Thursday, July 13, 2006

Iran's Proxy War

We noted yesterday that the Hezbollah aggresion against Israel could simply be a fulfillment of Iran's threats of war should they be referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions regarding their nuclear program. Seems like that connection has been cemented today, as Hezbollah works openly with Iran to transfer the captured Israeli soldiers out of Lebanon and into...:

Israel has information that Hizbullah guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers are trying to transfer them to Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah presses their offensive, shelling Israel's third largest city:

For the first time ever, two rockets launched from Lebanon landed in Haifa in the neighborhood of Stella Maris. Sappers came to the scene to neutralize the rocket that landed in the middle of a road. One person suffered from shock. The launch represented the farthest a rocket had ever reached into Israel.
Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned earlier that his organization would strike Haifa if Israel attacked Beirut. There were no reports as yet that Israel had struck Beirut. Before the attack on Haifa, CNN reported that the US Navy ordered one of their ships that was docked at the Haifa Bay to be moved to a safer location.


Shortly before the attack, a rocket hit the old city in Safed, followed by another strike about an hour later. One of thirteen wounded people, who was initially listed in critical condition, later died of his wounds. Two others were seriously wounded, one moderately, and the rest were lightly wounded. A boy was reported missing, and was feared to be trapped in a building that was struck. Following the strike, power supply was cut in parts of the city....

The toll of casualties in Israel throughout the day stood at one death and 122 wounded....

Note how Hezbollah targets surburbs with civilian populations, while Israel goes out of its way to avoid...oh, never mind, I tire of repeating myself, although maybe the world is waking up, as the usual condemnations of Israel (by the EU and Russia) are rather tepid and slow moving, as opposed to their usual knee-jerkedness....and thank God for John Bolton, by the way:

The United States vetoed a UN draft resolution that would have called for an end to Israeli attacks and "disproportionate use of force" in the Gaza Strip as well as for the release of a kidnapped Israeli soldier...
...The United States, Israel's staunchest ally, last used its veto in the Security Council in October 2004, to block a similar draft demanding that Israel end all military operations in northern Gaza and withdraw from the area.
France, a permanent member of the council, voted in favor while Britain, Denmark, Slovakia and Peru abstained.


Ah, those feckless French, still ready to throw the Jews over the edge, as they have done countless times before (via Roger Simon)....isn't this just what Iran is counting on, a war between Isreal and Hamas/Hezbollah/Lebenon/Syria that will divide the G-8 and the Security Council, leaving it free to pursue its path to nuclear domination over the region?

It seems as if the EU is already falling into line, good dhimmis that they are...

UPDATE: Interesting, regarding my comment about somewhat tepid condemnations:

Moderate Arab governments reacted with relative restraint, apparently reflecting a sentiment in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel

Someone give the EU a clue....

UPDATE: Seems like some in the Middle East realize that Hezbollah, and perhaps by extension Hamas, have finally gone too far:

Egypt launched a diplomatic bid to resolve the crisis, amid apparent frustration among moderate Arab nations that Hezbollah — and by implication its top ally Syria — had started the fight with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's political heavyweight and economic powerhouse, accused Hezbollah guerrillas — without naming them — of "uncalculated adventures" that precipitated the latest Middle East crisis.


"The kingdom sees that it is time for those elements to alone shoulder the full responsibility for this irresponsible behavior and that the burden of ending the crisis falls on them alone," according to a Saudi official quoted by the Saudi Press Agency.

Might be a bit tough to put this genie back into the bottle, my arabian friends....maybe you should've put the reins on these terrorists a little bit earlier - just ask the Taliban, or 'ol Saddam...


More on Iran's proxy war at Tigerhawk

UPDATE: Hamas denies firing into Haifa; where the missles actually fired by the Iranian military?

Israel said that at least one of the missiles that hit Haifa Thursday was fired by members of the Iranian Guard. These Iranian Guard units are stationed in Southern Lebanon.

So the curtain begins to lift...

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