Israeli Airstrikes Resume

This is off CNN.Com:

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's Security Cabinet has approved an expansion of the ground campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, Israeli officials said early Tuesday.

The announcement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his military was inflicting heavy damage on Hezbollah and rejected international calls for a cease-fire until Israel has pushed the Shiite Muslim militia back from its borders.

The Israeli Security Cabinet last week rejected a call from military leaders to widen the Lebanon offensive but authorized a call-up of about 15,000 reserve soldiers. There was no immediate explanation for the reversal.

Reuters, quoting Israel Radio, reported 15,000 reservists would be called up, but it is not clear whether those troops are the ones already authorized or extra troops.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday directed his country's military to heighten its readiness, vowing to back Lebanese resistance against Israel, the state news agency SANA reported Monday.

Dan Gillerman, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said he was "not really worried" by Monday's Syrian declaration.

You know, I'm starting to wonder when a shooting war is going to start between Israel and Syria. Israel has been pushing hard against the Hezbollah milita units in Southern Lebanon, using both airstrikes and a limited ground invasion into the country. The Bush administration has given Israel its tacit approval in continuing this war, while at the same time trying to blame Syria and Iran for their support in arming Hezbollah. The Bush administration refuses to negotiate with Syria, Iran, or Hezbollah, and any supposed negotiated cease-fire agreement has to be linked to a wider Mideast peace agreement--in other words, the Bush administration has no intention of stopping Israel in its war against Hezbollah.

I've been reading some rumors through both Americablog, and Talking Points Memo on how the Bush administration may be encouraging Israel to take its war into Syria. I don't know how much of this is true or not, but it is frightening. If a war breaks out between Israel and Syria, we're certainly going to see an increased outrage against both Israel and the U.S. within the Arab world. Violence in Iraq may just increase against the American occupation forces. Terrorist forces in Syria may just cross into Iraq to conduct operations against U.S. forces. And who knows how long Iran will stay out of this conflict?

President Bush may just get his own Third World War in the Middle East.