Syria Gets What They Wanted

This is highly telling:

It was the first such high-level contact between the Syrian leader and a Western official since last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Harir, which worsened Syria's relations with Europe.

Diplomats in Damascus said Syria was confident it would emerge from the crisis with a stronger position compared with the isolation it has been under since the Lebanese-Saudi billionaire turned politician was killed.

"The situation is dangerous but look at how many people are contacting Syria now," one Western diplomat said. "Damascus is back as a main player."

So Syria wanted to be noticed again. Just like an aging Hollywood actress whose best roles were decades behind.

As mom always said though, "be careful what you wish for" because the attention you receive may be from a nation that won't hesitate to put a JDAM through your window.

In other news from the region:

*The explosion on an Israeli naval vessel was from an Iranian-made missile and not a drone as previously believed.

Update: Just to expand on this a bit; Iranian military personnel have been accused of shooting a missile at an Israeli ship and killing Israeli sailors. The Iranians have not commented as to the validity of that accusation, which says to me that they don't care if the world knows that they've committed an act of war against Israel. This is the most significant development of the day.

*Israel issues Syria an ultimatum. Assad cannot back down from Israel as he lost face when he was forced to pull out in the wake of the Harriri assassination. If any internal opponents smell weakness, boy Assad may be toppled. Cap'n Ed wonders if Assad's stature has already taken a hit.

*The little ankle-biting pinko dictator--and close friend of Cindy Sheehan--Hugo Chavez has made his thoughts known:

The Venezuelan leader charged that Israel is using excessive force."Are we going to bomb cities and tell them that we won't stop bombing until they return the soldier? That's crazy," he said.

"Worse, it's craziness with nuclear bombs. (The Israelis) have their weapons of mass destruction and nobody criticizes them, nobody says anything because the empire is behind them," Chavez said.

Blaming the escalation on Washington's undue influence, Chavez said: "The U.S. empire's desire to dominate has no limits and that could take this world to a real Holocaust. May God save us."

Nice choice of words there Fidel...er, Hugo.

Update: A new thread on all things relevant to the issue at PJ's Media.

Update 2: "Live by the suicide bomb, die by the suicide bomb."

Update 3: Who is Hassan Nasrallah? Take a look for yourself and hear his own words. Via Vox's Den who writes:

Did you ever watch Hezbollah units parading in Beirut’s Southern suburb and and making the fascist salute to Nasrallah? Well guess what happened to the guys wearing dynamite belts and holding cardboard RPGs? These mighty fighters were occulted by God overnight. They just vanished. Nobody knows where they are, but according to some rumors Beirut's sewers are experiencing a lot of demographic growth these days. But there's no need to worry, the resistance will be back. Once the last Israeli plane leave Lebanon, our courageous Hezbollah fighters will return to threaten the Lebanese who dare to question their policies.

The real tragedy is that there’s only one Hezbollah thug killed until now; meanwhile 60 innocent civilians are lying on the ground. Israel cannot really get the Hezbollah so it is going for easiers target instead. These fanatics justified their existence by pretending that they defended Lebanon against Israel. They are now hiding behind (and under) the civilians they claim to defend. Who’s defending whom exactly?