Gulf News video release on the Mahmoud Al Mabhouh assasination

[fightingquaker13]

Whhhoooopppss!!

I should have been more specific.  Why pick people's names that lead back to Israel?

Unless of course, you wanted people to think it was Mossad (sp?) who was behind it.

 

Three kinds of people that would do that.
1) People who wanted to blame Israel as a smoke screen and divert attention from themselves (Hamas, Fatah, the Lebanese government, his credit card company).
 2) Enemies of  Israel, like Fatah and rival Hamas groups who want to discredit Israel.
3) Israel, who wants to send a message and make a point that they can reach out and touch you.
It's 6-4 and pick'em.
FQ13 who is tired of all of these people and wants energy independence so so we can tell them all to kiss our ass. As a former boss said, "These people have been nothing but trouble makers since Moses. Jesus and Mohamed were the worst. To hell with all of them". Wise words from a Texan.

[Pathfinder]

Wise Ignorant words from a Texan bigot.

[fightingquaker13]

Bigot maybe, ignorant, not at all. I'm a Christian Path, but you add up the body count from all three individuals' followers, and its something that would make Hitler and Stalin gag. I love Jesus, but I don't trust preacher's. Same with the politics. I love the flag and the Constitution, but I don't trust the government. So maybe you ought to turn down the "I'm so easily offended" a notch and look at the record.
FQ13 who's just sayin'

[fightingquaker13]

Actually, Path brings up an interesting point, in a round about way. Me, I'm a happy church going Episcopalian, and I'm glad Jesus came. But leaving theology aside, and just looking at history, what would have happened if he didn't? Lets assume the "People of the Book", didn't exist. No Abraham, Moses, Jesus or Mohammed. What would world history have looked like if we were still pagans like Greece and Rome? I am not offering a moral/theological question here, just an historical one.
FQ13

[Solus]

Three kinds of people that would do that.
1) People who wanted to blame Israel as a smoke screen and divert attention from themselves (Hamas, Fatah, the Lebanese government, his credit card company).
 2) Enemies of  Israel, like Fatah and rival Hamas groups who want to discredit Israel.
3) Israel, who wants to send a message and make a point that they can reach out and touch you.
It's 6-4 and pick'em.
FQ13 who is tired of all of these people and wants energy independence so so we can tell them all to kiss our ass. As a former boss said, "These people have been nothing but trouble makers since Moses. Jesus and Mohamed were the worst. To hell with all of them". Wise words from a Texan.

Number 4 would be Israelis who wanted to blur the trail and didn't want Israel to be conspicuous by it's absence from the list.

 

[Sponsor]

[Fatman]

Here's a nice open source analysis:

UAE: The Assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh
February 18, 2010 | 0028 GMT

Mahmoud al Mabhouh
Dubai Police Department
Suspects in the assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh are seen on video footage Jan. 20
Summary

Recently released closed-circuit television footage shows the suspected assassins of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh as they conducted operations. Throughout the footage, the suspects act in a methodical, well-choreographed manner, indicating the assassination was a professional operation.

Editor’s Note: This is a tactical discussion and analysis of the assassination of Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Analysis

Dubai police on Feb. 16 released closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of 17 individuals (15 men and two women) believed to have participated in a Jan. 19 operation to assassinate Hamas military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reportedly was in Dubai for an unknown meeting — without security, due to an inability to purchase timely airfare for his bodyguards — and according to STRATFOR sources stopped there on his way to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials about prospective arms sales to Hamas. He was found dead in his room at the Al Bustan hotel in Dubai on Jan. 20.

Police were able to backtrack 11 of the 17 suspects through CCTV footage and immigration records to their arrival at the Dubai International Airport 19 hours prior to al-Mabhouh’s assassination. Those 11 traveled to Dubai on passports from the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and Germany, arriving approximately 14 hours ahead of al-Mabhouh from different locations around Europe.

The suspects utilized several high-pedestrian-traffic locations throughout Dubai as meeting areas, logistics hubs and staging sites prior to the operation, including at least three hotels and a shopping center. Dubai police also identified several reportedly encrypted phone calls made from suspects’ phones to numbers in Austria, where police think a command-and-control center for the operation was based.

All suspects attempted to alter their physical appearance in varying degrees, ranging from simple hats to wigs and glasses. The demeanor of team members visible on the CCTV footage did not deviate from that of regular tourists or businesspeople, indicating a high level of training and professionalism.

From the CCTV footage it was clear the suspects were assigned to one of several specialized teams and carried out very specific roles in the operation. At least four surveillance teams were identified; three of the four teams appeared to work in pairs, while the fourth looked to be a single individual. Another individual, who seemed to be the senior commander of the operation, appeared to have reserved the room across the hall from the room in which al-Mabhouh was staying. The remaining seven members of the group were directly involved in the actual assassination, serving as lookouts outside al-Mabhouh’s room or as the actual assassins.

Prior to al-Mabhouh’s arrival in Dubai, the surveillance teams were prepositioned at the airport and at two hotels al-Mabhouh was known to frequent when he traveled to Dubai. Once al-Mabhouh arrived at the Al Bustan, the two surveillance operatives located in the lobby were seen following him to his room. After al-Mabhouh’s room number had been confirmed, the two surveillance assets contacted the rest of the team, who then moved to the Al Bustan, and the senior commander reserved the room across the hall from al-Mabhouh’s.

Al-Mabhouh then left the Al Bustan for an unknown meeting, during which time CCTV shows one of the surveillance operatives calling out the description of al-Mabhouh’s vehicle. After al-Mabhouh’s departure, two men and a woman wearing wigs and glasses and a pair of two-man assassin teams staged themselves in the room across the hall from al-Mabhouh’s room.

Upon his return to the Al Bustan, al-Mabhouh is seen passing the disguised man and woman who had taken up lookout positions near the elevator and outside al-Mabhouh’s room. Al-Mabhouh was then intercepted and killed in his room by the two-man assassin teams at approximately 8:30 p.m. local time. The surveillance teams then left the premises, followed by both the two-man assassin teams (who left all together), and finally by the disguised two men and woman.

The 11 identified individuals flew out of the Dubai International Airport between two and 10 hours after the assassination to several different locations such as South Africa, Hong Kong, Germany, France and Switzerland – long before a hotel cleaning crew discovered al-Mabhouh’s body Jan 20 at approximately 1:30 p.m. local time.

The arrival of the team members some 19 hours ahead of the operation and 14 hours ahead of al- Mabhouh indicates the group had knowledge of al-Mabhouh’s travel plans beforehand. Additionally, the coordinated movements and logistics involved in the operation typically require an advance team to be in place ahead of the assassination team’s arrival. Throughout the CCTV footage, some members of the team — specifically the actual assassins — were mindful of the placement of the surveillance cameras and moved in such a way as to block direct views of their faces, while others were not as careful.

The team’s movements throughout the operation were methodical, calculated, well-choreographed and, most of all, indicative of a professional operation. Moreover, their outward demeanor directly before and after the killing did not deviate from that of Dubai regulars. It was clear that each member of the team was professionally trained and operated in a coordinated and defined role necessary for the completion of the mission. Operators with these skills are not easy to come by. The tactics and logistics involved in this operation were well beyond the capabilities of known terrorist organizations and all but a few national intelligence services. While this CCTV footage does not offer any clues as to who carried out the al-Mabhouh’s assassination, it does show a high degree of professionalism that very few possess.

[Tyler Durden]

It would be interesting to know if any of the alternate identities based on real people had anything in common.

Said another way....I wonder how those real people got picked???

Were they all facebook friends?

Were they members of the DownRange TV forum?        

Did somebody already have access to their passport or other ID photos and said, "Hmmn...yeah, with a hat and a mustache Mossad Operative number one looks like that poor sap Charlie Goldfarb the guy who runs the open air market in Tel Aviv....hmmmn..."

It would kinda suck to have some Hezbollah "agent" show up at your door to let you know you have doppleganger running about killing off high profile hadji's.

[Tyler Durden]

With respect to the STRATFOR cut and paste above...yeah, they might have been some really good professionals.  Or maybe just as a precaution each two person team was compartmentalized from any other two person team and they had no idea that their intell gathering efforts were going to lead to the assassination of that hadji.

Methinks they had a dry run or two at it before.

[fightingquaker13]

With respect to the STRATFOR cut and paste above...yeah, they might have been some really good professionals.  Or maybe just as a precaution each two person team was compartmentalized from any other two person team and they had no idea that their intell gathering efforts were going to lead to the assassination of that hadji.

Methinks they had a dry run or two at it before.

Exactly. I think Stratfo is getting breathless over the "professionalism" of the teams. This op is something that board members could game out over a few beers (don't get any ideas Tom!). The key is the intel and financial support and nerves of steel. I mean walking out of a hotel room with a body and making an airline reservation in a country that enthusiastically uses the death penalty kind of nerves. Still, other than the money and intel, all it takes is will, trust and practice. Even Eric and TAB and me could do it. "Known terrorist organizations" who don't have the capability? I call BS. Al Queda, Hamas and Hezbollah could do this in their sleep. They have before numerous times and doubtless will again.
FQ13

[ratcatcher55]

"Al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, reportedly was in Dubai for an unknown meeting — without security, due to an inability to purchase timely airfare for his bodyguards — and according to STRATFOR sources stopped there on his way to Tehran to meet with Iranian officials about prospective arms sales to Hamas. He was found dead in his room at the Al Bustan hotel in Dubai on Jan. 20."


He can't get airline tickets for his bodyguards but can afford arms purchase from Iran?

Either a big time set up on the inside or a honey trap.