(Compared to usual I mean)

Maybe, maybe not.

Full coverage at Hot Air and Euphoric Reality (go to July 12 and scroll down).

The question is, will international condemnation again pressure Israel into backing down?

Olmert's labeling of the kidnappings as an act of war got my attention, because I've wondered why all the other stuff that has happened in Israel for the past six or so years has never constituted an "act of war" and has in fact led to Israeli concessions of territory.

Here are a couple interesting side notes: Debka is reporting Iran’s national security adviser Ali Larijani is in Damascus. Yeah, it's Debka, but bear with me. Other sources confirm. Last week I heard somewhere Iran had an observer in North Korea on July 4 for the missile tests.

One gets a faint picture of a potentially nasty situation.

If Israel indeed declares war on Hamas/Palestine, I'm not sure how many of us would spew coffee out of our noses, for the reason given above. If they declare war on Lebanon, I imagine the rest of the global community will join me in asking, "Lebanon? What the hell is Lebanon, anyway? I thought that was a province of Syria."

If Israel declares war on Syria, though, the picture suddenly has sharper detail. Syria is de facto at war with the U.S. already, in Iraq, just like it's been de facto at war with Israel since roughly the past 50 years. Just like the U.S. has been de facto at war with Iran since 1979. And Iran is supposedly pledging to back Syria, and also might have some double secret arrangement with North Korea.

If Israel declares war on Syria or vice-versa, you can just imagine the headline: "Bush Dispatches Sec. Rice to Middle East for Emergency Negotiations"

Followed by the headline "Rice: 'Are you fucking nuts? I mean, I regret to announce I have accepted the position of Deputy Commissioner of Major League Baseball'."

Followed by the headline: "Congress cancels subsidies to sugar-growers, aid to Palestinians. Ups defense budget by 50%"

Followed by an analysis piece in the Washington Post titled "Tactical Nukes: How they work"

Then, presumably, President Bush would assemble the Joint Chiefs, Strategic Air Command, all those guys, and say "Let's hypothetically set aside everything I said about how democracy is a natural yearning of humankind, and just focus strictly on the idea we need to completely win a military victory. What would you all suggest we do right now?"

And afterwards, we would hope, he would nod in approval and dismiss them with the words of Al Davis: "Just win, baby."

UPDATE: I've said it before, read Ledeen:

Iran has been at war with us all along, because that’s what the world’s leading terror state does. The scariest thing about this moment is that the Iranians have convinced themselves that they are winning, and we are powerless to reverse the tide. As I reported here several months ago, Khamenei told his top people late last year that the Americans and Israelis are both politically paralyzed. Neither can take decisive action against Iran, neither can sustain prolonged conflict and significant casualties. Meanwhile, the Supreme Leader said, the terrorists are all working for Iran, and we will expand the terror war.

Don’t think for a moment that they worry about victims in Gaza or Lebanon. They are delighted to see Israel fighting on two fronts, because they will use the pictures from the battlefield to consolidate their hold over the fascist forces in the region. After a few days of fighting, I would not be surprised to see some new kind of terrorist attack against Israel, or against an American facility in the region. An escalation to chemical weapons, for example, or even the fulfillment of the longstanding Iranian promise to launch something nuclear at Israel. They meant it when they said it, don’t you know?