Lebanese minister assassinated in attack on convoy

Reuters ^

[gondramB]

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated near Beirut on Tuesday, security sources said.

They said gunmen opened fire as his convoy drove through the Christian Sin el-Fil neighborhood. Gemayel was rushed to hospital where he later died of his wounds.

Lebanon is in the throes of a political storm pitting the anti-Syrian ruling majority against the pro-Damascus opposition. The political tension threatens to spill into street confrontations.

[oiler]

(Breathless) Has speaker elect Pelosi issued a statement yet. How 'bout Harry Reid. Does this mean we can cut and run and appease sooner!!!! /s.

[NYer]

Gemayel's car was squeezed front and rear by two cars during broad daylight, another one stopped by and opened fire on Gemayel who was driving his car.

Lebanese police inspect cars from Lebanon's Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's convoy, near Beirut, November 21, 2006. Gemayel, an outspoken critic of Syria, was assassinated near Beirut on Tuesday, security sources said. REUTERS/Georges Maroun (LEBANON)

[norton]

This is the reassertion of Syrian domination of Lebanon.
The civil war has been going on for decades, it was reduced to politics and power-sharing for awhile, however:

"Kicking he Syrians out" didn't stop their influence,
NO Lebanese government has bothered to slow down Hezbola - or to rationalize their frontier with Israel,
Hezbola has convinced half or more of the Lebanese that they are their only protection and necessary for return of the 'farms' Israel still holds - farms which I think are snuggled up to the Golan Heights (formerly Syrian).

They have also recently convinced themselves and the muslim world that they beat Israel in war and, presumably, now deserve the perks - control of Lebanon.

As to the UN spectators, they are there solely to suppress Israel and are quite occupied turning their radar on and off when IDF reccy birds fly through.
They will simply announce that they have no mandate for internal issues and pull out because it is suddenly dangerous.
That, or they'll increase the sea blockade in order to hold Israel inside its borders while Syria retakes control.
In any event, they will turn a blind eye on islamist crimes and the UN will rave and posture at Israel for existing in the same neighborhood.

My favorite report so far was hearing that hezbola and its allies withdraw from the government - then announced it to be non representative and therefore illegal. Now that they've made that leap, resuming the assassinations would be their logical means of making their point.

[S.O.L.]

This bad news may be good news if it derails Baker's attempt to turn Iraq over to the Syrians and Iranians in exchange for a graceful exit

[Sender]

I am getting the picture that Gemayel was the driver of his own car, and someone emptied a handgun into the driver's window from very close range. Rifle rounds would have gone on through the passenger door. Don't know if anyone else was in the car.

[ExSoldier]

The Gemayel's car was squeezed front and rear by two cars during broad daylight, another one stopped by and opened fire on Gemayel who was driving his car.

See more details begin to emerge as the story unfolds. I'm in my classroom and can't have the TV on because I'm giving a test to my students. So I'm reacting to the comments posted here without my own direct knowledge of the event.

If this guy was a freakin' Government minister what was he doing driving his own vehicle? Where was his security detail? Why wasn't his vehicle armored to start with? It's like he had a fatal disease and simply lacked the guts to kill himself (extra credit if you can identify which movie that line was from).

[livius]

Maybe he thought he would be a little less visible this way, and maybe he had reason not to trust his bodyguards or government "protection" that he might have been given. I'd say somebody sure betrayed him, though, regardless of his precautions.

[Biggirl]

Not suprising since Iran has been making mischief in that part of the MidEast.

[bnelson44]

It is a Sunni vs Shia civil war.

[SevenofNine]

OH OH I wonder if Lebanon going fall back in cival war

[agere_contra]

I guess his car was indeed armoured, and the window was bullet-proof (which IMO is why it's still there in the photo).

A close enough group of bullets at close range will carve a way through armoured glass. Armoured glass buys you time, but not immunity.

[evad]

Lebanese minister assassinated in attack on convoy

Wasn't he headed for some type of peace conference?

[Zack Nguyen]

As this individual was a part of the leading Christian anti-Syrian party, it doesn't take a genius to assume that Syria had something to do with this.

I wonder if this is the beginning of a Lebanese coup.

[ExSoldier]

Look at the cluster of holes in that window. A single ragged hole would suggest near contact range. But then there is a slew of holes tapering off to the left as you look at the car. What does that say? What caliber does this look like (taking the spalling effect into consideration)? Does the cluster of holes suggest that the fire was aimed or was this a shoot from the hip scenario? If the fire was not aimed then the shooter was confident that there was no way to miss since the range was close and enough ammo could be expended to verify the result visually on the spot? He also knew he was in no danger from any sort of a security detail, so he could concentrate on the task.

[milwguy]

Good points, but the UN will not be able to rationalize this as some problem created by Israel. The 'peacekeepers' will soon find themselves in an all out civil war. Another country will be under the rule of the Islamists, and the world will turn a blind eye, as the planning for the next Holocaust continues unabated. Once Nasrallah and his Syrian and Iranian masters have gained total control over Lebanon, they will turn their sights south.

[TheConservator]

Nuke Damascus. Then Mecca, and Syria. Get it over with.

[Ancesthntr]

"Kicking he Syrians out" didn't stop their influence,

The only way to stop Syria's influence in Lebanon is to make the Syrian government fight for it own life and power in Syria - i.e. war.

War is coming in a big way to the Mideast soon, and we and Israel had better dictate the times and places of conflict or we will both lose.

[sappy]

The religion of pieces, strikes again.

[gondramB]

>>As this individual was a part of the leading Christian anti-Syrian party, it doesn't take a genius to assume that Syria had something to do with this.

I wonder if this is the beginning of a Lebanese coup.<<

Apparently it was the Syrians killing his father that led to the street protests that drove Syrian control back... we can only hope they feel the same way this time.

[ExSoldier]

A close enough group of bullets at close range will carve a way through armoured glass. Armoured glass buys you time, but not immunity.

True enough but most vehicle armor offers some extended protection from handgun rounds in common useage. There is no indication that this was a handcannon like a 460 S&W Magnum or even the venerable 44 magnum. But I saw this episode of Mythbusters.

Also, my own gun club has practiced on dismounted vehicle doors to determine penetration of common carry loads from members firearms. We were able to shoot both unarmored and level III armored glass supplied by a local manufacturer free of charge.

The normal automotive safety glass did hold together under multiple shot impacts. However it was penetrated instantly, even by frangible ammo (Glaser Silver, MagSafe & RBCD). The level III armor was totally resistant to 9mm, 40 and 45 for a magazine of each, fired at close range but into a fresh area for each mag and caliber. It finally failed when the spall cracks began to touch each other. That was after quite a few rounds down range.