[marron]

President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that he thinks Israel is pursuing wider goals in its military campaign than the return of abducted soldiers.

No kidding. The purpose for any war is to re-write the facts on the ground. The previous status quo is what led to war, returning to it is to guarantee further war.

Israel has to create a new reality. That includes eliminating Hezbollah and Hamas from the equation, pushing them completely out of the region. They must not survive in any country bordering Israel. And the borders have to be re-drawn, so that they become more easily defensible, but more importantly to deliver a message that violations of the peace carry a price tag that will show up on the map; an attack on Israel means a new borderline, every time. Any country that attacks it, any country that allows itself to be a host for Israel's attackers, will get measurably smaller.

[Dutchgirl]

I'm trying out my new tag line on you. You don't suppose we're in for the 1980's all over again re: Israel taking out Iran's nukes so we don;t have to--as well as playing "Payback is Hell" for the folks who bombed our troops?!

I have lots of fond memories of the 80's myself..."Mr. Gorbachev-taer down this wall!"