- Security cabinet gives the go ahead for expanded ground operations
- Basher Assad preparing Syria for war
- Bush reaffirms his backing of Israel, Olmert rejects any cease fire
- IAF targeted a road near Syria to stop weapons smuggling breaking the fake cease fire, a Lebanese soldier was killed
- More ground battles in the central sector of the border
- A synagogue in Sydney was vandalized by Muslims
- Hizbollah has only fired a few mortars so far, no katyushas
10:50 PM EST: On the American front Senator Chuck Hagel (RINO-Neb.) has joined the other two RINO's Warner and Chafee in trashing Israel. He commented on the Senate floor that"the sickening slaughter on both sides must end and it must end now". Hagel went on to criticize Bush for declining to call for a cease fire and endangering "America's image" in the Arab world. He said, "Our relationship with Israel is special and historic, but it need not and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships. That is an irresponsible and dangerous false choice." All conservatives must question the fact that we have such a RINO squatting on such a red state? Even most Democrats aren't expressing such moral equivalence, at least not in public. This radically open borders, anti-war RINO is up for election in two years and must be shown the door by conservatives.
9:15 PM EST: The big news of the hour is that Olmert's security cabinet finally voted to let the IDF win and expand the ground operation. All members voted for the ground war except for one. This is a clear sign that Bush's Miami speech today was a green light to finally fight terror properly. It appears that Olmert needed the extra kick in the pants. Immediately after the decision, there were reports of airstrikes deep inside of Lebanon. This is what needed to happen and now we are in business. Five brigade-level commands - more than twice the number of forces operating in the area thus far - will operate in southern Lebanon. The IDF also suggested other far-reaching moves to the cabinet last night, including the deployment of reserve force.
It also appears that Syria is getting ready for the coming ground war. Earlier we reported that Syria detonated a bomb close to the Golan border. Debka has some more details: "Syrian president put defense minister Gen. Hassan Turkemeni in charge of military assistance to Hizballah. He also instructed chief of staff Gen. Ali Habib to personally oversee Syrian-Iranian cooperation for military consignments to Hizballah. In his order of the day to the Syrian army, Bashar Assad wrote: I call on all units, divisions, brigades and battalions to redouble their training efforts and maintain a high state of readiness. Remember that every drop of sweat you invest in training will save a drop of blood when the time comes. He added: Threats from the masters of the world (US and Israel) telling us to beware will not divert us from our path.
The IDF has already confirmed that they have killed two terrorists with ties to Syria. Jihad Atayeh, head logistic officer for Hizbullah in southern Lebanon and one of the planners of the cross-border attack in 2000 during which three IDF soldiers were kidnapped; and Nur Shilhav, responsible for coordinating the smuggling of weapons from Syria into Lebanon.
Debka is further reporting that Iranian officials are disappointed with Hizbollah's weak performance in successfully inflicting more casualties on the Israelis. They say that Iran, therefore plans to send Hizbollah longer range missiles with heavier payloads that will possibly be launched from near the Syrian border. This would make it more difficult for the IAF to destroy them without risking a Syrian response. This was supposedly the subject of the meeting between the French and Iranian FM's in Beirut. I haven't seen this report confirmed anywhere else, but if its true then bring it on!
Meanwhile, Hizbollah has renewed the rocket attacks late Monday night after a day of quiet. There were no reported casualties.
4:15 PM EST: The Iranian FM announced today that he plans to meet with his French counterpart in Beirut. Imagine the Nazi Foreign Minister announcing his meeting with another government? How would that reflect upon the other nation?
3:10 PM: As we have been reporting, there have been daily terror attacks inside of Israel. Well today, an Arab terrorist has opened fire on a car in Samaria. Thankfully, nobody was injured.
2:45 PM EST: Israeli media is now reporting that a land mine exploded just over the Israeli Syrian border yesterday. They are all saying that this is another attempt by Hizbollah to drag Syria into the war. I disagree with their premise. We have been reporting for days that Syria is already arming Hizbollah and sending special forces to assist them. Syria and Iran are Hizbollah! They have already attacked Israel numerous times. It is Israel that has yet to admit that they are also at war with Syria.
2:25 PM EST: Bibi Netanyahu was just on with Rush Limbaugh in a rare one on one interview. He spoke with his usual gifted articulation about the need to have moral clarity about this war and not to back down until Hizbollah is destroyed. Rush tried to press him about Olmert's leftist policies on the ground in Lebanon. Bibi skirted the question by saying that he doesn't want to undermine his government in middle of a war, but he added "I hope that we will have the same moral clarity that the Americans have". You have to admire him for declining from criticizing his government while speaking to a foreign media outlet. If only the Democrats would do the same! He went on to say that Americans share with the Israelis a real understanding of the terror threat, but the western Europeans don't have the morality to understand Israel's situation. After the interview, Rush hinted to the fact that it would be better for Netanyahu to be PM over Olmert. He said, "it wouldn't be a bad thing if he would lead that country again".
1:15 PM EST: Olmert delivered another public speech today. He said, "no state would put up with murderous attacks like those we have faced". This is something that I can finally agree with. Update: Olmert has rejected any ceasefire and is warning that there will be no short ending of this war.
Meanwhile, the big news of the day is that although there are many Hamas rockets being fired in the south, no more rockets were launched in the north. The IDF is claiming that although there are still thousands of rockets at large, Hizbollah only has a few remaining launchers. I'm not so optimistic because they have said this before during the past few days. We will see in the coming days if this lull in the rocket attacks was just a strategic move or a sign of weakness and depletion. There are also reports being circulated by Hizbollah that an Israeli naval ship has been struck, but the IDF is denying it. More details to come.
12:15 PM EST: Once again Rush Limbaugh is on the money. He said, "These Hizbollah guys disguised as rescue workers are parading around the dead bodies of children for our". Apparently the only thing more valuable than dead Jewish children to militant Islam is dead Muslim children." He also blasted the Israeli leftists and the administration for talking about this "sustainable cease fire" nonsense. There is no such thing as a cease fire with these people. He expressed his disappointment with Israel for not obliterating Hizbollah and threatening Syria/Iran. He makes it official that Olmert is a liberal lawyer that has been overruling IDF requests to eradicate Hizbollah. But he did praise his recent speech categorically rejecting a cease fire. In regard to the media, "Israel has replaced Bush as the number one target of the drive-by media."
11:15 AM EST: Great news! The UN just postponed debate over the establishment of a multi-national pro terrorist force to quell the violence in Lebanon.
10:30 AM EST: The President just delivered a speech in Miami where he categorically supported Israel's operation and made no mention of Israel bombing Qana at all. He just made a passing reference to the tragedy of civilian casualties. There was absolutely no pressure of an immediate cease fire and unlike Rice he demanded that the captured soldiers be returned. It is therefore blatantly clear that any retreat of the IDF in the coming days will be the result of the lack of leadership in Israel and not from American pressure.
Meanwhile, the IDF has confirmed that the rockets fired at Kiryat Shemona earlier were mortars and not Katyushas. Since the early morning, there have been no more rockets fired into Israel. I seriously fear that they are utilizing Israel's incompetent decision to suspend their aerial campaign to regroup and resupply. In the meantime, they will also receive brownie points for stopping the rockets. This is the true meaning of an Arab "cease fire".
8:30 AM EST: Column Update: Here is a great Washington Times editorial detailing all of the facts that the liberal media has overlooked in regard to the Qana bombing yesterday. Ben Stein has a short and sweet piece in the American Spectator about the weakness of Israel and the west during a time of war. Also, David Horowitz elaborates on this same theme of the lackluster efforts of the west to defeat Islamofacism.
8:15 AM EST: Well, we knew that the ball was in Hizbollah's court. They have rejected Rice's plan for a cease fire. This means that they feel they can get away with more murder before stopping the rockets and resupplying for next time. They also perceive that they can pull off more attacks without facing the prospect of full annihilation, so they want to capitalize on their opportunity. Meanwhile, they have started the rocket attacks on Kiryat Shemona again. However, there is another important aspect to this. The official rejection of the plan was done by the Lebanese government. Their President stated that Hizbollah's victory is our victory. So if the Lebanese government admits that they are at war with Israel then why doesn't Israel declare war on Lebanon itself and make the war less complex?! Because liberalism is a mental disorder!
On the ground in Lebanon: The IDF destroyed the rocket launcher in the village of Taibe that had fired on Kiryat Shemona. It appears that this has become the new front for the ground battles after Bint Jabel. Taibe is one of the three villages where 6 Israeli soldiers were injured, 4 Hizballah killed, in a ground operation to destroy Hizballah firing positions. Aircraft and helicopter cover was also provided Israeli ground forces fighting Hizballah in those three villages. Another contingent of Israeli armored infantry and tanks is heading into the Eastern Sector of south Lebanon along the road from Metullah to al Khiam.
6:40 AM EST: There has been a terror alert in Haifa for the past hour but it has just been lifted. It appears that the police have apprehended the two would be attackers.
Bibi Netanyahu addressed the Knesset and urged the government to continue the destruction of Hizbollah so as not to leave them in tact for more trouble. In his typically clear articulation he spelled out all of the concerns that we have been reporting on. He even turned to the traitorous Arab MK's and said, "When missiles were falling, when an (Israeli) grandmother and her granddaughter were murdered, I didn't hear you". At this point the big question is will Bibi finally stand up and take action to pressure Olmert to stop this suicidal madness, or will he continue to be a fraud by delivering good orations and declining to take any action?
6:15 AM EST: Several Kassams landed in the Negev, resulting in some damage. There were no reports of rocket attacks in the north so far.
The big news overnight was that Cond Rice delivered a speech in the early morning hours Jerusalem time, outlining a plan for a cease fire. She is urging UN action this week but left it kind of ambiguous without any definitive deadline. According to Rice, the deal should include the deployment of an international armed force in southern Lebanon under the control and in conjunction with the Lebanese Armed Forces; the disarmament of terrorist groups; and the deployment of LAF on the Syrian border so as to prevent the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups from that country. She made no metion of the captured soldiers.
It is unclear as to what Israel's plan is for the next few days, but it doesn't look good. If they leave Hizbollah intact without disarming and killing them and without exacting any retribution on Syria and Iran, then this will be considered a tremendous victory for all those parties. This will allow them to regroup so that they can plan even deadlier attacks next time. So far Hizbollah has only shot 4 rockets today which might indicate that they have had enough for now and will use this as an opportunity to regroup. If I were them, I would agree to the "cease fire" and be lauded as a hero in the eyes of the Arab world. They need time to resupply for the next time anyway. The international force, especially if as it seems will consist of French soldiers, will not only refuse to disarm Hizbollah, but will actively collaborate with them against Israel as they have been doing for years (remember the 01' kidnapping?)
The knee-jerk reaction would be to blame Condi for her terrorist appeasement mentality. While this is definitely true, the sole blame for any decline to eradicate the problem rests on the shoulders of Olmert and the other lefties in Israel. It is their country and they are the ones who are requesting Rice to throw in the white flag for them, and not the other way around. We will see how this plays out. I would hope that since Bolton is their point man in the UN, he would stick to his doctrine of, "how can you have a cease fire with a terrorist group that doesn't abide by it". It is also unclear if Israel will also throw in the reprehensible concession of Shabba Farms while they are at it.
12:30 AM EST: Thankfully, Israel is not holding to the aerial cease fire and has just bombed a target in eastern Lebanon. It appears that the target was a road near the border of Syria. The IAF was probably acting on intelligence about another Syrian weapons convoy on its way to Hizbollah. Meanwhile, the Kassam rockets continue to land in the south, as one just hit a dining hall in the western Negev. No casualties were reported.
12:10 AM EST: The big news from yesterday was Israel's agreement to suspend their air campaign for 48 hours following the bombing in Qana yesterday. Imagine offering a one sided cease fire to terrorists after they attacked you and continue to assail you at a record level? Well, that is the agreement that Israel has signed on to. We all understand that the pause in Israeli air strikes come at a convenient moment for Hizballah after those bombardments forced its 220mm rocket deployment which has plagued Haifa to regroup north of the Litani River. It means that Hizballah will be given the chance to move the rockets back into the south as well as bringing fresh fighters in free of air attack.
Meanwhile, the liberal anti American, anti Semitic media is focused on the women and children of Hizbollah that were killed in Lebanon(this might have been done by Hizbollah themselves) but have totally forgotten about the Friday terror attack on our own soil in which an Islamonazi opened fire on 6 Jewish women. As I predicted, the incitement of the liberal media against Jews has sparked more attacks on Jewish sites worldwide. Over night, a gang of Muslims vandalized a synagogue in Sydney, Australia. I'm wondering where these Arabs got their news from that fermented such hatred?
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