Coordinated attacks

Herbert London:

For a considerable period, the State Department has claimed the far-flung terrorist cells across the globe operate independently without a clear coordinated strategy other, of course, than anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism.
Based on events as they are now unfolding in the Middle East, it is time to evaluate that assumption. Evidence suggests the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and killing of others at checkpoints was part of a well planned and coordinated attack against Israel organized months ago by Hezbollah and Hamas with the endorsement of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and the probable complicity of the Syrian government.
The recent meetings in Damascus and Tehran with representation from all of the terrorist groups was a clear sign of careful planning. Osama Hamdane, a Hamas leader in Lebanon, confirmed the coordinated tactics between Hezbollah and Hamas. And Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, declared weeks ago "the enemy is stuck between Gaza and Lebanon and we are preparing unexpected surprises for him." He noted Lebanese politicians had better not offer "cover for the enemy."
It is also not coincidental that Christian Gen. Michel Aoun, recognizing the growth of Hezbollah influence and the stockpiling of missiles at Lebanon's southern border, decided months ago to side with Hezbollah.
So despite a truce agreed to by all parties inside and outside of Lebanon's government, including Hezbollah, "the gates of hell have been opened." Hezbollah leadership lied to the Lebanese and lied to the world, indicating peaceful overtures on the one hand and planning for war with the other.
Dissimulation also characterized the new Hamas government in the Palestinian territory. While its hostility to Israel never abated, there was the soothing talk of hudna, a period of peace before war. Yet all along Hamas was conspiring with Hezbollah to attack Israel -- armed, financed and fortified by Iran and Syria.
If there was ever any doubt, it is now patently obvious that terrorists can never be trusted. They regard words as weapons. Their instinct and basic motivation is violence, whatever they may say for diplomatic reasons.
It is also increasingly obvious that Iran is terror central. The C802 missile that hit an Israeli warship, Ahi Hanit, off the Lebanese coast was an Iranian-built radar guided shore-to-ship missile with a range of 80 miles. This sophisticated weapon was either sold or given to Hezbollah by the Iranian government. In fact, as one military source noted, "Hezbollah has everything Iran has."

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Zawahiri agrees. This AP report from yesterday is about his latest video.

Al-Qaeda's No. 2 leader warned in a new videotape released Thursday that the terrorist group would not stand idly by while Israeli bombardments "burn our brothers" in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

In the message broadcast by Al-Jazeera television, Ayman al-Zawahiri, second in command to Osama bin Laden, said that al-Qaeda now saw "all the world as a battlefield open in front of us."

The Egyptian-born physician said the Hezbollah and Palestinian battles against Israel would not be ended with "cease-fires or agreements." The fighting began last month following a Palestinian cross-border raid in which an Israeli soldier was captured, then expanded to Lebanon after Hezbollah militants captured two other soldiers in a raid earlier this month.

"The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires. ... It is a Jihad for God's sake and will last until (our) religion prevails," Zawahiri said. "We will attack everywhere."

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That is exactly what I have been saying the enemy position is. It is too bad that the Kofi annan crowd is not willing to comprehend this fact. This war will only end when al Qaeda, Hezballah and Hamas are destroyed. We have the capacity to do that. It is clear that the Democrats and much of western Europe lack the will. They are still bogged down in the quagmires of their minds and the completely unfounded belief that this war can be wn through diplomacy.