Editor's Note: Short post today. Full-length columns will resume tomorrow.

LiberalOasis has been stressing that a key reason why Hezbollah provoked Israel by abducting soldiers was to scuttle progress towards resolving Israel's occupation of Shebaa Farms.

Just in case you thought LiberalOasis was crazy, that was confirmed in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle:

Hezbollah appears to have made a calculated decision to capture Israel's soldiers 18 days ago.

In the weeks beforehand, in the aftermath of Syria's withdrawal of troops from Lebanon, Beirut's government was considering ways to implement United Nations resolution 1559, the 2004 mandate that called on all Lebanese militias to "disband and disarm," [Hilal] Khashan[, an expert on Hezbollah who teaches political studies at American University of Beirut,] said.

He also said that Beirut's leaders were negotiating with Syria about the status of Shebaa Farms, the disputed border region that Israel still occupies. Hezbollah says it needs its weapons to fight for this border area.

Were Shebaa Farms to revert to official Lebanese control, Hezbollah would lose a big reason for its existence, Khashan says.

"The Lebanese government, which Hezbollah sees as an American lackey, was very serious about the implementation of the resolution, and seeing that Hezbollah became a part of the Lebanon's mainstream political process," Khashan said. "Nasrallah knew that. He knew that the Lebanese government was determined to place Shebaa Farms in Lebanese territory. Israel has always said they were willing to pull out of Shebaa Farms if they got proof they belonged to Lebanon.

"Hezbollah did not want to see Israel withdraw from Shebaa Farms. So they pre-empted and created a huge problem for the entire country (of Lebanon)..."

This is not only a lesson for how to avoid unnecessary violence in the future (strengthen moderates instead of taking the bait of militants).

But also how to resolve the current conflict.

The Israeli Prime Minister appears to be buying the flawed logic that withdrawal would be giving a prize to Hezbollah for aggression.

When in fact, it's the last thing Hezbollah wants.