Rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon. From Belmont Club….

The NYT reports that 3 rockets have been fired into Israel from the North. This raises a number of questions: is Hezbollah opening, or threatening to open a second front? Has UNIFIL been effective in preventing the reoccupation of the border towns and Hezbollah’s rearmament?

I don’t agree with the Belmount Club on this one. I think that Abu Muqawama has it right when he says……

For once, I am inclined to believe a Hizballah spokesperson. (Although this particular spokeswoman is most certainly “Madam No” herself, quite possibly the worst spokesperson in the history of spokespersons. Or speaking.)

a) I honestly do not believe that Hizballah has an interest in sparking an Israeli counter-attack (just yet) through an action of their own.

b) If this was Hizballah, I would think it would be a little more spectacular than three to four rockets.

c) This has happened before. Some rogue Palestinian group or Sunni group will manage to launch a few rockets into Israel. Hizballah will get a case of the red ass because, hey, resistance along the Blue Line is their territory — and theirs alone. And as long as the Israelis play it cool, no one else gets hurt.

From The Nation…..

Other sources however told TheNation that Durrani was sacked for his controversial statements to Indian media about the identity of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone suspect of 26/11 Mumbai attacks. His disclosures created a lot of confusion about Pakistan’s stance on Mumbai incident.

Sources further said that more heads could roll in the days to come as consequence of these developments that had forced Islamabad to confirm on Wednesday that Ajmal Amir Kasab was a Pakistani national, a confession dealing severe blow to the image and credibility of the PPP-led coalition government.

Pakistan has a new director for its intelligence agency. He is supposed to put a new face agency and convince everyone that Pakistan is not supporting terrorists. But listen to what he has to say. From Spiegel….

Pasha is apparently adept at overcoming old divisions. However, it is worth listening closely when the general explains why he too is unwilling to apprehend the Taliban leadership, even though many claim that Taliban leader Mullah Omar, for example, is in Quetta, a city where Pasha lived until a few years ago. “Shouldn’t they be allowed to think and say what they please? They believe that jihad is their obligation. Isn’t that freedom of opinion?” he asks, defending extremist rabble-rousers, who are sending more and more Koran school students to Afghanistan to fight in the war there.

Such words from Pasha arouse the old suspicion that the ISI is playing a double game.

I don’t think you can accuse this dude of playing a double game. He flat out told you what his views were.

Edit: Wretchard has a good point…..

The US already knows the Pakistani government — if such an entity can be collectively referred to — was guilty of the Mumbai attacks. But since the “international community” can’t nerve itself to use force and Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, the plan is to support the international community’s Pakistani guys fight al-Qaeda’s Pakistani guys. Because only Pakistanis are actually going to be allowed to act directly in this situation.

But they need help. To strengthen their political hand the US has conveniently slipped signals intelligence into the hands of the Indians, because although the al-Qaeda Pakistani guys know they have nothing to fear from the US, for reasons we must pass over here, they may still have something to fear from India next door. And that fear may give the international community’s Pakistani guys the edge in what comes next.

But what comes next?

From the Belmont Club….

The New York Times lays the groundwork for a campaign that’s just waiting to happen. The new menace is Third Hand Smoke, a danger so great that you instinctively fear it even if you’ve never heard of it.

I say we declare smoking a crime publishable by death and let the smokers choose how they will die as long as they pay for it themselves. I reckon that most of them will chose death by cigarettes.

From Spiegel…..

Motorcycle gangs have long kept the police busy with violence and drug trafficking. But now investigators are alarmed by a new threat: Militant neo-Nazis are rising through the ranks of the Hells Angels in Germany.

To a certain extent, neo-Nazis in Germany always get more press than they warrant due to the nation’s past. But there does seem to be some real social degradation going on.

All across Europe, organized groups willing to use violence are growing in strength and popularity. Meanwhile, the states that make up Europe seem to lack the will to tackle thugs with a cause effectively. If they keep up that lack of will long enough, pretty soon they won’t have the means regardless of the will.

This week’s essay of the week covers Israel’s last excursion into Lebanon in depth. In light of recent events, it is a history that is worth reviewing.

From Y-net News……

“Why am I one of the few that have expressed understanding for Israel? … I am enjoying the luxury of telling the truth,” Schwarzenberg told the daily.

From the Telegraph….

Israel has launched a ground invasion of Gaza, sending a column of troops and tanks into the Palestinian territory to destroy Hamas rocket launchers.

It is hard to think of a good ending to this. Israel does not want to reoccupy Gaza, but anything short of that is unlikely to destroy Hamas. I think they are hoping that if they destroy enough tunnels and cause enough damage, Hamas will collapse on its own.

But I think that this is unlikely. TV stars have a way of getting the money they need to survive. And right now, Hamas is a TV star all over the Arab world.