US Helped Plan Israeli Offensive: No Surprise!

[The report below confirms what Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said in the opening days of the conflict - that their intelligence knew of an Israeli plan to attack Lebanon that was due to go ahead later this year!]

The US government was closely involved in the planning of Israel's military operations against Islamic militant group Hezbollah even before the July 12 kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, The New Yorker magazine reported in its latest issue cited by AFP.

The kidnapping triggered a month-long Israeli operation in South Lebanon that is expected to come to an end on Monday. But Pulitzer Prize-winning US journalist Seymour Hersh writes that President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were convinced that a successful Israeli bombing campaign against Hezbollah could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential US preemptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations.

Citing an unnamed Middle East expert with knowledge of the current thinking of the Israeli and US governments, Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah - and shared it with Bush administration officials - well before the July 12 kidnappings.

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"The Israelis told us it would be a cheap war with many benefits," the magazine quotes the consultant as saying"

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