Everyone Getting Into The Act

Well now Israel is sending soldiers into Lebanon to fight Hezbollah fighters for what they describe as acts of war.'

It appears Hezbollah fighters, in a similar fashion to their Hamas brethren, have kidnapped 2 Israeli soldiers and killed 7 others (3 during the attack, and the rest during the Israeli counter raids) with the express goal of forcing Israel to release "their" soldiers.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the Hezbollah attacks were an "act of war" and blamed the Lebanese government, which he said would be held
responsible.

He promised a "very painful and far-reaching" response, The Associated Press reported. There have been only sporadic border clashes since Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation.

Israel will be holding the Lebanese government responsible because....What? And, "very painful and far-reaching" response I take to mean that Israel will take on to the collective punishment of the Lebanese government and people for the crimes of Hezbollah who must of know very well the type of response their acts would of provoked from the Israeli's especially after its response to the kidnappings by Hamas. The question is why?

I can understand how factions in Hamas saw much gain from provoking Israel in its kidnapping of Capt. Gilad Shalit (see my earlier posts here and here for more on that), but Ill admit to ignorance on issues of Lebanon.

Hezbollah must have known it would provoke a collective punishment on all Lebanon and the Lebanese government with its actions....perhaps that's it. Perhaps its in the interest of Hezbollah for Israel to do that. Perhaps it will damage the Lebanese government, or cause a rise in Lebanese hatred of Israel, or cause a stark rise in Lebanese support for Hezbollah. I'm not quite sure, I'm just throwing stuff out.

One things for sure, it seems everyone is getting into the act.

EXTRA: The White House Announces It Believes Syria and Iran are Behind Capture of 2 Israeli Soldiers!! Wow

"We also hold Syria and Iran, which directly support Hizbollah, responsible for this attack and for the ensuing violence," Jones said.

The United States called the attack "an unprovoked act of terrorism" aimed at exacerbating Middle East tensions.

So lets recap: Lebanon, Syria, and Iran will be held responsible and I assume, if Israel was so inclined it could retaliate against anyone of them if not all of them. Its hard to know what this means. Will there be strikes on Syria and Iran and Lebanon. Will Israel see this as a pretext to strike at Iran's nuclear development labs and enrichment facilities, which would certainty be in the interest of the United States policy makers. Who will be striked, or, will anyone be striked. All I can say is Stay Tuned.

I agree with the last part of the quote: Hizbollah has certainly succeeded in exacerbating Middle East tensions, and Israel is going along with it. I believe that was part of Hizbollah's plan.