This will get Ugly

Hezbollah, a terrorist group that makes Al-Qaeda look like the girl scouts, just captured two Israeli soldiers along the Lebanese border. As U.S. Assistant Secretary of State David Welch said, this is "a very dangerous escalation."

Israel crossed the border immediately following the attack, preceded by bombing the interior of Lebanon, in an attempt to get the two soldiers back.

While Hezbollah supporters cheered in southern Beirut, Israel was certainly developing plans to get the soldiers back. I doubt that it will be through peaceful negotiations, despite Israel's prisoner swaps with Hezbollah in the past. As Prime Minister Olmert said. "There are people ... who are trying to test our resolve. They will fail and they will pay a heavy price for their actions."

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Israel cannot negotiate with a democratically elected government that refuses to accept its right to exist. Hezbollah will be treated as a conspirator with Hamas, and, if Israel is strong enough to fight both groups ... it will do so. Things in the middle east are about to get very ugly.

Here are two of the potential broader implications of an expanded Israeli offensive:
1) Iran will be less likely to give up its nuclear ambitions
2) If Israel invades Lebanon, Iraq might become stable as the Shiite's shift their attention.