Taking the War to Syria

Global Research says that Bush wanted Israel to take the war to Syria.

George W. Bush and his neoconservative advisers saw the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as an opportunity to expand the conflict into Syria and possibly achieve a long-sought “regime change” in Damascus, but Israel’s leadership balked at the scheme, according to Israeli sources.

One Israeli source said Bush’s interest in spreading the war to Syria was considered “nuts” by some senior Israeli officials, although Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has generally shared Bush’s hard-line strategy against Islamic militants.

After rebuffing Bush’s suggestion about attacking Syria, the Israeli government settled on a strategy of mounting a major assault in southern Lebanon aimed at rooting out Hezbollah guerrillas who have been firing Katyusha rockets into northern Israel.

Israel has made the mistake of going after the symptom, not the disease.

It is possible they could pull victory from the jaws of defeat, but it will be difficult in the time reaining.

What could Israel do to keep the fighting going?

They have a few more hours to take the Bekaa.

What is most ominous about the whole situation is the nuclear angle:

...Hezbollah’s firing of rockets as far as the port city of Haifa, deep inside Israel, has touched off new fears among Israelis and their allies about the danger of more powerful missiles carrying unconventional warheads, possibly hitting heavily populated areas, such as Tel Aviv.

That fear of missile attacks by Islamic extremists dedicated to Israel’s destruction has caused Israel to start “dusting off it nukes,” one source told me.

And the view from the other side:

An international relations analyst in Syria said here Friday that Israel will intensify the war against Lebanon if the draft resolution is ratified.

Head of Al-Sharq Strategic Studies Center, Samir Al-Taghi, told IRNA that the draft resolution's defying demands of Lebanon shows failure of the United Nations in settling disputes.

He added the US is seeking to end military operations in Lebanon because Israel is unable to defeat Hezbollah.

"The Zionist Regime of Israel is trapped in a politico-military vortex and the US and its allies are trying to save it," he said.

I sure hope so.