Has muscle, force and bluster finally given way to talks, peace and amicable settlements? Personally I very much doubt it, but I’d be very happy to be proved wrong.

What I think has happened is that the US and Israel have decided to take a couple of steps backwards to consolidate and give the “enemy” false confidence. They have undoubtedly concluded that the stumbling block to the Israeli/US/Zionist end game is Iran. Although attempts have been made to chip away at the beasts tentacles with the 2006 Israeli incursion of Lebanon, a failed endeavour which actually strengthened Hezbollah, and a very strange bombing of an alleged “planned nuclear facilities” in Syria, I can well imagine it has now been decided that only a full-scale operation against Iran will realistically weaken the grown power of both Hamas and Hezbollah.

I expect that the troubles in Lebanon in previous months, which came close to bring the country back to civil war, were to a great extent orchestrated from Tel Aviv and Langley, Virginia with the promise to give Israeli air cover to local ground militia giving Israel yet another chance or excuse to have a face saving rematch against Hezbollah. However they probably discovered that they had to withdraw their offer of this air support for the militias of the minority anti Syrian government parties in a freshly whipped up civil conflict, because they learned that about 4000 well targeted short/medium range Hezbollah missiles would be dispatched on Haifa in retaliation for any Israeli incursion.

So where were these missiles coming from and where were they stock-piled before reaching the hands of the Hezbollah? Perhaps these weapons were North Korean design and technology, assembled by the Syrians as OEM, with Iranian funds. That was possibly the function of that facility said to be “nuclear”, which was bombed. But probably all, or most, of the missiles had long before been delivered, perhaps the wrong intelligence was given to Israel as a decoy, who knows?

I doubt strongly though that Israel has given up or is sincerely suing for peace anywhere, or is now any closer to denying the use of extreme force in solving conflict. In fact I believe it is just warming up to create a position where it appears to be making peace, a kind of false sense of security, when a very major terrorist attack which will be spuriously tied to Iran will suddenly “appear” to put the whole process into doubt and show bad faith. This event will then be the vehicle to enable what I call Israel’s “operation clean sweep”. Simultaneous American and Israeli attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, attacks on Syria, and a massive aerial and naval bombardment of Iran, and that will be “the October surprise”. Iran’s retaliation will be the excuse to bomb Iran, Lebanon and Syria “back to the Stone Age”.

From this point on America will be on a full lock-down war footing, colour bright red alert, with bells and whistles, and with CBS/NBC/CNN commentators bobbing up and down between fear mongering and the November elections and you can bet some major “events” inside the US (a dirty bomb or bio terror attack) will be blamed on Qods military force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Sure this is just all a bit of speculation but experience shows with Israel and America, the hammer has always been the favoured tool for establishing reason in a “fair” and balanced resolutions of conflict. One missing link though may be the required Iraqi bases agreement and Iraq and Iran know it too.

As Bush said with a wink and a glint in his eye at the end of his interview with Sky’s political analyst/reporter Adam Bolton in England; “A lot can happen in 6 months”.

I wonder what Santa will bring us this Christmas? I’m asking for Peace on earth and good will to all men!