[rickeydidio]

I am American and this was my first thought when reading the headline. “Why is the FBI involved?” I can understand the CIA, like you said. So weird but a sign of our times.

[raincom]

There are multiple reasons:

- Lebanese govt invited them.

- USA wants to keep tab in that part of the world.

- Talented investigators in FBI and others want to keep their brains sharp.

- Advance knowledge about explosions, how to prevent them, etc.

[dboreham]

FBI is just "the police", so it's very normal and happens all the time that police experts from one country are invited to help investigate crime in another country.

[refulgentis]

When you hear CIA think intelligence (as in espionage), when you hear FBI think investigation, never failed me

[ncmncm]

When I hear CIA, I think coercion to collect information, most usually information to be used to coerce somebody else. When I hear FBI I think coercion to instigate what will be well-publicized conspiratorial crime. Actual espionage and investigation are decidedly secondary activities.

They have been that way from the start.