Will anyone ever solve the Dubai whodunit? (UPDATED)
The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mahbouh in Dubai on January 19 is beginning to move off our computer screens. According to the latest AP report, European countries are pulling back from the investigation:
Michael Boyle, a lecturer in strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, said European countries were “unlikely or unwilling to make it a serious political issue with Israel. It’s going to raise up embarrassing questions and complicate their relationship with Israel,” he said.Boyle said the focus on forged passports made sense, however. “I think there’s a concern on the part of European governments that if this process of Israeli operatives using European passports were to continue, that would put European citizens at risk.”
Not to mention that almost all intelligence agencies use phony passports. Everyone knows that. Still, some countries are pursuing this issue – the UK, via a new Ynet report, and Australia (I wonder what John Howard would think). Caroline Glick seems to have this dance about right:
It reportedly took the intervention of the highest echelons of Europe’s intelligence agencies to get their hysterical politicians and diplomats to stop blaming and threatening Israel. After being dressed down, on Monday, the chastened EU foreign ministers abstained from mentioning Israel by name in their joint condemnation of the alleged use of European passports by the alleged operatives who allegedly killed the terrorist Mabhouh.
And lucky they held their tongues. Because on Tuesday, Tamim claimed that after the hit, at least two of the alleged members of the alleged assassination team departed Dubai for Iran. It’s hard to imagine Mossad officers feeling safer in Iran than in Dubai at any time and certainly it is hard to see why they would flee to Iran after killing an Iranian-sponsored terrorist.
In the second graph Caroline is indeed reporting the most tittilating recent news – except the possibly bogus report that the Dubai authorities have DNA evidence on one suspect.
What indeed were the alleged Mossad assassins doing escaping to Iran?
The Dubai police statement issued Wednesday included a striking detail: two of the new suspects, identified as Nicole Sandra McCabe and Adam Marcus Korman and carrying Australian passports, left Dubai on a ship bound for Iran. All the others traveled by plane to European and Asian countries, according to the statement. The statement included no further information about the two suspects or why they would have gone to Iran.
And were they actually Mossad assassins? Some think not. I prefer to think they were, perhaps because that would be much more disturbing for the mullahs. It would open up all kinds of interesting questions. (What information were these agents carrying? Where were they headed?) In fact, one way of reading this event is that a lot of it was deliberately in plain sight. This is in essence the subtext of the Debka account, which contains the supposition that the Israelis were fully aware of the CCTV capability in Dubai and essentially acted out in front of the cameras. Of course, this is an extremely complex approach to intelligence work, the kind of thing you might find more in a novel than in real life, so I don’t know. But it’s possible.
To be continued – or not.
Paging Moses Wine…
A case of truth stranger than fiction, no?
It is would be amusing if two of the Mossad agents fled to Iran just to f**k with mullahs’ heads…
Hell, I’d be happy just to know who hacked/leaked the Climate-Gate stuffies and award them some kind of medal!
This is so nuts that there’s even a Facebook page for it:
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=325403863479
Funny stuff. (Ain’t these intertubes wonderful?)
After this, who wouldn’t want to be a Mosaad wannabe?
my guess:
a joint fatah mossad hit.
the fatah guys got caught and spilled the beans.
HAH #6DS, too true, this may well have been a Moussad recruiting campaign from studs unwilling to take the promotional costs from their own budget. Not the 1st time totally hostile propaganda became one hell of a recruiting tool. I must say, stopping in Iran for a sip of tea is one hell of a finger flick. The eu OUTRAGE shows the euhoes have no shame, SHOCKED to find gaming in the house.
Just to F* with the Mullahs’ heads some more, let’s consider the possibility that they didn’t “flee” to Iran at all. They were just moving on to their next job….
It’s been amusing to me that no one, nada, zilch, even among the most conspiracy minded, have attributed this to the CIA. Whatever the aftermath, the actual job was executed competently, so no one could think that the CIA was involved.
#4.Delia, I’ve been thinking exactly the same thing. Maybe they should strip Gore’s Nobel and award it to him/her.
hey, mr. can’t figure his way out of a paper bag barry, we’re waiting with baited breath for your astute analysis of this one. or, maybe you could just apologize.
btw, how’s that we’ll all sit around a big table thing working out.
Judy, NYC:
Sure. We could all have a beer together and solve the whole thing.
I was under the impression that two or three had been arrested.
What, no interrogation intel from torture? Oh, I forgot. The Arab world is too humanitarian for that.
Roger,
“I prefer to think they were, perhaps because that would be much more disturbing for the mullahs.”
“Thinking” this, it is much more likely you’ll fool yourself if the mullahs are involved.
Now if you were “hoping” this, with the possibility of exuding some schadenfreude, then you’re being more rational and able to position yourself if your hopes don’t come to fruition.
The claim that the assassins did -not- know that the Dubai hotel is covered by CCTV is beyond ludicrous.
Dubai killing is right out of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ — a dozen killers but no murderer. The new assassination method – flood the kill-zone with multiple alleged killers!
Remember: when those two travelling to Iran get caught and arrested for being spies.. jump up and down and write blogs and post stuff on forums and such demanding that the Iranian government release those innocent tourists immediately!!
I can understand the Euros anger at this takedown. The guy was one of their best players and had years of eligibility left.
The media is a funny thing.. when Mugniyeh(sp?) got offed in Syria in 08.. you hardly heard a peep about it in the MSM. Now when some nobody arms delivery boy from Hamas gets wacked by 26 bumbling mossad agents its front page news in the English speaking world.
Whoever did it …..thx!
I’m waiting for the musical. It was a stampede of death!
Also, what sort of fake passport did Mab-hoo carry? This was his 27th trip to Dubai. He seemed to be coming in often enough on faked papers, that at least we’d learn if he, too, was using Israeli ID papers?
Death done by shoes. And, thrown in to the mix, is the free pair Mab-hoo got when he ‘disappeared’ for five-hours. So, the story gets good and spooked up.
Also, besides that Dubai is now bankrupt. And, the airport seemed slim pickings for daylight arrivals; I seemed to notice Mab-hoo is never seen in another circle wearing the same shirt, twice. He arrives in white. Then, he’s in black. And, then, when he’s walking towards his room, his shirt is the same colors as the typical head dress. Not that I care. I think the whole story on tape is a created fiction. But interesting? Oh, very. You can romp to this one like springtime for hitler.
“Curiouser and curiouser”
Oh mirror mirror on the wall
What you reflect does not tell all
Truth is hidden
Overridden
Investigations to forestall
….uuuu..’o^o’..nn!n….algie
Illegitimi nOn carborundum
Duped again?
Other than dubious, contradictory reports from Dubai government sources, where is the proof that Mahmoud al-Mahbouh is dead?
What objective agency has cofirmrd his demise?
Is he now recovering from the plastic surgery he underwent to completely change his facial appearance, so as to throw his pursuers off his trail via this identity change?
Famous,
I think you are right about Dubai being involved, but I think you have the motivation incorrect.
Mossad is waterboarding him for the 81st time, trying to find out what he knows about Iran’s nukes as well as Hamas operations in the Gaza and West Bank. The UAE has a national interest in assisting Israel (Iran), while posing as thorough investigators in the “murder”. They might be overdoing it by releasing the names of 26 suspects (just a little high, I think). Should have kept the number under 15.
Carol and Elroy — And have you noticed that during this same period, that Al Gore, Elvis, and Dubya have been mysteriously absent from public view?
What do they know, and when did they know IT about this Mahbouh enigma?
I’d be more explicit, but they are coming around to give me my medication.
These are some thoughts I sent to Cummins at the WSJ. Sam
Mr. Cummins,
I now have read two of your articles. Good work, thank you.
1. I thought the Austrian connection might have the best chance of factually establishing who was behind the Dubai debacle. After all, if the Austrian operatives were the HQ for the operation, then they might have felt secure because they were out of the framework of the situation in Dubai, then maybe their ids might be less concealed or the actual id easier traced, as happened with the CIA and the Italian kidnapping years back. So I searched the English language newspapers for Austria and was amazed at how little interest I could find on the subject or their connection at all.
—Why has the Dubai police not released the actual phone number in question? Was it a land line, which could be reversed read for an address, or was it a hand phone and if so who was paying its bill?
—Why has Dubai let Austria off the hook here and the trail there to go so cold?
—Could the WSJ turn one of its European reporters onto questioning the Austrian gov, and asking questions about their investigation results?
2. You might want to get your paper to get you access to Stratfor’s subscriber articles. Stratfor says that the US attempts to wean Syria away from Iran has lead to a split among Hamas and Hezbollah inter circles, as some want to remain loyal to Iran and other to accept US sponsored and Turkey negotiated deals that exclude Iran, and so the killing might be a sign of this division.
Could the two suspected killers going by boat to Iran fit this scenario? Is it ridiculous to say that Iranian assets could have worked an operation with Israel? Then how ridiculous is it that two Pals are already arrested for working with the Mossad and a Hamas leaders is likewise accused by Dubai? Could trust have been maintained to carry out a hit without betrayal between any of these erstwhile enemies?
Stratfor also a a more detail account of the credit card companies and their strong Israeli connections, even more than your own well stated depiction.
3. Has anyone looked at the report that the victim went to the airport to fly to Dubai and the victim found that his armed guards could not get seats on his plane and so he flew on alone, while the body guards were booked for the next day.
—Could the full plane be checked out to see if it was in fact full or was there some crafty cunning done here to separate him from his protection creating a window of opportunity in Dubai? And who on the ground at the departure airport could have arranged this?
Did the body guards actually come to Dubai the next day or is this whole side story not true?
4. Who was paying the bills for the credit cards used? That is, who funded this operation? Can this be found out, despite the possible obscuring of this info by the ostensibly Israeli loyal owners of the credit card companies?
5. Could not Interpol be asked to run facial id software on the photos provided by Dubai?
6. What is gained by using real peoples names in doctored passports, especially Israeli names if the Mossad did this? If it helps to use real names, why not non-Israeli names, who are unlikely to come stumbling into Dubai of private business? Or, do you use Israeli names living in Israel because if any of them goes to travel, you can stop them or make sure they arn’t going towards the Mid-East? Hmmmm
What is the significance of the real passports mostly being from Immigrants to Israel? Did some outfit have access to those files and not other Israeli passports? Say, some Russian Mafioso?
Is it true that the Mossad is forbidden by law to use Israeli names in any operation? Do immigrants slip under this law?
Could Dubai have assassinated the Iranian backed victim because Dubai is Sunni and wants to undermine Iran and so putting out the cover-up disinformation that everyone is eating up?
Has Israel worked with Pals (Iranians, too?) in order to promote their divide and conqueror grand strategy.
7. Is it true that Egypt and Jordan have both put the victim in prison for a year in the past? Then could they have done this assassination and blamed it on the Mossad?
8. What is the source of reported claims that:
—The hotel room was bolted and chained from the inside? (that would mean they had to break down the door to get in!?) Are there spyware gadgets that can close a deadbolt from the outside? Or, open it, and do hotels have such so they don’t have to breakdown doors?
—The victim was shot with a stun gun and/or a lamp was used to try to electrocute him and electrode burns marks were found on his body, even on his scrotum!?
—That murders tried to open his hotel room door with an electronic device and this did or did not work?
—Are there spyware gadgets that can control video cameras, if so why did the hit team not use them? Would use of such gadgets reveal itself to security people monitoring the cameras or are there such people or is there just recordings?
—
Try this:
There are 2-3 Mossad agents involved…Period.
Try this:
There were 2-3 Mossad agents involved…Period.
They are very talented with makeup. The blond woman and red headed woman are clearly the same person. Seriously…Look at the men, both of them! 2 guys did the deed while the woman provided cover. The Dubai intelligence folks are fools.
Crabby
30# Or the Dubai intel are secret geniuses.
Mahmoud wasn’t killed then, maybe is still alive.
“No one is coming to save you, Mahmoud. They all think you are dead.”
The Dubai authorities are in control of all of the physical evidence, the whole thing could be their disinformation psy-op.
#31 Larry
Maybe the Dubai intel guys are geniuses. I’ll let someone way smarter tham me calculate the odds on that one, compared to the odds of a Mossad hit.
You made Crabby smile. Thanks.
Crabby
I have been having a lot of fun with this. I especially like the comment that no one thinks it could have been the CIA. It involved killing someone in a foreign country (there would be Congressional hearings for years) and most importantly *IT WORKED*. A friend of mine who shall remain nameless, who used to work for an American intelligence agency other than CIA, tells me that in their office the letters CIA are taken to stand for “Clowns In Action”.
As for them fleeing to Iran: if their covers were solid enough, they might have flown there, and connected to somewhere else. They might even have stayed overnight in a hotel before continuing on their journey. The Iranians don’t get on that well with the Gulf States (Shiite vs. Sunni, and jealousy at how rich the Gulf sheikhs are, by Iranian mullahs who aspire to that kind of wealth themselves. This would probably mean that if/when Dubai figured out that the killers had left for Iran, they would spend some time discussing among themselves whether the Iranians were involved in the killing itself–which would give the killers more time to flee. Those killers are probably on a kibbutz somewhere tilling a field, or studying at a university. I would expect they’re set for life, as a second writer taking the attitude of the guy who wrote *Vengeance* two decades ago would have a detrimental effect on their recruiting policies.
I seriously doubt that anyone will ever be charged with any of this. Mossad is too good at hiding their tracks, most of the time, and the other candidates (the U.S., Hamas/Fatah/whoever) don’t have either the competence or the confidence to pull this off. The Israelis will continue to deny any involvement in public, while winking at their enemies, who are pretty sure what happened.