What IS Iran's role in all this?

My guess is that with the threat of a US/Israeli raid on it's uranium enrichment sites looming, Iran has been pre-positioning assets in the region to use in the event of said raid.

Israel caught wind of said plans and decided to use what ever pretext they could to force Hezbollah's hand before Iran gave the "go" order. Thus when the raids do occur, Iran will have less assets to attack Israel.

Is to sit on the side-lines and cheer as its proxy makes it proud....

weaponry and, if so, why?

edit: also agree w/ The Magistrate, they act as cheerleaders, trying to show that they can be a regional power

for the drone attack on their ship, hoping to goad the US into attacking Iran like they helped goad the US into attacking Iraq.

Let's hope Putin realizes what's at stake and talks some sense into Stupid.

maybe there might be a parallel

Did I miss something here?

Now maybe there is a parallel between the Chechen separatists and nineteenth century Dixie, but even that is reaching a bit.

The US has NO BUSINESS in this war, no matter how loud Israel screams.

That's the sense Putin needs to talk, cajole, or slap into Stupid.

and it would destroy the US economy.

Is all this worth $100+ a barrel oil and $5+ a gallon gas????

The Chimp better think long and hard about this one...

:rolf: you must be joking.....

Hezbullah being such a miniscule "threat" to Israel itself, it's necessary to have a much bigger and hairier one like Iran to scare everyone.

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” H.L. Mencken

Iran is both the bogeyman for politicians to threaten war and a genuine player in this mess. They do finance H'zbollah and there may even be closer ties. None of that justifies war, of course. As for H'zbollah not being a credible threat, well, yes and no. They can't take down the Israeli gov't or lay waste to the entire country but they can inflict a lot of damage, and they've clearly shown that.

However, I think that what Israel is doing is equivalent to using dynamite to kill a mosquito in the living room.

I certainly won't justify the violence perpetrated by Hezbullah supported by Iran. Nor will I justify the sledge-hammer reaction to it by Israel which is all to similar to our reaction in Iraq to 9/11.

As usual, it's the powerless civilians who suffer because of "legal" or "illegal" actions of the murderers.

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy.” - Gandhi

party apparachicks whom advise a drunken frat boy. Which leads us to their access to nukes.

With that sick feeling in our collective stomachs we know that the Congress has sold us out years ago.

Fuck Congress.

Iraq is a mess and that is tied directly to what happens in Iran. Plus Bush is being made to look like an idiot in the current Israeli overreaction.

It's like watching a demolition derby.

That this is an attempt to make sure that Israeli assets are committed in such a way that a pre-emptive strike against Iranian U enrichment facilities is infeasible.

ANALYSIS: Israel-Hezbollah fighting yet to reach its zenith

By Ze'ev Schiff, Haaretz Correspondent

The fighting between Israel and the Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has still not reached its zenith. The Israel Defense Forces' operational plans against the Shi'ite organizations have not yet been carried out. The next two days are the most critical and a lot depends on whether Tehran decides to take a chance and authorize Hezbollah to launch long-range missiles with more powerful warheads. This is a capability Hezbollah still retains, despite the heavy blows it has suffered in the IDF air strikes.

On Sunday, Israel bore witness to the use of more powerful rockets against Haifa, which killed eight people and injured dozens more. The Syrian-made 220 mm rocket has a warhead weighing more than 50 kilograms. Hezbollah was supplied with these rockets as the Syrian armed forces were receiving them off the production lines. The decision to give Hezbollah the rockets was made when it was concluded that the group would be considered part of the Syrian army's overall emergency preparedness.

<snip>

Israel is also not interested in a third front, so long as Syria does not intervene in the fighting on the side of Hezbollah.

Another option is that Iran will decide that it is not advantageous for Hezbollah to launch "one too many" rockets at Israel's civilians. In the past 24 hours, there has been a slowing in the air strikes against Lebanese national infrastructure. Now attention is focused on
Hezbollah infrastructure, including rockets, positions and bunkers, in southern Lebanon, the Beka'a and Beirut.

<snip>


http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/739094.html



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