More Lebanon stuff
Countries that might send troops to police a ceasefire in southern Lebanon planned to meet at the United Nations on Monday, as diplomatic efforts intensified to end the bloodshed.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was returning from the Middle East to Washington to push for a U.N. Security Council resolution on a permanent ceasefire.
Rice, U.S. officials said, wants foreign ministers to adopt a resolution this week. The United States had backed Israel’s offensive against Hizbollah for the past three weeks but its position weakened on Sunday after Israel’s deadly attack on a residential building in the Lebanese village of Qana killed scores at least 54 civilians.
France has distributed a draft U.N. resolution on elements for a sustainable ceasefire and preparations for an international stabilization force in south Lebanon, which the council is expected to discuss on Monday or Tuesday.
But France’s draft resolution says the force should only be deployed after Israel and Lebanon have “agreed in principle” on a framework for a permanent ceasefire.
Let me say first that the Qana bombing was a horrible tradgedy. We don’t yet know precisely what or why it happened, my guess is that we will never know with certainty. Obviously it is a horrible propaganda setback for the Israelis.
As for the other matters of substance here, while I have supported an international force in Lebanon, I cannot approve of an international stabilization force. Returning to the status quo of a month ago will not serve any interests but that of Hezbollah. It is my belief that Hezbollah can not be allowed to exist as an armed force, and that if we make the mistake of simply returning to where we were, the events we see happening in Lebanon now will happen again, probably with even worse consequences.
It is also of course worth noting that hte French are talking about a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, which is in some ways silly. Lebanon is the territory where the conflict is taking place of course, but the Lebanese armed forces are not really a part of this conflict. The war is between Israel and Hezbollah. It seems obvious to me that either Hezbollah must be part of the ceasefire talks, or it must cease to exist as a belligerent party, anything else is simply ignoring where the real problem lies.
I think that the events over the past weekend may have brought us closer to a short term bandage on the problem, but they have taken us further from a solution. That is unfortunate, as I suspect that the innocents killed at Qana will be joined by many others before any actual resolution of the problem is found. It is horrible that they died, but if their deaths could help lead to a lasting peace that would be something at least. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening.
