Warfare continues to become more professional and dehumanized every day.

The purpose of Extraordinary Edition is being revisited for winter, headed into 2013. U.S. foreign policy, Central Asia and the Middle East remain key focal points. Economics and culture on your front doorstep are coming into focus here.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Israel, Lebanon and potential eruption of the Middle East

A report from the pages of Counterpunch, ominous in light of John Pilger's observations about a U.S. military build-up in response to Iran. What happens if the Middle East turns into one giant war front for the United States?

Israel Threatens Lebanon ... Again A New Middle East War? By CONN HALLINAN

[EXCERPT] "The Sunday Times (London) reports, 'According to well-placed sources, Israel is speeding up preparations for a possible attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.' The Israeli daily Haaretz says that the Netanyahu government is asking the Obama administration to supply Israel with GBU-28 'bunker buster' bombs and refueling tanker aircraft, both which would be essential for a strike at Iran ...

Maybe this is all saber rattling aimed at getting the U.S. to step up the pressure on Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Maybe, as Eilam charges, it is all about the [Israeli Defense Forces] getting 'a bigger budget.' Maybe it is a diversion from the charges that Israel committed war crimes in its invasion of Gaza, its settlement building on the West Bank, and the diplomatic storm it has reaped from its assassination of a Hamas official in Dubai.

But ramping up the rhetoric of war in a volatile region can lead to a misstep—by accident or design—and once the dogs of war are off their leash, it will be hard to bring them to heel."