Heating up

Here it comes.

It looks like the showdown is coming in the Middle East. Israel is coming down hard on the state-sanctioned Hamas and Hezbollah whackjobs who are kidnapping Israelis and firing rockets into Israel from Lebanon. This has included attacks on the Lebanon infrastructure, including roads and bridges.

These groups have been backed, openly or not, by the governments of Syria and Iran. It looks like Israel has decided that the conflagration is inevitable…why wait until Iran has nuclear capability to bring to the table? The Europeans have been largely silent on Israel’s response to the latest kidnappings and attacks as well, foregoing the usual hand-wringing and calls for understanding. Maybe some understanding has percolated through the European consciousness, finally. Perhaps these latest actions by Hamas and Hezbollah have finally convinced members of the world-at-large that there is no negotiated peace to be had in the region.

The world and, surprisingly, the impotent United Nations have also recently shown declining patience with Iran’s rope-a-dope delaying tactics while it openly pursues the A-bomb in flagrant disregard of UN wishes.

Most of Israel’s neighbors (Egypt perhaps excepted) seek the country’s demise, and any pretense toward discussion of peace has proven to be a tactic to tie Israel’s arms while the guerillas regroup and attack. Israel’s military might is the only thing that has protected it to this point from open military confrontation with Iran and its puppet state, Syria.

So Israel has pulled off the gloves. Good. It’s about time.

It’s been a military principle predating Sun Tzu that you can’t allow your enemy to choose the time and place of the battle…to do so is to fight under a large handicap. If Israel thinks it has the advantage in terms of preparedness or capability, perhaps now is the best time for this confrontation to take place – particularly with a lot of American firepower sitting next door in Iraq and in the gulf, handcuffing Iran’s potential to enter the engagement.

So it’s put-up or shut-up time for Hamas, Hezbollah and their supporting governments. The Rantmeister is betting emotion wins out over prudence on the part of the guerilla groups and they push this engagement to the hilt, giving Israel the chance and justification to deliver a well-deserved smachdown.