Syria - Israel: a brief history of a verbal incontinence war in 5 steps

1. Feb. 1, 2010 Defense Minister Ehud Barak: "In the absence of an arrangement with Syria, we are liable to enter a belligerent clash with it that could reach the point of an all-out, regional war". No one knows why his Napoleonic Majesty decided to enlighten the audience with this pearl of wisdom. But repeating self-evident truths is a strong point of many a general.
2. Feb. 3, 2010 Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem warned Israel against attacking his country, saying that such an attack would result in all-out war. During a press conference convened by Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moritanos, Moallem said, "Israel knows that if they declare war on Syria, such a war will reach their cities." In his righteous rage Mr Moallem decided to ignore that part of Barak's sentence that mentions "arrangement" and, instead, to focus on the part dealing with war.
3. Feb. 3, 2010 Israel is pushing the Middle East toward a new war, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday. "All the facts point that Israel is driving the region toward war, not peace," the official Syrian news agency quoted Assad as saying... Well, that's a permanent refrain Baby Assad uses when meeting visiting luminaries. It's probably a good way to fill a lull in a conversation. Better, at least, than the British way (discussing the weather). Anyway, this is the point when the heavies enter the scene:
4. Feb. 4, 2010 The Israeli foreign minister has cautioned Syria against drawing his country into another war, saying the Syrian army would be defeated and its regime would collapse in any future conflict..."Our message must be clear to [Syrian president Bashar al-Assad]: "In the next war, not only will you lose but you and your family will lose power." In his speech on Thursday, Lieberman also advised Syria to abandon its dreams of recovering the Israeli-held Golan Heights. It is totally unclear what caused Mr Doberman Lieberman to enter that element of personal animosity into his rousing address, but no doubt there is a personal account that needs closing. It is also unclear whether our PM empowered Lieberman to decide the fate of Golan Heights. In any case, the excessive friskiness of his FM caused the chief honcho to intervene:
5. Feb. 4, 2010 Bibi invites Lieberman for "consultations" on the above quoted eruption. The result: "We pursue peace and negotiations with Syria, without preconditions, while Israel will continue to act with force and determination against any threats," Netanyahu and Lieberman said in a joint statement. After speaking to Lieberman, the prime minister also instructed all his ministers to refrain from making remarks about the Syrian track to the press.

All this during three days... a storm in a teacup for a more normal region of the world but something that could easily end up in a war here. And all this because our PM cannot manage his blabbermouth ministers, each pursuing his own unsavory agenda.

Duh...