World War III May Have Begun Last Week

Robert Tracinski, editor of The Intellectual Activist, in an article posted at Real Clear Politics, entitled "The War Comes to Us," convincingly argues that the conflict now raging in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon is in reality the opening salvos of a larger conflict between Iran and the United States for domination of the Middle East. He quotes David Twersky in the New York Sun, who echoes a suspicion that occurred to me as well--that the kidnapping of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shavit may turn out the be the modern equivalent of the assasination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, an event unexpectedly triggering a new world war. So far the conflict is a proxy war, pitting Hamas, Syria and Hezbollah, the proxies of Iran, against Israel, the proxy of the United States. However, the strategic geographic scope of the conflict is taking shape, and it is breathtaking. Tracinksi quotes Michael Ladeen, writing in the National Review:

"No one should have any lingering doubts about what's going on in the Middle East. It's war, and it now runs from Gaza into Israel, through Lebanon and thence to Iraq via Syria. There are different instruments, ranging from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Syria and Lebanon and on to the multifaceted "insurgency" in Iraq. But there is a common prime mover, and that is the Iranian mullahcracy."

This new world conflagration has the potential for other fronts opening as well. For example, Hezbollah already demonstrated its operational capabilities in Argentina (which has a sizeable Shiite Muslim community), with a 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy and a 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center. Al Qaida is also known to have operational cells in South America. With the cooperation of anti-US leaders in Cuba and Venezuela, it is not unlikely that Hezbollah and Al Qaida, either separately or in cooperation with one another, may carry out attacks on US, Israeli or Jewish targets in Latin America.