Israel preparing for conflict with Syria

The assassination of Imad Muginyeh, which Hezbollah has blamed on Israel, is expected to lead to an attack sometime past March 22, when the mourning period ends. In preparation Israel is beefing up security near Palestine and has put its troops near Lebanon on high alert, as well as advising Jewish and Israeli institutions around the world to increase security. The more frightening aspect of this is Israel's warning that apparently an attack by Hezbollah will lead to an attack on Syria. Their reasoning might be indications from intelligence that Hezbollah is planning revenge attacks alongside Iran and Syria.

It possibly for this reason U.S. ships have been lingering off the Lebanese coast over the past few weeks. A conflict between Israel and Syria is likely to invite Iranian retaliation and escalate into a war between the U.S. and Iran.

It appears Syria is already preparing for a conflict with Israel. Israel has reported that Hezbollah's military preparations have all been made and it is only a matter of time. Israel apparently intends to target the Western Bekaa valley and will likely attack other areas throughout Lebanon.

The most disturbing possibility is that Imad Mugniyeh may not have been killed by Israel, but in fact by Syria. In this case it would be Assef Shawkat the man who is suspected of having killed a Lebanse politician which resulted in the Cedar Revolution. He is reportedly leader of a hawkish faction which wants to go to war with Israel and is pro-Iranian. The implications are clear if he is in fact the attacker.

Shawkat may have killed Muginyeh knowing the response and planning to aggravate it so as to create the pretext for war with Israel. Whether he is doing this with the help of Iran or if its known among the Syrian government can't be certain. However, it seems likely Shawkat will indeed get his war.