Beirut back in the spotlight

All fingers point to Damascus. Well, at least, my fingers do.

Of course you've all heard about the car bomb in Beirut by now. Isn't it interesting how it happened to target a former Prime Minister of Lebanon? Why not the one who is in power now? Rafik Hariri was a rich man to be sure, but more important was his image as a "as a breath of fresh air in a country dominated by former militia leaders." He openly defied Syrian occupation before resigning in 1998, which in the same way is like defying those terrorist groups like Hezbollah that Syria helps to operate out of southern Lebanon with Iran.

So far the U.S. has taken a leading role in coordinating a response to the attacks. White House press secretary Scott McClellan dropped a couple big hints in terms of who the U.S. is pointing fingers at.

"It's premature to know who was responsible for this attack, but we continue to be concerned about the foreign occupation in Lebanon," McClellan said. "We've expressed those concerns. Syria has maintained a military presence there for some time now, and that is a concern of ours."

"Mr. Hariri was a fervent supporter of Lebanese independence and worked tirelessly to rebuild a free, independent and prosperous Lebanon following its brutal civil war and despite its continued foreign occupation," McClellan said. "His murder is an attempt to stifle these efforts to build an independent sovereign Lebanon free of foreign domination."

Just look at how many times McClellan uses the term "foreign occupation" or "foreign domination" in those two excerpts. Not to mention Syria is explicitly mentioned as a "concern," even though just a sentence prior to that he makes the point that it is still premature to know who was responsible. Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?