If the U.S. is forced to intervene in an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, there are thousands upon thousands of Muslims in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that will simply refuse to vote for Kamala Harris. We already got a preview of this when large numbers of them cast protest votes against Joe Biden during the Democratic primaries. Kamala Harris must win Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania if she has any hope of emerging victorious in November, and so keeping Israel out of Lebanon is of paramount importance for the Democrats right now.
On Wednesday, ABC News was reporting that Israel “is preparing for a potential ground operation” in Lebanon…
Israel is preparing for a potential ground operation as its war with Hezbollah intensifies, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Today, we will continue, we are not stopping; we keep striking and hitting them everywhere,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of the General Staff, said Wednesday. “The goal is very clear — to safely return the residents of the north. To achieve that, we are preparing the process of a maneuver, which means your military boots, your maneuvering boots, will enter enemy territory, enter villages that Hezbollah has prepared as large military outposts, with underground infrastructure, staging points and launchpads into our territory and carry out attacks on Israeli civilians.”
In addition to the forces that have already been deployed, the Israelis just called up two more reserve brigades…
The Israeli military announced Wednesday afternoon that two reserve brigades will be called up for deployment in Operation Northern Arrows.
“In accordance with the situational assessment, the IDF is calling up two reserve brigades for operational missions in the northern arena,” the IDF said.
Israel is quite serious about going in, but the Biden administration is trying really hard to find a diplomatic solution to this crisis…
The Biden administration is working on a new diplomatic initiative for a “pause” in the fighting in Lebanon and a resumption of negotiations on a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, according to two U.S. officials, one Israeli official and two sources with direct knowledge.
According to Axios, Benjamin Netanyahu is quite open to the idea of a peaceful way out of this mess…
- Over the last two days, the U.S. has been discussing the idea with France, Israel, Lebanon and several other Arab countries, a U.S. official and a European diplomat said.
- “We are working with several countries on a proposal for a diplomatic solution for the north,” a U.S. official confirmed.
- “Netanyahu gave a green light to discuss this initiative,” an Israeli official said.
If Hezbollah can be persuaded to withdraw north of the Litani River peacefully, Israeli forces would not need to enter southern Lebanon, and the Israeli government would be quite thrilled about that.
I am entirely convinced that this is not going to happen, but I think that all of this diplomatic posturing will delay an Israeli ground operation for a little while.
For now, Israel and Hezbollah continue to exchange long-range strikes. On Wednesday, Hezbollah even fired a missile at Tel Aviv…
Israel intercepted a missile fired by Hezbollah near Tel Aviv on Wednesday, an unprecedented attack by the militant group that reached deep into the country’s commercial heartlands and marked a new escalatory step in the conflict between the two sides.
People in Tel Aviv and the central city of Netanya woke up to sirens on Wednesday as Israel said its air defenses intercepted a surface-to-surface missile – the first time ever a missile fired by Hezbollah has reached close to the city, the Israeli military said.
I really wish that Hezbollah would just stop.
If Hezbollah stopped hitting Israel and withdrew north of the Litani River, an all-out war could be avoided.
Unfortunately, that isn’t going to be the way that things play out.
As war approaches, more airlines are cancelling flights to and from Beirut…
Egyptair, Emirates, Etihad, flydubai and Qatar Airways are among the airlines this week that have now suspended flights to and from Beirut due to the unstable security situation, according to Reuters and Al Arabiya.
Reuters also reports that Britain has advised U.K.-based airlines not to fly into Lebanese airspace until Nov. 4, citing a “potential risk to aviation from military activity”.
If you are currently visiting the Middle East, I would get out now while you still can.
Meanwhile, the Russians continue to gobble up more real estate in Ukraine.
In fact, we are being told that they have just entered Vuhledar…
As confirmed by both Russian and Ukrainian sources, the Russians have entered Vuhledar – a key Ukrainian stronghold at the junction of eastern and southern fronts. The potential effect of its capture is hard to overestimate.
They are also closing the lid on the near-encircled large chunk of land outside Krasnohorivka – mopping up Zhelanne 2.
The situation on the frontline couldn’t be worse for Zelensky-Biden summit.
The only way that Ukraine can win this war is if NATO forces get directly involved.
Ominously, it appears that NATO is making plans for just such a scenario…
NATO plans to coordinate the transport of a large number of wounded troops away from front lines in case of a war with Russia, potentially via hospital trains as air evacuations may not be feasible, according to a senior general.
The future scenario for medical evacuations will differ from allies’ experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, the head of NATO’s logistics command, told Reuters in an interview.
We must avoid a direct war with Russia at all costs.
Because a direct war with Russia could easily go nuclear.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin discussed very alarming changes to Russia’s official nuclear doctrine…
“The updated version of the document proposes that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear-weapon state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear-weapon state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Putin told the council.
He said the conditions for the launch of Russia’s nuclear weapons would be “reliable information about a massive launch of aerospace attack means and their crossing of our state border.”
He added, “We reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in the event of aggression against Russia and Belarus.”
So if Ukraine starts firing long-range missiles that were provided by us at Russian cities, the Russians would consider that to be a joint attack and would reserve the right to use nuclear weapons in such a scenario.
Please let the implications of that sink in.
Speaking of nuclear weapons, the Chinese just test-fired “an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean”…
China said Wednesday that it had successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, in a rare public test that may raise international concerns as the country builds up its nuclear arsenal at a time of tensions with the United States.
The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force launched the ICBM carrying a simulated warhead at 8:44 a.m. local time (8:44 p.m. Tuesday ET), the Chinese defense ministry said in a statement, adding that it accurately landed in a predetermined area of the high seas. The path of the missile and the exact place it fell were unclear.
Why can’t humanity ever seem to learn?
War is not the answer.
Unfortunately, a really bad case of “war fever” seems to be sweeping the globe.
I believe that we are going to see so much death and destruction during the next couple of years, and it all could have been avoided if world leaders had made much different decisions.
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
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(DCNF)—A second wave of blasts swept through Lebanon on Wednesday as more communication devices used by Hezbollah suddenly exploded, according to several reports.
Hand-held radios used by Hezbollah terrorists abruptly exploded in southern Lebanon and the country’s capital of Beirut on Wednesday, according to Reuters. It marks yet another blow to Hezbollah, which the day prior had a large number of its terrorist fighters’ pager devices abruptly explode, causing thousands of injuries.
The devices that detonated on Wednesday appeared to be walkie-talkie devices rather than pagers, according to The Wall Street Journal. The size and scope of the attack are still unclear.
A #Hezbollah walkie talkie explodes at a funeral today in #Lebanon after yesterday’s exploding Hezbollah pagers. pic.twitter.com/b8TIfUUBKq
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) September 18, 2024
Israel is believed to be behind the coordinated and remote attack on Tuesday, though that has not been confirmed by the Israeli or U.S. governments, according to multiple reports. Explosive devices were reportedly planted into the pagers before they made their way out of a supply and manufacturing chain — which initially was suspected to be in Taiwan — and were shipped to Hezbollah in recent months, according to American and other officials who spoke to The New York Times.
The Taiwanese company in question has denied that it produced the pagers, saying that they were manufactured under license by a company based in Hungary, according to Reuters.
The walkie-talkies that detonated on Wednesday were reportedly also shipped to Hezbollah in recent months, a security source told Reuters.
Significant damage appears to have been made to a motorcycle after a Hezbollah radio exploded. pic.twitter.com/57JfoWDmaQ
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 18, 2024
Hezbollah has frequently attacked Israel since Oct. 7, the date Hamas invaded Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people. The Hezbollah attacks have created a turbulent situation along the Israeli-Lebanese border and prompted Israeli forces to launch cross-border counterattacks.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly told a U.S. envoy on Monday that the time for a diplomatic solution had “passed because Hezbollah continues to tie itself to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict,” according to Axios.