Get ready for an invasion of Lebanon Mk II and Syria Mk I

If you believe (as many do) that a 2nd Lebanese invasion is building up (with a swipe at Syria this time round ?) with the dual goals of settling Hizbollah and boosting domestic morale, poll numbers and to quieten criticism of the government on the failure of the first invasion ... and the Jerusalem slaughter then the signs are building up. (Pic Mrs Bashir Assad)

The IDF don't give a fuck about UN Resolution 1701 and Israeli warplanes frequently fly over South Lebanon , and have drawn ground fire from Lebanese troops on at least two occasions .

On Friday 2 Israeli warplanes again broke UN Resolution 1701 and flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, the day after the attack in Jerusalem . AP report a senior Lebanese security official said the planes flew at a "medium altitude." The official did not elaborate and the Israeli military said it knew of no activity in Beirut.

The Lebanese Army also reported on Friday that 3 Israeli reconnaissance planes also violated Lebanese airspace in South Lebanon .

A UN spokeswoman on Friday denied reports that the Israeli military had crossed the Blue Line into South Lebanon this week.

The Lebanese daily An-Nahar on Friday quoted UN spokesman Farhan Haq saying that the peacekeeping force was not aware of the US decision to send warships to the region. "These ships' locations do not fall under the UNIFIL mandate," he added. (See comment below about evacuating US citizens)

Israel has also deployed three “Saar” naval corvettes, three Patriot batteries and eight military battalions on the southern Lebanon and on the Golan, some 20 bulldozer armoured bulldozers have been stationed. This was reported by Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Al-watan Voice.

Lebanese newspaper Sada Al-Balad, reported today that employers of Syrian workers in Lebanon that their Syrian employees must leave Lebanon and go back home before 10th March to join the army because the Syria authority has called up reserve soldiers.

Janes Military reports that the USS Cole has transited the Suez canal for the Persian Gulf and Tarawa class amphibious landing ships USS Nassau and the USS Nashville, (To evacuate US citizens ?) have arrived of the Lebanese coast, as well as USS Ashland a dock landing vessel which saw action of Somalia in January last year and would be ideal for picking up civilians as it can carry Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicles (LCAC)and Three Landing Craft Utilities (LCU). The group which left the US on 19/20th Feb ruary also included Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Philippine Sea and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers USS Bulkeley and USS Ross.

It is as well to remember that the signatories to the PNAC included Elliott Abrams whose great desire is to smash Hamas, and Zalmay Khalilzad the US Ambasador to the UN .

Also remember "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm" First neocon report calling for Iraq invasion by Richard Perle, Dougla sFeith, and David Wurmser, Middle East Adviser to Cheney.1996 and which preceded the PNAC - had plans for invading Syria and the Lebanon.

These guys don't never give up.

LATE NEWS Daily Star Beirut - US official calls posting of warships 'measure of peace'- interview with a senior US State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Q: Was the deployment coordinated with the government of Premier Fouad Siniora?
A: Prime Minister Siniora has spoken of this issue himself ... We do not surprise people or surprise friendly governments in the region.

LATE NEWS BUT OLD NEWS )WELL 3 DAYS OLD)

In other moves last week ,AFP report that State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Syria was placed on a so-called "Port Security Advisory List" because of "concerns about the connections between Syria and international terrorist organizations."

The move allows the US Coast Guard "to impose some additional port security measures to ships traveling to or arriving in US ports that have previously been either departing from Syria or have called on Syrian ports," he said.

Last month the US Treasury Department said that it had blacklisted four men accused of funneling militants, weapons and money through Syria to support Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq.
Also last month the Treasury announced it was freezing the assets of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's cousin as part of widening sanctions against Damascus targeting officials engaged in "public corruption."