Bigger Brother

Opening a security conference in Tehran on July 8, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad exhorted the Islamic world to mobilize against Israel and "remove the Zionist regime." The nations of the region are growing furious, he said. "It will not be long before this intense fury will lead to a huge explosion." Four days later, Hezbollah terrorists staged a raid across Israel's northern border, kidnapping two Israeli soldiers and killing eight more. Over the next day, more than 120 rockets rained down across northern Israel. Among the communities struck was Haifa, Israel's third-largest city and home to its busiest port and a large oil refinery. It was the first time rockets fired from Lebanon had penetrated so far into Israel; Haifa had been thought to be out of Hezbollah's range. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives at Shanghai's Pudong airport Wednesday June 14, 2006. Ahmadinejad arrived to attend Thursday's summit of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Ahmadinejad will make a speech at the security summit and his presence is helping to draw unprecedented attention to the annual gathering of the Chinese and Russian-dominated grouping, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. (AP Photo/Greg Baker) Israel replied to Hezbollah's artillery barrages and hostage-taking with a military invasion, much as it did in Gaza last month in response to incessant rocket fire and the Hamas kidnapping of Gilad Shalit. In short order, Israel's warplanes struck Beirut's international airport, Hezbollah's offices, and two Lebanese army bases; the Israeli navy put Lebanon under a blockade. And so by week's end Israel was at war again, this time on two fronts against two of the most lethal terrorist forces in the world. Except that the real enemy confronting it is not Hamas and Hezbollah. Terrorist organizations cannot function without state sponsorship, and no state anywhere sponsors more Islamist terrorism than Iran... [Read More]