Confirmation

Israeli officials are saying that Iranian elements did, indeed, supply the drone which was responsible for attacks on both an Israeli warship and an Egyptian civilian ship. Iran is also supplying more sophisticated long-rage rockets to Hezbollah.

A senior Israeli intelligence official said Iranian troops helped Hezbollah fire a missile that damaged an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast Friday night.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information, said about 100 Iranian soldiers are in Lebanon and helped fire the Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102 at the ship that killed one and left three missing.

The Lebanese guerrilla force has shown an increasing sophistication since snatching two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, sparking Israel's largest assault against Lebanon in 24 years.

Five Hezbollah rockets hit Tiberias in northern Israeli on Saturday, causing no injuries — the first rocket attack on Tiberias, about 22 miles south of the border, since the 1973 Mideast War. An Israeli intelligence official said Hezbollah has rockets with ranges of 60 to 120 miles that could reach Tel Aviv, Israel's largest metropolitan area.

The situation is spiraling and Iran appears to be intent on starting an all out regional war. The attacks on Egyptian police and civilians is either intended as a message to Egypt or is an attempt to draw then into war as well. It's interesting that even Vladimir Putin has come out cautiously against the Hezbollah actions – and by extension – against Iran.

Bush blamed Hezbollah and Syria for the escalating violence in the Middle East. "In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place," Bush said. "And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers."

Putin said it was unacceptable to try to reach political goals through abductions and strikes against an independent state. "In this context we consider Israel's concerns to be justified," he said. At the same time, he said, "the use of force should be balanced."

Countries may have to start choosing sides if the situation continues to slide.