Saturday, January 23, 2010

Israeli troop movements

Several sources are reporting Israeli troop concentrations at the border with Lebanon. That, combined with very bellicose statements of at least one Israeli minister are resulting in rumors about an imminent Israeli attack on Lebanon (Netanyahu already denied any such intentions).

I do not believe that the Israelis are about to attack Lebanon, and most definitely not with a ground operation.

The only circumstance in which I think that could happen is as part of a greater US-Israeli attack on Iran. From the Israeli point of view, striking at Hezbollah in Lebanon preemptively as part of a "active defense" of the Jews in Palestine would make sense.

So the real question is: are the USA and Israel about to strike at Iran?

I still believe that such an attack will happen sooner or later. Everything is pretty much in place for it and I am not aware of any indicators and warning which would indicate any further preparatory steps for such an attack. Unless, of course, we consider the current Israeli troop movements as exactly such an indicator.

I sure hope that the folks in Tehran are monitoring this very, very, carefully.

The Saker