From the July 2006 Idaho Observer:

False flags over Israel will likely tip Mid-East dominoes, engulf Arabian Peninsula in long-anticipated total war

Most people realize there is little hope that a cease fire will be declared between Israel and Hezbollah. Worse, the U.S. president is opposed to brokering a cease fire and the U.S. press seems to approve the military tactic of bombing innocent civilians.

It is difficult to report this crisis objectively when it feels like the countdown to Armageddon has officially begun. But, we will try to frame the "story" in terms that are lucid, albeit leaning toward a belief it is never okay to murder innocent, non-combatant men, women and children for political/military purposes.

1. Israel claims two soldiers taken prisoner by Hezbollah justifies bombing civilian and military targets in Lebanon.

2. Israel has not declared war on Lebanon and is not claiming conflicts with the government of Lebanon are being used to justify bombing population centers throughout Lebanon.

3. Hezbollah fighters, with whom Israel claims to be fighting, occupy southern Lebanon and the Lebanese government is simply not capable of doing anything about it even if it wanted to.

4. Hezbollah, committed to the destruction of the state of Israel, has the tacit support of most Muslims and has financial and logistical supporters all over the world.

5. Israel has been bombing a poor, predominantly Palestinian ghetto near Beirut.

6. Israel’s claims that Iran and Syria are providing weapons to Hezbollah could prompt the Jewish state to attack their Muslim neighbors.

7. The combined military actions of Lebanon, Syria and Iran in defense of their respective countries will be considered acts of war that will compel the Bush administration to aid Israel, widen the Middle-East conflict so significantly that China and Russia will be drawn in to protect their interests in the region.

8. At this time, Israel has announced it intends to continue bombing Lebanon from both the air and ground-based artillery for several weeks.

9. Israeli ground troops have entered southern Lebanon.

10. The UN wants to land "peacekeeping" forces in Lebanon very soon.

11. The Bush administration is on record as stating that Israel has the right to defend itself.

12. While condemning Hezbollah for firing rockets into Israel that kill and injure civilians, the Bush administration has not condemned Israel for killing and injuring thousands of civilians in a deliberate bombing and shelling campaign.

13. On June 26, 2006, Israel bombed an power generating plant that supplied 60 percent of the electricity to mostly Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

14. The U.S. has been awaiting a pretext to start warring on Iran and Syria; North Korea has been awaiting a reason to launch nukes at the U.S.; China and Russia (along with several European nations) have been negotiating strategic defense and energy supply alliances with one another in the event that global conflict breaks out.

15. In the final analysis, World War III will probably look like this: The U.S., Great Britain and Israel against the world.

Thus far, all attempts at diplomacy have failed. There is no cease fire on the table at this time. It appears that the first dominoes lined up on the Arabian Peninsula have been tipped. By next month it will be obvious whether or not this conflict will remain confined to the current theater or will spread. As of today, the latter appears most likely. ~DWHThere appears to be no diplomatic solution to the widening conflict in the Middle East. The problem is worsening because our world has become so desensitized to war that, in the machine of politics, in the editorial policies of newspapers and in the minds of those not caught in the crossfire, it is now acceptable to openly and specifically target and murder innocent civilian men, women and children to accomplish military objectives. We have to wonder if politicians, newspaper editors and pro-war/pro-Israel citizens would be able to justify such violations of international law if their non-combative friends, families and neighbors were being massacred to prove a military point.Bush administration shows

true colors once againWhile civilized nations immediately went to work making arrangements and getting their citizens out of harm’s way, the U.S. took several days to begin doing anything to evacuate some 25,000 American nationals who suddenly found themselves in a war zone. Both the national and international media, with the help of disgusted and frustrated American non-evacuees, noted the level of ineptitude and lack of concern the Bush administration displayed with regard to Americans trapped in Lebanon. It seemed as if the Bush administration was hoping some American tourists would get killed as a means to justify entering the fray alongside Israel.