Larry On Pagers...

 ... for Hezbollah.  

At this point, we do not know if the explosion was caused by an overheated lithium battery or if the devices had all been modified with an explosive charge planted inside each one. Steve explores both possibilities in his article. I believe the explosion was the result of the pagers being modified with a small explosive charge. This much we know, Israeli intelligence penetrated the manufacturer of the devices and was able to either insert code into each that would trigger overheating or convinced the manufacturer — allegedly based in Taiwan — to produce lethal pagers. None of these pagers appeared to be on fire from an overheated battery. All I saw were explosions. This attack, while incredibly creative, also reflects desperation on the part of the Israelis. It is one thing to produce one phone or pager that explodes. That could be attributed to poor production quality or a targeted assassination with a rigged device. It would not immediately raise questions about the provenance, i.e., the manufacturer. At a minimum, the Lebanese killed and wounded by these devices will have grounds for a class action lawsuit against the producer.

I will not be surprised if Israelis have been able to penetrate Taiwanese manufacturer. Taiwan took a staunchly pro-Israeli stance, plus both have long-lasting military technological cooperation. In other words, Israelis may not have had a tough time "changing" pagers into small explosive devices. I agree with Larry, though, this will only stiffen Hezbollah's resolve and that means escalation.