At the risk of sounding like a complete child . . .

. . . you can dish it out, but you sure can't take it.

Syria warns Israel over attack
Tel-Aviv behind killing of Hamas official in Damascus

"This terrorist act represents a grave development that Israel shoulders responsibility for, as it emphasizes its intention to shake security and stability in the region," the Syrian official news agency SANA quoted an official source as saying.

Shake stability? Cripes. If you were really interested in security and stability, you'd stop harboring Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Or stop the flow of weapons from Iran to the Palestinians. Maybe you'd let Lebanon have the Bekaa Valley back by taking your troops out, and stop meddling in Lebanon's elections.

Ahmed Haj Ali, an adviser to the Syrian information minister, described the assassination as a "terrorist and cowardly action."

I disagree. This would be what's called "fighting fire with fire." "Terrorist and cowardly action" is the constant targeting of civilians - a favorite practice of your friends.

... "This is not the first warning" Israel has tried to convey to Syria, Haj Ali said. "What happened indicates that Israel's aggression has no limits."

Israel had limits. But there's only so many bus bombings a nation can swallow.

Syria is foolish to believe that since they haven't been directly responsible for a terrorist act since 1986, that they're exempt from scrutiny. Even if they didn't plant the bombs, or fire the missles, or send the murderers, giving terrorists safe haven makes them accessories to every Hamas, Hizbollah, and Islamic Jihad crime.

So Israel fired a warning shot across Syria's bow, and focused a lot of attention on their policies.

I suspect Syria will continue with the bluster. I'm sure there will be another bombing by Hamas, and another martyr for the signs in Gaza. But Syria's been put on notice, and nobody put it better than Haj Ali himself:

The Israeli assassination, he said, "was meant to deliver a message to the entire world that says: 'We are capable of striking anywhere in accordance with the Israeli agenda."'

Yes, they are. And now you know they will.