Rusty has an update from Stratfor that appears to indicate a few things. Israel is serious, having called up the reserves. That could mean the extended conflict which was mentioned. It appears as though the plan is to isolate Lebanon and take the fight to Hezbollah right into the Bekaa Valley.
You may have heard of it, it's the heart and soul of Hezbollah's terror capability and a swamp which deserves to be destroyed. Given some of the rthetoric around the Middle East, it looks like most of the Arab states might have signed off on this.
What remains to be seen is if Israel can turn up elements of Iranian forces in southern Lebanon. If they capture some of those elements, this could get very interesting.
My take - screw Ahmadinejad's warning, time to call his bluff and humiliate him. The US owns Iraqi air space, Israel is sealing off land routes to Lebabnon from Syria - and Iran can't make a move without provoking war with Israel and, hopefully, the US supporting our ally.
If Iran strikes directly at Israel with a missile, they run the risk of a tactical mushroom cloud over Iran, possibly even Tehran. The biggest disappointment in all this so far is Bush and Rice talking about restraint. If that was anything other than a diplomatic flourish, Bush should get the hell out of the White House and let someone who wants to lead in.
As much as I didn't (and still don't) want the US in Iraq, I wish the US had responded with this level of strength the first time any soldier or American citizen was taken hostage there. Just my .00002 cents.
Posted by: lurk | Thursday, July 13, 2006 at 09:11 PM
Wheeeee, go Israel..Hit em hard and hit em often. S C R E W the scum over there.
Posted by: DonotgiveupIsrael | Thursday, July 13, 2006 at 09:18 PM
Bush and Rice always say restraint out loud, but will let Israel do what they need to do to defend their country. They are just using the diplo-speak in public, but they are doing nothing to stop Israel. Bolton will veto all the UN crap that comes up that goes against Israel. This has been the game all along. With the settlements dismantled and Israel gone, the Palestinians have lost most of their support with their outright act of war against Israel. Hamas and Hiz. are in a whole different world now. Israel can now muck out the terrorist stable, and do the world a freaking favor.
Posted by: Stormy70 | Thursday, July 13, 2006 at 11:11 PM
Delve deeply into the depths and you will discover that all this is falling very nicely into Dubyas private plan.
Posted by: hobo | Saturday, July 15, 2006 at 02:43 AM