Iran's chief nuclear negotiator visited Damascus one day before crisis.

[sugapablo]

While this is from an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph, it contains some revealing information within it.

(Iran's chief nuclear negotiator) Mr Larijani paid to Damascus last week after his discussions in Brussels with Javier Solana, the EU's foreign affairs representative, ended without agreement. Apart from fulfilling his duties as chief nuclear negotiator, Mr Larijani, a former Revolutionary Guards commander, is chairman of Iran's national security council and a close confidant of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spiritual guardian of the Islamic revolution and the driving force behind the attempts to acquire a nuclear weapons arsenal.

During his stay in the Syrian capital, Mr Larijani briefed Syrian intelligence officers about the nuclear talks and the latest developments in Iran's mutual defence co-operation with Damascus. Mr Larijani then met senior Hizbollah representatives.

The following day, Hizbollah launched its operation against Israel's northern border, kidnapping two soldiers and killing eight others. The operation had been more than a month in the planning, and Teheran dispatched a team of 20 Iranian Guard commanders to southern Lebanon in mid-June to oversee the preparations. There were also shipments of military equipment, including surface-to-surface and anti-ship missiles: the Iranians were well aware that Israel would not tolerate an attack on its northern border with impunity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/07/21/do2102.xml

So Iran, in an effort do deflect the G8 and the UN from bringing its nuclear ambitions into their discussions, sets events in motion, and succeeds brilliantly.

Children die on either side of the Israel/Lebanese border, and Iran laughs in everyone's face. The world is being manipulated.

[John Q. Citizen]

1. Yes, except that Israel has been planning this incursion into

Lebonon for over a year.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/21/MIDEAST.TMP

Israel set war plan more than a year ago
Strategy was put in motion as Hezbollah began increasing its military strength
Matthew Kalman, Chronicle Foreign Service

Friday, July 21, 2006

(07-21) 04:00 PDT Jerusalem -- Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to a plan finalized more than a year ago.

In the years since Israel ended its military occupation of southern Lebanon, it watched warily as Hezbollah built up its military presence in the region. When Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers last week, the Israeli military was ready to react almost instantly.

"Of all of Israel's wars since 1948, this was the one for which Israel was most prepared," said Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University. "In a sense, the preparation began in May 2000, immediately after the Israeli withdrawal, when it became clear the international community was not going to prevent Hezbollah from stockpiling missiles and attacking Israel. By 2004, the military campaign scheduled to last about three weeks that we're seeing now had already been blocked out and, in the last year or two, it's been simulated and rehearsed across the board."

More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. Under the ground rules of the briefings, the officer could not be identified.

More at the URL.....

[sugapablo]

2. Every army does that...

Israel has plans for attacks on dozens of countries. The US does to. Every major army in the world develops detailed plans on exactly how they would carry out invasions/attacks/raids, etc. under numerous situations.

This is nothing out of the ordinary nor special.

I mean hell, I'm sure the US military has a detailed plan on how it would invade Britain!

[Warren Stupidity]

3. Sorry but you are at the least leaping to conclusions here.

Nice try. Are you really in favor of widening the war to include Iran and Syria?