Israel's disproportional response to Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on the border of Lebanon is looking more and more like a deliberate attempt to inflame the Muslim world, especially Iran.
The Israeli goal of having the United States deal militarily with Iran had been increasingly unfeasible due to the quagmire in Iraq and the U.S. joining the Europeans in seeking a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear question.
Something needed to be done.
Israel has been the victim of countless attacks against their civilians over the years. Interesting is the timing of the response this time to an attack upon, not civilians, but uniformed soldiers.
The media in the United States is now repeating the questionable claim that Syria and Iran have "ordered" the Hezbollah actions on Israel's northern border. That's like saying that the U.S. -- the longtime supporter of Israel -- "ordered" Israel to unleash its fury upon Lebanon.
Another claim is that Hezbollah is attempting to take the Israeli prisoners to Iran.
Anything to ratchet up the American people to support any action Israel finds necessary.
The heavy emphasis upon Israeli casualties and downplaying of the larger number of Lebanese civilians killed and wounded is another tell as to the deeper agenda in this crisis.
President Bush's refusal to speak directly to Israeli President Olmert and our insistence upon "not telling Israel how to defend their country" is yet another giveaway. The United States has repeatedly over the years gotten Israel on the horn and instructed them to cut the counterproductive shit. Not this time, despite the (probably inaccurate) reports that Secretary of State Rice urged Israeli restraint and was told to "back off."
It is certainly not in the interests of the United States to have the Lebanese government, one of the two posterboys for Bush's democratization of the Middle-East (Iraq being the other), fall due to the Israeli attacks upon their infrastructure.
The neo-cons in power in Washington have interests that do not entirely coincide with the national interests of the United States. They are the ones who will make the most out of the current crisis involving Israel and its neighbors.
Watch for information operations that present compelling rationales for the necessity of widening the war to Syria and/or Iran.
With the midterm elections coming up, the timing couldn't be any better.