The Feces Hath Been Flung...

And it looks like it could hit the fan:

"Syria has said its air defences opened fire on Israeli warplanes after they violated its airspace in the north of the country."

If this isn't enough to raise tension in an already-taut region, Iran has offered aid to Syria in the event it is required.

Before jumping to any conclusions about immediate U.S. involvement and an attack on Syria or Iran, it would be nice to have a statement from Washington about the situation. Regardless, there has been increasing reports across the globe concerning a series of U.S. airstrikes on targets in Iran:

"THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert.

Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners were not preparing for 'pinprick strikes' against Iran’s nuclear facilities. 'They’re about taking out the entire Iranian military,' he said."

In addition to this report, a former CIA official told Harper's magazine that a troop and equipment build-up has been taking place. Syrian officials have said they will not be dragged into war, but this statement seems hardly enough to dispel rumors about military action.

At least "we're kicking ass" in Iraq, apparently.

As if the Middle East activity wasn't enough for today's dose of war scares, Russia and the UK have decided to get global with the air-space violation allegations:

"The UK's Royal Air Force has launched fighter jets to intercept eight Russian military planes flying in airspace patrolled by Nato, UK officials say."

Paranoia? We can only hope.