Criminal Mastermind Behind Saudi Terror Plot Was Failed Texas Used-Car Salesman – OpEd
No sooner was Eric Holder’s press conference done at which he trumpeted the government’s penetration of a Massive Plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S., than progressive bloggers and journalists like Spencer Ackerman, Glenn Greenwald and Prof. Muhammad Sahimi began to take it apart for its sheer lameness and lack of credibility. Greenwald, for example, notes that the Washington Post itself, a credulous backer of the administration’s claims, conceded that the key conspirator, Manssor Arbabsiar, seemed a hapless fellow who couldn’t even run a business, let alone conduct a sophisticated plot to murder one of the most high profile diplomats in Washington DC.
This is the “criminal mastermind” behind alleged Saudi assassination plot: he couldn’t even pay his bills or run a business. This is the guy who’s gonna blow up the Saudi ambassador:
“David Tomscha, 60, met Arbabsiar 15 years ago when he bought an Acura Integra from him in Corpus Christi and later bought a car lot with him. Tomscha described Arbabsiar as a disorganized businessman who often could not locate the titles of cars he was selling. Tomscha eventually bought Arbabsiar’s half of the business after he failed to pay his bills. “I would say he did it for the money,” Tomscha said, referring to the allegations against him. “He’s not a terrorist. He’s more an opportunist than anything else.”
The article goes on to note that the Iranian-American’s ex-wife made a domestic violence complaint against him and that he was accused of check fraud but never prosecuted. Don’t know about you, but if I wanted to assassinate a diplomat working for a key ally of the U.S. in our nation’s capital, I might choose someone else. Someone a bit more…credible, shall we say?
Greenwald goes on to note the hypocrisy of the U.S. practically declaring war on Iran for allegedly plotting to kill someone it detests on foreign soil, when this seems to be precisely what the U.S. is doing through its drone strikes and assassinations against Osama bin Laden and Anwar Al-Awlaki, among others. The Salon blogger also wonders whether somewhere in a cubicle in an Iranian justice ministry building there is a lawyer scribbing a memo to be used by his higher ups to justify the murder of the Saudi ambassador. Touche, Barack. You’ve got it coming to you.
This article appeared at Tikun Olam
