The media has taken at face value Israel's claim that its invasion of Lebanon was in response to Hezbollah's capture of two soldiers. Regardless of whether one thinks this is totally disproportionate, there are credible reports that Israel planned its attack well before the captures.

Veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in the New Yorker in August 2006: "Israel had devised a plan for attacking Hezbollah, and shared it with Bush administration officials, well before" 12 July." Quoting a US government consultant, he added: "Earlier this summer...several Israeli officials visited Washington, separately, 'to get a green light for the bombing operation and to find out how much the United States would bear'."

Sources told Hersh, who has a track record of breaking major stories such as the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuses in Iraq and the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, that: "A successful Israeli Air Force bombing campaign...could ease Israel's security concerns and also serve as a prelude to a potential American pre-emptive attack to destroy Iran's nuclear installations."

An unnamed Pentagon consultant told Hersh: "It was our intention to have Hizbullah diminished and now we have someone else doing it."

http://www.newyorker.com/printables/fact/060821fa_fact

Hersh told CNN on 13 August: "July was a pretext for a major offensive that had been in the works for a long time. Israel's attack was going to be a model for the attack they really want to do. They really want to go after Iran."

The Guardian and BBC reported Hersh's allegations a day later:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1844021,00.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4792961.stm

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on 21 July 2006 that "Israel's military response by air, land and sea to what it considered a provocation last week by Hezbollah militants is unfolding according to a plan finalized more than a year ago…When Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers last week, the Israeli military was ready to react almost instantly.

"'Of all of Israel's wars since 1948, this was the one for which Israel was most prepared,' said Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at [Israel's] Bar-Ilan University. "In a sense, the preparation began in May 2000, immediately after the Israeli withdrawal…By 2004, the military campaign…that we're seeing now had already been blocked out and, in the last year or two, it's been simulated and rehearsed across the board.'

"More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to US and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail. Under the ground rules of the briefings, the officer could not be identified."

The New Statesman, a well-respected journal, reported on 4 August 2006 that Israel planned the invasion before the kidnappings and informed the Americans, who then informed Britain.

"Blair knew the attack on Lebanon was coming but he didn't try to stop it, because he didn't want to,” said John Kampfner. "He has made this country an accomplice, destroying what remained of our influence abroad while putting us all at greater risk of attack…This has been a case not of turning a blind eye and failing to halt the onslaught, but of providing active support."

http://www.newstatesman.com/200608070017

The Daily Mail reported on the same day that "Israel had briefed Washington about its concerns before and London was 'kept in the loop', according to one insider. MPs also seized on the revelation that Mr Blair’s Middle East envoy - and chief fundraiser - Lord Levy had met senior Israeli ministers dozens of times in the run-up to the conflict.

"While the controversial peer frequently meets top Middle East figures as part of his role, the contact was stepped up during June and July - revealing how close the links are between London and Tel Aviv.

"…Dr John Pike, head of the Washington-based military think tank Global Security, said: 'Has the US given Israel a green light to attack Hezbollah and push its troops into southern Lebanon? Yes, of course it has.'

"Dr Pike said he believed there was an agreement between Israel and the US that Iranian nuclear plants would eventually - probably next year - have to be bombed to stop the development of a nuclear weapon. Once that bombing takes place, Iran will order Hezbollah to attack Israel. Thus, Dr Pike claimed, the US and Israel agreed in secret that at some point before the attack on the Iranian nuclear sites, Hezbollah had to be disarmed and that as soon as a pretext became available, Israel should use force."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=399005&in_page_id=1770