Web Opinion by Todd Beezley

Crash...Tinkle

 
We’ve all seen hotel and hospital walls lined with the little red handle inscribed, "In case of fire, break glass!"

This weekend, I think I heard that glass shatter.

For more than a year, I’ve marveled at the snail’s pace of the developing crisis in Israel. Each fresh Palestinian atrocity was met by a strong but measured Israeli response. Those of us going about our business with one eye constantly fixed on the Internet or Fox News were expecting full-blown conflict in the Middle East, long ago.

Every time the fuse was lit, someone or something poured a small, well-aimed trickle of ice water on it…just enough to delay the inevitable…until the next crisis.

After the most recent round of suicide bombings, that fuse is putting out an incredible amount of both light and heat.

Yassir Arafat has greeted the latest U.S. envoy to the Middle East with a bloody fireworks show designed to thwart his mission before it can even get underway.

Increasingly, evidence is mounting that the short-term Muslim game plan is to escalate the situation beyond the point of no return. When America placed Hizbullah on its list of terrorist organizations, all Middle Eastern terrorists knew their days were numbered. For months now, Iran and Syria have been supplying Hizbullah with offensive weapons earmarked for an assault on Israel’s northern cities. Iraqi agents had been implicated in the 9-11 attacks on New York and Washington.

As long as American forces were occupied tracking down Osama Bin Laden in Central Asia, Israel could simmer on the back burner. The forces allied against the Jewish state were free to operate on their own timetable. But rhetoric from the Bush administration linking not only Saddam Hussein but Palestinian groups to international terrorism put the Muslim killers on notice. They were next.

If things continue going America’s way in our Afghan campaign, we can soon free up sufficient military resources to attack guerilla bases in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. That would put us into direct confrontation with not only Hizbullah but also with Syrian troops that populate the region.

That explains why the Middle East is now at the boiling point. The only hope of the Muslim warriors is to goad Israel into a war before Washington is prepared to assist. The policy may very well be linked to unrest now simmering in other parts of the world, as well. Frankly, I would not be surprised to see simultaneous assaults in Korea, Kashmir and, possibly, Taiwan. Stretch America’s military resources far enough and they are bound to fail. Such would be the reasoning of our enemies around the world.

And let’s not forget the Biblical prophecies of Isaiah, Chapter 17. No one wants to see nuclear war…but the total, overnight destruction of Damascus was predicted by the Hebrew prophets thousands of years ago. The fulfillment may be just days away.

It’s entirely possible that someone will come running up at the last minute with a "super soaker" and extinguish this fuse, too…before the inevitable explosion can occur.

But for now, I’m keeping one eye on the Internet and one eye on Fox News.

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