still in the Middle East Al-Jazeera has a whole page on conspiracy theories...during my time in Jordan I was amazed at the rumours and conspiracy theories that abound in that part of the world, fueled mainly by the guys that sit around in the coffee houses smoking their argeelah!


Rudolf Ottenfeld, Backgammon 1890

.....One of the more elaborate conspiracy theories I heard whilst in Jordan was as follows:

The US was invading Iraq in order to free up Iraq in order to move 'Jordan' into Iraq, therefore "uniting" the Hashemites, put the Palestinians into Jordan and let Israel have the rest of the West Bank, Gaza strip etc...

Interesting school of thought...but quite a few of the people who told me about this - from my Lebanese hair dresser to my Jordanian landlord were adamant that this is what was behind the US' intended invasion of Iraq...it all boils down to the perceived 'bad boy' of the Middle East....Israel.