Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov reaffirmed his commitment to send troops to monitor the cease-fire in Lebanon today. Russia already has 300 military engineers working on rebuilding infrastructure in Lebanon under UNIFIL, but according to Ivanov a second Russian contingent being sent to the country will not operate under command of the United Nations. It is expected the military engineers will return to Russia within six weeks.

Quote: "Russia is sending a peacekeeping force to Lebanon, which will operate independently of the UNIFIL force currently stationed in the region, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday. Ivanov said that the Russian force would be sent in coordination with the Lebanese government.

Interestingly, speculation is rife in Russia about who will succeed President Putin in 2008. One of the potential candidates is Sergei Ivanov himself. I've often wondered how the international community could be so spineless as to not bother to repel a Russian/Islamic invasion of Israel. But if it turns out that the only military authority in the Middle East (at Israel's northern border) at the time of the invasion may be the UN, suddenly everything becomes clear. The Bible states that at the beginning or during the tribulation period, Russia and the Islamic states will launch a massive invasion of Israel from the north...

Ezekiel 38:15-16
And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

...and the only opposition that will be put up by the international community will be to question Russia, "Have you come to take spoil?". The only nation to respond will be Israel, and they will use rockets to destroy the Russian and Islamic hordes. 

Ezekiel 39:6 
And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

...possibly nuclear weapons...

Ezekiel 38:18-20 
And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

Source Jerusalem Post, Sign On SanDiego