A Syrian general shot to death at a beach resort over the weekend was a top overseer of his country’s weapons shipments to Hezbollah, according to opposition Web sites and Arab and Israeli news media.

Syria by late Monday had issued no reaction to widespread reports of the assassination of Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman near the Syrian port city of Tartous on Friday night.

Funny, nowhere does the article say that arms shipments to Hezbollah over the past two years are violations of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Andrew Lee Butters of Time writes:

Of greater concern is that Israel — by commission or by reputation — is building up a set of scores that sooner or later are going to be settled. Last fall, Israeli jets bombed a site in eastern Syria that American officials claim was a nascent nuclear weapons development facility. Naturally Syria denied this, and has claimed the right to retaliate against Israel at a time and in a manner of its choosing. Adding to the tension, Hizballah is still seething at the loss of Mugniyah, who is also said to have been Hizballah’s liaison to the Iranian military. A poster I saw in Beirut earlier this summer spelled out the feeling pretty clearly: a portrait of Mugniyah, and a missile firing (presumably towards Israel) with the caption “the account is still open and has not been settled.” Another assassination would make a revenge operation that much more likely.

Or would it?
Noah Pollak observes:

Bashar Assad has now absorbed three unanswered blows which have been struck either by Israel, or which are perceived as having been struck by Israel: the airstrike in September, 2007; the assassination of Imad Mughniyah in February of this year; and now the assassination of the government’s point man on Hezbollah. Whether the two recent killings were in fact Israeli operations is more or less irrelevant. What’s important is that they reveal the true nature of the Syrian regime. Regardless of his ability to convince many people to the contrary, Bashar Assad is demonstrably weak and vulnerable.

In fact as Barry Rubin writes that other than support from Iran the only thing keeping Assad going is the self-delusion of the West.

Here’s what’s central: Iran and Syria are weak. Their power largely comes from the rest of the world treating them as strong. It is a combination of their enemies trembling, seeking advantage, and not wanting to hurt their feelings.

Assad, like his father, teases the West, pretending he’s interested in peace with Israel, when, as Rubin writes in The Truth about Syria, he is more interested in fomenting unrest. And yet the self-induced illusion persists in the West that he’s essential for peace and calm in the Middle East.

The Post reported that speculation as to the killer of Suleiman around the Saudis or Lebanese. In that case, perhaps Assad has ticked off too many of his purported allies – either because of his alliance with Iran or his occupation of Lebanon or both – and they’re starting to hit back.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.