Closing the Circle

In the past week, two major Islamic terrorists were killed, Islamic Jihad's Ayman Fayed and Hizbullah's Imad Mughniyeh (Mugh the Thug), and another, Mansoor Dadullah, was taken into custody by the Pakistanis.

These stories are related. They're forcing the terrorist groups to take actions that they would not have otherwise done, they're getting sloppy, and they're starting to go after their own.

Syria denies that they'll be a joint investigation into Mugh the Thugs death. Iran's Foreign Minister had said that there would be a joint investigation. Why would Iran want to meddle in Syrian affairs unless it wants to come out of the closet and openly tout its ties to the jihadi group. They probably want to determine how Mugh's security got bypassed and their main man got whacked. It's in their best interest to find out what happened because their other prized proxy assets might find themselves similarly eliminated. Tehran has to be wondering just how this all happened right under the noses of their friends the Syrians.

The Syrians have rounded up a number of Palestinians in connection with Mughniyeh's death, but this report suggests that Iran and Hizbullah are both participating in the investigation:

The Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar, affiliated with the Hizbullah organization, reported Friday that the investigation conducted by Syrian security services into the assassination of the arch-terrorist was in advanced stages.

According to the report, investigators on behalf of Hizbullah and Iran were taking part in the Syrian investigation.

The Lebanese source also reported that Hizbullah had appointed a successor to its senior commander hours after the announcement of Mugniyah's death in a car bomb in Damascus. He did not identify the successor who would now command Hizbullah's formidable and well-armed guerrilla army.

"A successor to Imad Mugniyah has been appointed, which is natural," said the source, who requested anonymity. "That's how Hizbullah works, they move quickly to choose successors of fallen leaders."

The Syrians have to be walking a fine line - they were playing host to Mugh the Thug, and he died right under their noses. That's going to make for a whole lot of uncomfortable terror masters in Damascus and Tehran along with finger pointing over who failed whom.

Meanwhile, Hamas has to get a little paranoid themselves, wondering if Fatah is busy prepping for an attack against Haniyeh. The terrorists are eating their own, and then some.

Of course, there's also the elimination of Ayman Fayed, a major Islamic Jihad thug in a cloud of dust and debris at his home. Funny how concrete homes can be turned to so much rubble when they're filled to the brim with explosives that mysteriously go boom. The media will be sure to find a way to pin this on Israel and blame Israel for all the others injured. The terrorists have responded with firing kassams at Israel. Islamic Jihad claims that it was an Israeli airstrike, while Hamas says the circumstances aren't entirely clear. Captain Ed notes that a whole bunch of rocket parts were found among the ruins, suggesting that Fayed's house was an ammo dump. Go figure.

All this comes on the heels of the capture of Mansoor Dadullah last week by the Pakistanis.

It's been a real bad time for the jihadis, and there isn't any good news on the horizon, unless Congress decides to not authorize the FISA amendments and allows the law to expire, putting the US at risk.