Busted

Why it matters that the perpetrators of recent terrorist activities are caught.

They did this

Beirut is rejoicing. The police caught a terrorist network that confessed to committing the double-bus explosions on February 13 and to planning the assassination of 36 prominent Lebanese personalities. So why are the Lebanese so happy?

This event is significant for three reasons:

1- It will add substance to charges of Syrian meddling. All the captured carry Syrian passports and are lead by a Syrian national. This puts an end to the claims of pro-Syrian Lebanese groups that the anti-Syrians always level empty accusations against Syria, and that the perpetrators could as well be American or Israeli.

2- It will be an enormous psychological boost to wary Lebanese. Imagine living in a country where Ministers were killed regularly with impunity. The Lebanese had lost trust of the government's security agencies, while watching with envy how other countries usually catch high-profile criminals, like say Hrant Dink's killer in Turkey, in a matter of days.

3- It will deprive the opposition of an argument that sought to create moral equivalence between the pro-Syrians and the anti-Syrians. Namely that the government is not protecting its citizens and not doing its job properly, an accusation used by the likes of Michel Aoun to discredit Seniora's government (and the Minister of Interior)

The March 14 people just got a great gift on the eve of their anniversary.