Lebanon witnessed this week the brutal assassination of its minister of industry and trade. This terrorist act overshadowed all other events and topics in the Lebanese blogosphere. Nevertheless, the posts were as varied and different as the political inclinations of the Lebanese themselves. Here is a sample of what they had to say: Blogging Beirut and Liliane posted some pictures from the scene of the crime and from the demonstration and funeral that followed. Lazarus comments: It is telling when a group of warlords point fingers and claim righteousness when a young man is brutally killed. what is more disturbing however is the Machiavellian “intellectuals” who expect that riding the tailcoats of warlords to a sovereign and independent Lebanon is the way to go. They see a goal (which most us do share) and sincerely believe their path is the “smart one”, yet I wonder if they realize that they have been walking on a treadmill for the past two years. Abu Kais saw that: The battle for Lebanon right now centers on the tribunal that will bring the killers of Hariri and others to justice. The court’s local and foreign opponents are stopping at nothing to block its formation, including assassinating members of the cabinet that will approve the plan. While MarxistFromLebanon mentions an SMS message he received calling for him to participate in the demonstration: I got this sms on my mobile phone and it seems it is circulating through out Lebanon: “Imagine Wi'am Wahab, Assem Kanso, Nasser Kandil, Sleiman Franjieh, Talal Arslan, Mohamad Fnesh as your new ministers, Salim Hos as your prime minister and Michel Aoun as your President! Participate Tomorrow and they will stay home!” Another point of view from Dr Victorino de la Vega President Bush, Prime Minister Olmert and their Saudi Islamist friends were quick to blame this horrendous crime on Syria and Iran, even though there isn’t a single shred of evidence against these two countries. Maybe we could ask Dick Cheney and Mike Ledeen to fabricate a few colorful proofs with the help of the Israeli embassy in Niger- think nuclear “yellow cake”… hmm yummy! ;) In fact, Pierre Gemayel was a leader of The Phalange (“Al Kataeb” in Arabic), an overtly Fascist Christian group modeled after Franco’s Hispanic version of the Nazi Party called El Movimiento Falangista: not really the standard textbook definition of a “democrat”… even by the Middle-East’s notoriously low standards! The Rambler compares “news” from neighboring countries with “news” in Lebanon: No News: So, the official civilian death toll in Iraq for October was 3079. Never mind focusing the camera on the living (hell). Numbers are easier to digest. Disturbing, but a fine substitute for Sudoku when you’re stuck for ideas. No News: The murder of Gaza continues. Israeli business as usual with “targeted assassinations” reliably embellished with a few dead Palestinian kids & mums. Human Rights Watch instructs the caged Palestinians on how better to comply with international humanitarian law by improving their sitting duck skills. And those who can do something (the US), do nothing. The Israeli peaceniks soldier on with a hollow peace message that takes “as its moral yardstick the primacy of Israel's survival as a Jewish state”. News!: A “targeted assassination” in Lebanon threatens to shake up not only the zoo, but also the region & even the world! We're just so photogenic, so valuable… Pierre Tristam/Candide’s Notebooks writes the following as part of a lengthy analysis It’s virtually irrelevant who murdered Pierre Gemayel. The question is: who does this benefit, and what next? Pathetically appropriate questions to ask on this, Lebanon’s Independence Day. By a process of elimination—it has always been all about elimination in Lebanon—you can rule out those whom the murder doesn’t benefit: the anti-Syrian and anti-Hezbollah bloc is on its last leg. It can’t afford a cough, let alone an assassination. … … Pull up a chair. The situation room is about to get noisy. And make Israel and the United States look like two gentle manatees compared with Hezbollah going Medieval on Lebanon’s ass. Jean questions the investigations: Police said today, they had little to report about the assassination. One must admit, it is rather dazzling, this declaration. A man, in his car, in a moderatly crowded christian neighborhood, in broad daylight, gets bumped in the back by another car, of which 3 gunmen come out, and shower the man's car with bullets, killing him and his bodyguard..