The Italian Job

Italy, the largest trade partner for Lebanon and a country with historical ties to Lebanon that span back to the Roman Empire, is making great gestures of support in this conflict.

• Rome will be the venue for an international conference to discuss aid to Lebanon.
• Italian ships full of humanitarian supplies are also on the way.
• The Italian foreign minister is pressuring Syria to get a dialogue going.
• Italians marched in peace demonstrations in Rome
  
• Pope Benedict led a international day of prayer on Sunday for peace in 'destroyed' Lebanon (hey, I'm agnostic but it's the thought that counts).

And yet, a friend of mine alerted me the other day to an alarming finding that can be described at best as an eerie coincidence and at worst an outright conspiracy.

Israel has invaded Lebanon twice, once in the summer of 1982 and now in 2006.

Guess who won the World Cup both times?

Quad Erat Demonstrandum.