If Fitzgerald indicts...

Norman Solomon reminds us:

Nothing is more dangerous than a cornered wild beast. And if the day comes that its political survival appears to be at stake, the Bush administration will counterattack with extreme ferocity. Judging from the past, there are solid reasons to doubt that the press corps – and leaders of the overly loyal opposition – are inclined to pursue key issues of White House deception to the point that the administration will be truly backed into a corner. As usual, the tasks of demanding truth and affecting the course of history for the better will fall to independent journalists and grassroots activists. (Media at a Huge Crossroads, 25 Years After Reagan's Triumph Antiwar.com 10/22/05)

For those who may be feeling a shortage of reasons to be paranoid, Laura Rozen points out that there's always the "wag the dog" scenario:

The establishment of an international front against Syria regarding Lebanon is a welcome development from Israel's standpoint. From the U.S. standpoint, however, Iraq is the burning issue. The United States accuses Syria of encouraging and assisting terrorists and saboteurs in Iraq to operate from its territory. Washington cannot accept a Syrian border that is wide open to those who kill American soldiers in Iraq. If it becomes clear today that Assad was responsible in any way for Hariri's murder, this suspicion will be linked with his role as an abettor of terror in Iraq, as well as with his efforts to continue to tie Lebanon to his coattails. As a result, he will be labeled, almost officially, as a "superfluous leader," whose country would be "appropriate" for American military action.

But if this is the operative conclusion derived from the investigative report, it is liable to be hasty and simplistic. Assad is not an enlightened ruler who does good for his people, but the alternative to his regime would not necessarily be any better. The regime's opponents represent extremist ideologies, both religious and nonreligious. An American invasion of Syria - even if it had British and French support along with UN approval - would be liable to create a second Iraq, this time on Israel's border. In the aftermath of a western invasion, the terror trickling from Syria into Iraq might also start trickling south and east, into Israel. (Bashar in the eye of the storm Ha'aretz editorial 10/21/05)