Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Targeting Khaled, Buzzing Bashir

Well, according to the AP, an 18-year old Israeli has been killed by "a Palestinian militant group," high-level Hamas leaders, including the Palestinian deputy prime minister, were detained by Israeli forces, perhaps to "be used to trade for [a] captured [Israeli] soldier," and the Israeli offensive in Gaza continues (rather peacefully).

But that's not all. According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel is targeting Hamas's Syria-based leader Khaled Mashaal for assassination. It was he, Israel contends, who "orchestrated the kidnapping" of that Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Indeed, four Israeli planes even "flew over [i.e., buzzed] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's palace in the city of Latakia in northwestern Syria early Wednesday morning," an "operation aimed at pressuring the Syrian leadership to expel... Mashaal from Damascus". Needless to say, Syrian forces "opened fire on the warplanes, forcing them to flee".

Pay attention to this developing story. There's potential here for some serious escalation.

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1 Comments:

  • Oh boy howdy is there! I have been paying super close attention to this - and I predict it will get out of hand and that quick! There is no Senator Mitchell or Presidents Carter or Clinton to force Israel to pull back. The slaughter of that 18 year old boy - and that’s what he was, you know; for all the calling him 'soldier' seems to add gravitas - he was a geeky adolescent. Hamas - and it was Hamas no matter how loud their denial - stepped on its hang-down with so much force it has emasculated itself. Israel is nothing if not predictable in how it reacts to coercion and threats. American disapproval has been the sole ameliorating factor for the last three decades – only with Bush in charge Israel doesn’t give a good god-damn anymore. This is going to get ugly – and the Middle East is about to become even more seriously unstable than it was last week.

    By Blogger TFLS, at 11:55 PM  

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