Khraa...

This can't be good.

For those of you who don't follow things so close to the cradle of civilization, here's the scoop.


1) Palestinians captured an Israeli soldier on June 25th and are (still) holding him, demanding that the Israelis release a number of Arab prisoners (political and otherwise).
2) Israel retaliates by bombing the hell out of Gaza Strip, including a couple of pot-shots (with missiles) at the Palestinian PM's house & office.
3) Hezbollah, the "Party of God" launches a surprise attack on Israel on July 13th from their stronghold in south Lebanon, killing a few Israeli soldiers and capturing two. They claim the raid was long planned. Israel's not buying it, and they've blamed the Lebanese government, since Hezbollah is a recognized political party therein. Hezbollah, in turn is also demanding the release of prisoners (it worked last time with a little bit of patience and some killin'). The Lebanese government, on the other hand, is in a series of emergency cabinet meetings and a very public show of innocent ignorance.
4) Nonplussed, Israel has bombs the international airport in Beirut. Twice.
50 Hezbollah fires missiles. Civilian and military casualities mount, etc., etc.

I repeat: this can't be good. It never ends well when these two amigos start kicking sand at each other in the sandbox. Their friends always come over and someone breaks the stereo... and with the Americans chilling nearby and Iran already on edge, this could be even messier than usual. Someone might get grounded. Then again, all things considered, everyone other than Iraq is in a remarkably deja-vu-esque position compared to good ol' 1982.