Using Limbo Time

Today I was reading about Israeli ground troops battling Palestinian militants in the streets early today of a densely populated Gaza City neighborhood. This is getting more and more serious by the day. Ground troops in neighborhoods? This isn't your usual hit and hit back thing that has been going on between Israel and Gaza in recent years.

It occurred to me how intresting the timing is of this. Israel picked that perfect limbo time where they know Bush will not do anything in his last week as President, and Obama has no power yet to do anything.

We just learned that in June Pres. Bush refused Israel's request to buy and use American bunker busting bombs against Iran's nuclear reactor. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also asked the United States for permission to use American air space in Iraq to attack Iran. Bush also refused that.

I suppose they thought that using this twilight time of Bush's presidency would give them a window of doing exactly what they wanted to without U.S. intervention. No permission wanted or needed.