Israel Agrees To 48 Hour Suspension: Time To Search For Answers?

From the AP comes this story.

Israel agreed Sunday to halt air attacks on south Lebanon for 48 hours in the face of widespread outrage over an airstrike that killed at least 56 Lebanese, mostly women and children, when it leveled a building where they had taken shelter.

The announcement of the pause in overflights _ made by State Department spokesman Adam Ereli _ appeared to reflect American pressure on Israel. Ereli, who was in Israel with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said Israel reserved the right to hit targets if it learns that attacks are being prepared against them.

Is this a ceasefire? Yes and no.

Yes. It may be called a suspension, but in reality it is a form of a cease-fire. The wording is careful and deliberate. But make no mistake, it is a cessation of a form of firing and is hopefully a sign that this can be dealt with, sooner rather than later.

No. It comes with some conditions. Throughout all of this, Israel (in my opinion) is rightfully maintaining that if they are attacked during this voluntary cessation of air- attacks they reserve the right to strike back (thus, ending said the cessation of said activity). But whatever you wish to call it, it is an opportunity for diplomats from all nations to figure out how to best deal with this situation. But for them to be successful, they must deal with some stark realities.

Let's look at this a little closer and ask ourselves some deeper questions, here.

Who? Just who are the players involved, here?

Well, there is no doubt that both Lebanon and Israel are a part of this situation. And I do not think there is any doubt that Syria and Iran have their hands in this. Hezbollah is merely their proxy force. This is precisely why, any lasting agreement must include them.

This issue and the Iranian nuke situation are central to this whole mess. It is my firm belief that Iran has been putting off dealing with the nuke issue, so they could buy time. This is time that they have used to arm Hezbollah with long range missiles. Whether they are close to obtaining a nuclear weapon is the subject of much speculation, but one thing is for sure. There has been a resounding failure of the world community of great magnitude, to recognize this.

Syria is so bent on getting the Golan Heights back, they are using this opportunity to be a player too. It is my firm belief that Syria has been an instrumental intermediary, between themselves and Iran. They are looking at having some bargaining power, if the UN ever gets their act together long enough to try and help resolve this crisis. They want a slice of the pie, so to speak.

More than anything, at the forefront, there needs to be pressure applied to Syria to stop acting as an ally and go-between to Iran and Hezbollah. Then, there needs to be some real substantial action from the UN, in the Iranian situation. These things cannot be addressed with just Israel and Lebanon, alone.

Why? Why is it important to act while this cessation is in effect?

If this continues to escalate, there will be more incidents like the one that occurred earlier today, in Qana. This is not going away by itself and I would not expect Israel to relent in their goals one iota, unless they can be assured that these attacks on Israel can be guaranteed. Would any other nation expect anything else, if they were the ones being attacked in the same fashion that Hezbollah has attacked and provoked Israel?

And the only way to guarantee this for now and in the future is, disarming Hezbollah and allowing Lebanon to take control of their own sovereignty. This means Iran must stop, Syria must stop, and Hezbollah must choked off and not allowed to continue committing blatant acts of terror in Israel, and throughout the world.

What? What is the deeper meaning to all of this?

I suspect that if I haven't lost some of you by now, here is where most of the rest of you will get off.

This is part of the master plan that Iran has dreamed of since the Islamic Republic was installed by radical fundamentalists, known today as Islamofascists.

Don't buy it, you say?

Well take a look at this montage of cartoons and pictures found over at Mike's America. Look at this real good and see what this reminds you of. Look and see the irony of it all and if your mind is truly open, you will see the hypocrisy that the world is showing towards Israel, today. If you are truly objective in your attitudes, you will also see just what the nature of this enemy, truly is.

This is a fight for Israel's existence. This is a fight against those that seek their annihilation. In Nazi Germany, they tried it as an internal measure, from within. Now, the Islamofascists are trying to finish the job Hitler started, by using external measures. They cannot crumble and eliminate Israel from within, the Israelis have way too much resolve for that. Jews cannot turn on themselves. Iran, Syria, and other hostile regimes cannot do it without provoking a large response from Israel, and possibly even the U.S. But what they can do, is use proxies and they are doing it right now.

They are desperately trying to sway the world opinion their way, by complaining about the brutal nature of today's earlier attack. Non-stop media outlets (to include Fox) are hyping and re-hyping the civilian casualties. But, how many have reported the fact that most of the victims are being reported as being women and children? If this strikes you as the least bit odd, mustn't we also consider that the men were all fight and using civilians, as shields?

How much should that point be emphasized in all of these rantings about just how utterly horrific this attack was on innocents? How much responsibility should Hezbollah assume in this? In my view, a lot.