Ya know, I am no foreign policy expert but I am thinking that Israel has made its point to Lebanon and Hezbollah at this point. They have made a point to the Palestinians as well. In fact, if their goal was to make a point to every middle east country, I'd say that they have done that quite well, too.

This has gone way beyond just making a point, showing a sign of force, and pushing Hezbollah back from the border. This has gone way beyond acting out of self defense or even acting out of fear, I believe. It has gone to the point of trying to eliminate others I'm afraid. It has turned into a prideful show of force if you ask me -- something which could possibly not bode well at all for Israel in the long run.

I am not sure that anyone thought they weren't capable of doing what they're doing so that sort of negates the issue of doing this to make a point. Israel gets a couple of billion dollars each year from the US for military support. I don't think anyone thought they were spending that on fancy doilies and tea parties.

The current conflict will not end until Israel makes it end. It does not look to me like Lebanon or Hezbollah can really do anything at this point to make it end. Nothing shy of complete surrender I guess. Continued escalation will occur until Israel calls a cease fire and calls Lebanon to the table to arrive at an enforceable solution. They have the upper hand. They can pretty much write their own ticket. Now is the time to do that ... or maybe it was several days ago actually.

If Israel does not watch out, this will escalate to levels that they should not want to go to.