Ghosts of Beirut and Damascus

 Ghosts of Beirut and Damascus

 I just finished watching Showtime’s “Ghosts of Beirut”, a very apt title for me, since I once lived in Lebanon for over a year.

 The hunt for and execution of the elusive Shia Hezbollah Lebanese terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, (alias al-Hajj Radwan), by the CIA and Mossad is set some 30 years after I lived in Lebanon, and after various warring factions had pretty much destroyed this beautiful city and country.

 The very realistic story of how the CIA and Mossad finally assassinated this terrorist, whom they called “The Ghost”, in Damascus in 2008, was created by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, of “Fauda” fame.  “Ghosts” was actually shot in Morocco, near Casablanca, which terrain looks a lot like Lebanon, and which doesn’t have armed Hezbollah shooting at the filming.

 One aside in the final episode of “Ghosts” is how the assassination team in Damascus has Mughniyeh in their sights, but as a “twofer” with Iranian terrorist Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani.  The Bush administration calls a “stand down”, not wanting to provoke a war with Iran.  President Trump had no such compunction when he ordered Soleimani assassinated in 2020.

 We drove from Beirut to Damascus in 1966 on a Lebanese visa issue.  All we needed to do is enter Lebanon from Syria, with the appropriate passport stamp. This was during the Syrian left-wing Ba’athist regime of Salah Jadid, who had come to power in a coup in February of 1966.

 The angry red political signs on the road from Beirut to Damascus reminded us of the signage we had seen while driving in communist East Germany in 1963.  We tried to see the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, but for some reason, we infidels were not allowed.  We had lunch with our Arabic speaking escort, and drove back home to Sidon without incident.

 Ray Gruszecki

June 12, 2023