ANALYSIS / Rocket fire on North may be realization of Iran threat

[Fozzledick]

By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

Several days before Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called several of his European counterparts and warned that Israel would face additional fronts if it attacked.

The rocket fire on Thursday morning from Lebanon into northern Israel can be seen as the realization of the Iranian threat.

It is safe to assume that Palestinian operatives, working in coordination with Hezbollah and sponsored by Iran, are responsible for the rocket attacks in Nahariya and elsewhere in the north.

...

For now, Hezbollah is too sophisticated to claim responsibility for Thursday's rocket fire. Elections in Lebanon are scheduled to take place in about six months, and Hezbollah does not want to be perceived as the party that once again disrupted the relative calm the country has experienced. The group does not want to risk its standing at the polls.

However, Nasrallah's rhetoric from recent days says it all: "We are prepared for all Israeli aggression," he said. In other words, Hezbollah won't take responsibility for the rockets into Israel, but will claim credit for standing up against any Israeli retaliatory attacks, should there be any.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053821.html

The timing of this coordinated second Iranian-backed assault on Israel strikes me as intended to derail the Egyptian attempt to negotiate a cease-fire.

[bunnies]

1. Someone sure is salivating for war with Iran.

I wonder who that could be?

[Fozzledick]

2. Someone sure is desperate to rationalize Iran's instigation of war

I wonder why that is?

[bunnies]

3. Ah yes. Now its all IRAN's fault.

Who gets the blame next?

[Fozzledick]

4. Iran is calling the shots

They are the ones providing the weapons, money, and strategic direction to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Perhaps they're thinking that Obama won't let them get away with it like Bush has.

[bunnies]

5. So by your logic, the US are the ones killing Gazans.

After all, we're the ones providing the weapons, money....

hmmm

[Marrah_G]

6. Somehow...........

I'm not convinced the poster would think the killing of Gazans a bad thing.........

[Fozzledick]

9. Just the ones shooting the rockets

I'm not convinced their defenders think their terrorist attacks or their genocidal goals are bad things.

[Fozzledick]

7. No, the ones initiating the violence are responsible

Why are you so desperate to make excuses for them?

[DogPoundPup]

8. Maybe the headlines jolt reality back into peoples perspectives

example: UN halts Gaza aid shipments, cites Israeli attacks

[bunnies]

10. I make no excuses for Israels inhumane treatment of Gazans. nt

[Fozzledick]

11. You're making an excuse for aggressive war

[High Plains]

14. Har-dee-har-har. Look in the mirror.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

12. Do you think that the people of Lebanon and Gaza don't think for themselves?

Rather than Iran controlling the people, maybe Iran is aligning itself WITH the people?

[Fozzledick]

15. Some of them think they can destroy Israel by terrorism

and they couldn't care less how many of their own people get killed in the process.

Without Iranian arms and financing they would be far less capable of provoking war or exterminating their political opponents.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

16. Yes... Lebanese surely fit into the nice little caricature you've created.

Don't let reality get in the way of your belief or anything...

[High Plains]

13. Who's providing the weapons, money, and strategic direction to Israel?

Maybe we should pre-emptively bomb ourselves.