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You know, the whole key to these people is finding a way to avoid offending their all-too-fragile egos. So, it has to look like some third party told Iran that those mean Israelis might blame things on Syria. That construction allows face-saving by all parties. Now Syria could put a stop to things because it wouldn't look like it was backing down to Israel. Instead, it can claim, it's voluntarily acting in brotherly concert with Iran.

The second recurring theme is the whole routine of claiming to be the innocent ones while simultaneously wielding the knife. Did you hear the head Hizzie yesterday announcing how HIS troups were being very careful to avoid injuring civilians? He did this at the same time they were indiscriminately rocketing civilian areas.

So, here you have a situation where Iran, instigator of the whole thing, can collect the world's approval for acting like the peace-keeper. And, of course, when the nuke issue comes up, their standing in the eyes of the world has been elevated by this whole ploy.

The thing that amazes me is that the pattern's been so consistent for so long, they have to be convinced that we're really idiots, since the media and most of the world just keep falling for it.

Haaretz:

11:00 Alert siren sounds in Haifa; residents instructed to enter protected rooms (Israel Radio)
10:31 Police arrest 2 Umm al-Fahm men suspected of blowing up jeep in Ramat Gan (Itim)
10:23 Dichter: The day will come when we will have to consider prisoner swap (Army Radio)
10:02 IAF strike kills five Lebanese soldiers, wounds 41 near Beirut (AP)
09:58 India evacuates 49 citizens from Lebanon (AP)
09:50 Police arrest 26 Palestinians who entered Israel without permits (Itim)
09:47 French evacuees arrive in Cyprus from Lebanon (Reuters)
09:20 IDF troops operating across West Bank encounter gunfire; no casualties (Itim)