Rumors of War

After glancing at the news today, it struck me that most of the pertinent news stories revolve around the concept of "Rumors of war" - one of the signs of these last days:

Analysis: Western Naval Fleets Heading to Lebanon

Hizbullah, the armed Iranian-Syrian terrorist proxy, is resorting to all sorts of force, terrorism, intimidation, threats, bribery, division, sectarianism and instigation to install a new puppet government in Lebanon after toppling the Hariri national unity government...

The United States, European countries, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and many other countries have been conducting around the clock consultations on the highest level to abort this vicious Syrian-Iranian scheme. The Syrian-Iran full control of Lebanon will impose a dire threat to all the Arab countries, Israel, and Europe.

Gheriafi learned from reliable European Intelligence sources in Brussels that at least two well-equipped Western military fleets were urgently ordered to move from the Arabian Gulf to positions close to both Syria and Lebanon in the Mediterranean Sea.

The same sources said that the Israeli air and navy forces have been on a high alert status since last Friday after Lebanon's Druze Leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, decided to join Hezbollah and Syria with his parliamentary bloc

Two Rocket Attacks Break Hamas 'Ceasefire' Pledge

Two Kassam missile attacks on a Negev kibbutz Tuesday evening broke Hamas’s promise to halt all terrorist attacks. No injuries or damage were reported, and the IDF has not retaliated – yet

'Time will probably come' when Israel launches attack on Iran

It is only a matter of time before Israel launches an attack on Iran to prevent it from developing nuclear arms, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told a university crowd on Monday.

“I firmly believe that the time will probably come when Israel launches a strike on Iran,” Benjamin Anthony, a sergeant and heavy machine-gun operator in the IDF, told a gathering at York University.

“Israelis are not willing to see Iran become a nuclear power. Absolutely not. I believe there is near-total unanimity on this point. If our people are imperilled, if our citizens are under threat, then it is our reason for being here to repel that threat at all costs and to launch a strike that will effectively neutralize that.”

MI chief: Iran 1 year away from bomb

Iran will be able to manufacture an atom bomb within one to two years from the moment it decides to do so, Military Intelligence Chief Major-General Aviv Kochavi estimated Tuesday

In his first appearance before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Military Intelligence chief said that the question is not when Iran will have a bomb, but how long it will take it to produce it from the moment Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei makes the decision.

Preparing for War with Russia? Washing to Rearm Georgia for New Conflicts

Recent reports in the Russian news media have detailed plans by the U.S. to provide the Mikheil Saakashvili government in Georgia with tens of millions of dollars worth of anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons.

Until now, however, the U.S. has been cautious about rebuilding and upgrading Georgia’s military arsenal or at least acknowledging that it is doing so. If recent reports prove true, Georgia is to receive a large quantity of high-tech weapons from the U.S., including surface-to-air missile complexes, Stinger and other portable surface-to-air missiles, Javelin third generation guided missiles and Hellfire air-to-surface missiles, the latter two designed for penetrating armor.

In short, the U.S. will provide precisely the weapons Tbilisi needs for a new assault against South Ossetia and a new war with Russia.

The ongoing "rumors of war" have become so common and so frequently noted in the news, we barely blink anymore.
But it is interesting that in just one day of news coverage, we see so many various accounts of preparations for war - war that could break out at any moment.