Cheat Sheet

Who killed Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al Hariri in 2005? The crime remains unsolved, and Joshua Hammer writes that powerful forces are hoping to keep it that way. Many suspect the Syrian government is behind it, but a public accusation could act contrary to the West’s interests in the Middle East. "Given current U.S. strategic imperatives—keeping the region from becoming even more unstable, containing a powerful Iran, tamping down tensions over Israel and Palestine—the tribunal could hardly be coming together at a more awkward time," writes Hammer. Sources close to the investigation now believe it may wither on the vine, with a few minor officials being handed over in exchange for favor with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad. As one of Al Hariri's closest allies put it, "You cannot appease dictators. You can only kill them—like they have been killing us ... But nobody at this moment is willing to make the Syrian regime fall down.”