IAF strikes Beruit airport

[jhp]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3274810,00.html

Reports coming in about IAF striking Beruit airport, if this is confirmed this is another sizable escalation. I think this article ought to be pinned.

[goodnesswins]

YOU are witnessing history....that you'll be explaining to your grandchildren years from now.....provided we annihilate the fricken TERRORISTS!!!!

[rogator]

"If Iran attacks Israel,"
How? We would let them cross through Iraq?
".... dollars to doughnuts NK will blitskrieg SK"
And trigger a 30 minute nuclear war.
".... Maybe China will go for the trifecta and launch a naval invasion of Taiwan..."
After NK is turned to glass? I don't think so.

[cornfedcowboy]

CNN International is now on CNN regular-live!!!!!

[Miztiki]

CNN is showing live coverage folks...

[processing please hold]

Turns out it was all a setup. Israel can now carpet-bomb the place with impunity knowing that their own people have been vacated.

I remember threads on the subject. It was a very smart move for Israel to move her people in closer. Left a perfect target without fear of hurting their citizens.

[Cementjungle]

It's a simple equation: We are the world's wealth, we are the economy. We have more to lose from total war than those still living in the 6th century. It's our economies that will be crushed by the end of flowing oil. Since we have the most to lose from war, we will make dern sure that the lid doesn't come totally off the pot.

No sane person on the planet wants a war. The unfortunate thing is that not all the players in this one are all that sane, or at least their desperation makes them seem that way. I hope the sane ones, and I'll bet many are working behind the scenes on this, outnumber and outwit the insane ones. I also hope the insane ones get knocked back 20 years so they have to start all over.

[kingu]

China is the wild card. They've gotten themselves in a poker game w/ W and it remains to be seen how far they are willing to take this lame hand.

Here's my read on China: South America and Africa are their future customers. A dollar of investment there goes far further than anywhere else in the world, not to mention it being a stable outlet for arms production. While the rest of the first world is playing games in the Middle East, they're working on the future.

Taiwan: So long as Taiwan doesn't take any steps to affect China's present status quo, all that's going to happen is a few military folks will be given beanies to go play in the straits every once in a while. Meanwhile, long term creation of a blue water navy and related surface ships to actually affect another piece of land is being worked on, but five years off before they could consider taking anything, ten years before they can imagine holding what they take.

Trade is their downfall at the moment. Any action they could take has to be weighed against an economic collapse. They're busy working on shipping out Christmas right now and getting ready for Valentine's Day. An economic boycott would cripple the country in weeks - and there are a lot of citizens who quite enjoy the benefits of trade. Cut it off, and China's vast armies will be protecting it's leaders (if the armies don't take out the leaders themselves.)

Were China in a military stance, their target wouldn't be Taiwan, nor any place most would expect, but instead North Korea. They have a near daily excuse to invade due to the constant rebel actions along that border. Take out North Korea, rebuild it with a quick eye on returning the land to a unified Korea, and money will keep flowing, the military gets their play time, and manufacturing continues at breakneck speeds.

As a threat, China's future, not present, for us and most of the world.

[kimmie7]

I so don't want to think about Dan Rather's sphincter.

[kabar]

Meanwhile, an active mideast war might be just the impetus required for us to finally go get our own oil for a change.

What does that mean? It will take many years to develop alternate energy sources. We use one quarter of the world's oil now.

[Mom MD]

Got it, thanks. As much as I hate CNN, they are kicking Fox's butt lately.

[conservativepoet]

CNN now showing Breaking CNN INTERNATIONAL coverage of rocket attacks in N. Israel.

[NormsRevenge]

Got it on now..

Injuries in rocket attack on
N. Israel, 1 reported dead,
several injured.

[goldstategop]

I suppose this is another RRH Israeli display of bombing empty buildings and blowing up bridges and runaways. Like Hezbollah is impressed by Israeli timidity. When Israel napalms Hezbollah terrorist leaders, will we know Israeli strategy has really changed.

(The Palestinian terrorist regime is the crisis and Israel's fist is the answer.)

[elli1]

I was kinda hinting (badly as it turns out)

If it's any solace, I caught your drift first time around.

[jeltz25]

Ahmadinejad doesn't care about deterrents. Iran is already attacking Israel through Hezbollah and Hamas. They will continue to do so. They'll attack through Syria as well.

What makes you so sure Oran can't compete with Isarel military. The Israel of 2006 is most emphatically not the Israel of 1967. They are becoming a spent force. They can't even take care of a few thugs in Hamas. And you're so confident they can take care of the Iranians?

[cookcounty]

"Does DISH? Is there anything out there - satellite wise.

For $100 Dish will put up an International dish that is capable of pulling in tons of international TV. The channels are a la carte and generally run $6-10/month per each.

[FredZarguna]

How will Iran attack Israel?

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.

Do you think they might be sending in the twelfth imam?

[cyberian_cartoon]

Might have to fire up the coffee maker.

[SunkenCiv]

Be interesting to see if Russia gets WTO status tomorrow.

Oh, it'll happen. Russia has threatened (very quietly) any nation sending reps to "The Other Russia" conference (which is pro-democracy and anti-Putinocracy), and the rest of the EU is counting on all that Russian-controlled / produced natural gas and petroleum.