Yesterday was a picnic in the Middle East in contrast to the situation today:

Israeli forces struck Beirut’s international airport for the second time Thursday, hitting fuel tanks that exploded into fireballs.

The attack came soon after two rockets struck the northern Israeli port of Haifa on a day of spiraling violence and deepening crisis.

Israel Defense Forces said the Haifa rockets came from Lebanon and blamed the strike on Hezbollah, whose guerrillas triggered the violence when they attacked inside Israel on Wednesday, killing eight Israeli soldiers and capturing two more.

Daniel Ayalon, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, said the Haifa attack was “a major, major escalation.”

Hezbollah earlier had threatened to hit Haifa, but Lebanese TV reported that the militant group denied launching the attack on the city of 280,000.

And for all of those out there who think this has no impact on us, think again. I just received the following news alert:

Oil prices settled at a new high of $76.70 a barrel Thursday in a response to escalating violence in the Middle East

I wonder how much longer before Israel gets to bogged down in this fighting and needs assistance from an ally like, oh I don’t know, US. This situation is getting very bad and the entire Middle East is risking a threat of a total regional war. We have troops stuck dead in the middle of this and that situation will result in even higher oil prices. Hell – someday soon people will dream of the $3.00 a gallon days.