The new war....

A good analysis from today's National Post by Douglas Davis on how Iran is now waging war against the west...

The question is not why Hezbollah launched its attack on a routine Israeli military patrol along the Lebanese border last Wednesday, but why they chose that specific time.

One thing is certain: The attack was neither random nor impulsive. On the contrary, it appears to have been carefully calculated and intricately planned. Certainly, Hezbollah would not have mounted such an operation without the prior knowledge and approval of its patrons -- Iran, which arms, trains and funds Lebanon's Shiite radicals, and Syria, which serves as a conduit and provides essential logistical support.

In fact, the operation had probably been on the drawing board for several months. According to intelligence sources, a major weapons consignment destined for Hezbollah arrived at Damascus airport from Iran last March. That was just one month after Iran had ended its voluntary co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which included surprise inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.

The Iranian consignment was transported in a military convoy through Syria and along Lebanon's Bekaa Valley to Hezbollah bases in south Lebanon. The convoy had received an official transit permit from the Lebanese government, which knew not only the precise nature of the shipment but also its destination.

The sources say the consignment included some 12,000 Katyusha rockets, as well as various other types of missiles. Of particular concern to Israel's military strategists was that the range of the new rockets had been substantially extended. They were capable of reaching Israel's main port city of Haifa, and possibly well beyond.

At the same time as the missile consignment was heading to Lebanon, an unnamed senior Iranian official was quoted as saying his country would inflict "harm and pain" on the United States and its allies, vowing to "use any means" to "resist any pressure and threats" designed to curb Iran's nuclear program. The rhetoric was not empty.

Read the whole thing...