hook_node_validate called on delete? Why is my hook_node_validate implementation being called when I try to delete a node through the node editing form (by clicking the delete button at the bottom of form)?  Validation fires and then my node doesn't get deleted which is not what I want.

I can delete without any problems when clicking on delete link at admin/content but not whenclicking delete button on node edit form since validation fires and fails.  What could be the reason for validation firing here?
You could check the Triggering element in the Form State for the button that triggers the Form Submission.

function MYMODULE_node_validate($node , $form_state , $form) {
  if ($form_state['triggering_element']['#value'] != 'Delete') {
    //Include the validations here
  }
}