No problems with Damascus or Teheran, according to them:

Hezbollah and Hamas should be integrated into peaceful politics, and third countries should not be blamed for the current Middle East crisis, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

“We need to find a way for Hamas and Hezbollah to achieve their largely legitimate political goals through participation in political life … and not through force,” Lavrov told the Echo Moscow radio station Wednesday, adding that less radical parts of Hezbollah and Hamas could return to peaceful politics.

So, the destruction of Israel and eventual worldwide domination of Islam is a “largely legitimate political goal”?

This is looking more and more like a world war every day.

[Via Andy McCarthy]

And what a weekend to be immersing myself in a space conference.

As one wag once said about the Balkans, the Middle East seems to be producing a little more history than it can locally consume.