Yet Another Syrian Assasination in Lebanon

Lebanon’s regularly scheduled political assassination has been completed.

A veteran Lebanese politician has been killed in a bomb blast in Beirut.
George Hawi – former Communist Party leader and an opponent of Syria – died when his car blew up as he drove through the Wata Musaitbi district.
The attack follows the anti-Syrian bloc’s victory in elections, the first since Syria ended a 29-year occupation.

It increasingly looks like Lebanon may not be able to become a normal democratic country until the Baath Party is out of power in Syria.
UPDATE: I did not know George Hawi. But I did meet his friend (at the same time I met Samir Kassir, who also was killed by the Syrians) while I was in Beirut. His friend is pictured below, grieving at the site of the bomb blast.

I don’t remember his friend’s name, the one I did meet, the one in the picture. He doesn’t speak English. I do remember him telling me – in Arabic with the help of a translator – that one of the reasons he left the Communist Party is because the party was too cozy with the Syrian Baath. So he left and joined the Movement of the Democratic Left. They are clearly at the top of the Syrian hit list right now. Samir was a member of the Democratic Left also.