ISRAEL'S SPY NETWORK IN LEBANON HAS BEEN SEVERELY WEAKENED SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE: IS IT MERELY A COINCIDENCE?

WE REPORTED THIS A WHILE BACK - MAY 11TH:

DAILY STAR (LEBANON): New ISF unit behind arrests of alleged Mossad agents

The capture of several alleged Mossad spies in recent months is the result of a new counter-espionage strategy put in place by Lebanese security agencies, intelligence experts told The Daily Star on Sunday.

More than 17 suspected spies have been arrested since January, including four on Friday, prompting the leader of the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Ashraf Rifi to declare their capture "the strongest security strike against the Israeli Mossad."

The new plan, put in place in the aftermath of the summer 2006 war, saw a specialized counter-espionage unit created as part of the ISF, with specially trained officers taking over a role that had previously been fulfilled by the Lebanese Army.

HMMMMM... 17 SINCE JANUARY...

GEE, WHAT A CO-INKY-DINKY: THAT'S WHEN OBAMA TOOK OVER.

NOW THE BBC IS REPORTING IT:

Lebanon's intelligence war with Israel

BBC News, Beirut

Israel's ability to wage another war against the militant Shia movement Hezbollah may have been compromised by an unprecedented wave of arrests of people in Lebanon alleged to have been spying for the Israelis.

Experts say the arrests appear to add up to a major strategic blow to Israel.

Mobile phone footage circulating in Beirut shows one of the suspected agents being slapped and insulted as he was manhandled out of his house and into the boot of a car.

Lebanese newspapers have reported that more than 40 members of more than a dozen spy networks have been detained so far in a campaign that has gathered pace over the past six weeks, and shows no sign of stopping.

Israel has so far made no public comment on what could be one of its worst-ever intelligence setbacks.

Hardly a day goes by without agents from the Lebanese police, army or general security raiding homes or workplaces in different parts of the country, and taking suspects away.

Explaining the sudden spectacular rash of arrests, Lebanese officials have said that unspecified technological breakthroughs made it all possible.

That may be so. But many unanswered questions remain.

One of the basic principles in setting up espionage networks is that their cells should not be linked in any way, so that the discovery of one does not lead to the kind of wider collapse that seems now to be taking place.

Did the Israelis - who have said nothing to discredit the daily revelations in Beirut - break that fundamental rule?

"Certainly it seems to have been a systemic failure by Israel," said security expert Alastair Crooke, who focuses on Islamic movements.

"Maybe it was a chance find, maybe it was from one person that they interrogated leading to the uncovering of many others, but that in itself would be highly unusual."

Most likely, the arrests were the product of months, perhaps several years, of counter-intelligence work.

UNSPECIFIED TECHNOLOGY THE ISRAELIS DON'T KNOW ABOUT!?

NOT CREDIBLE.

BAD ORGANIZATION BY THE MOSSAD!?

NOT CREDIBLE.

YEARS OF COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE WORK!?

NOT CREDIBLE.

THE SIMPLEST ANSWER - OCCAM'S RAZOR: THEY ARE COINCIDENT TO AND A PRODUCT OF BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S PRESIDENCY.