The fix is in...maybe

So the tribunal to investigate the 2005 assassination of Lebanese President Rafik Hariri has finally gotten under way in the Netherlands. And golly gee wilikers, this should be interesting political theater.

Why you ask?

Well for one thing, it couldn't come at a worse time. Syria is slowly emerging from it's international isolation and starting to dialogue with the US. Unfortunately, the evidence seems to point to the involvement of Bashar al-Assad and his brother. This is not good. Why? Becasue we need them to keep a lid on Hezbollah and keep things calm in Lebanon and make nice noises toward Israel. So trying to arrest the President of Syria might be a tad awkward.

The Atlantic had a great piece in last December's issue by Joshua Hammer that reads like fiction, but it's not. I highly recomend you read it.

Here are a couple of highlights:

Since the summer of 2005, the Monteverde has been at the center of one of the world’s most sensitive criminal investigations. Inside, a team of about 200 people from nearly two dozen nations—forensics experts, DNA specialists, telecommunications analysts—has been sifting through evidence relating to the assassination of Hariri, one of the Middle East’s best-known and most influential politicians.

Though only preliminary, the report found “probable cause to believe that the decision to assassinate [Hariri] could not have been taken without the approval of top-ranked Syrian security officials.” The highest-ranking officials implicated were Asef Shawkhat (Assad’s brother-in-law and the head of Syria’s military intelligence department) and Maher al-Assad (Assad’s younger brother and the head of the presidential guard). Assad has continued to deny any Syrian role in Hariri’s killing.

That's not good.

...last March, King Abdullah II of Jordan was reported to be pushing for a deal with Assad—“the most astounding plea bargain of all time,” U.S. Senator Arlen Specter called it—that would grant the Syrian president immunity from prosecution in exchange for a pledge to rein in Hezbollah and Hamas.

Wheelin' and dealin' at the highest levels. Like I said, this is going to be an interesting show. There is a lot at stake. Will justice be served? Or will there be a wink and a nudge? Stay tuned.