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| Of all things, some useful U.S.-French diplomacy. |
| 2006-08-08 |
| Wall Street Journal house editorial Prior to 9/11, no terrorist organization had killed more Americans than Hezbollah, which was responsible for the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing, among other attacks. The outcome of Israel's current war with the "Party of God" remains very much in doubt. But the good news is that Israel is being given all the diplomatic cover it could have hoped for to strike a blow to the terror group and its Iranian patrons. The U.N. cease-fire resolution for Lebanon offered on the weekend by France and the U.S. isn't everything we might like. But it does show a new international sobriety concerning the Hezbollah problem. While there are few sources of vocal support for Ehud Olmert's Israeli government, there does seem to be widespread recognition that a return to the status quo before Hezbollah attacked is unacceptable. Thus the draft resolution would allow Israeli troops to remain in southern Lebanon and to act defensively should the Hezbollah rocket barrages continue. A second resolution would then be needed to create a multinational peacekeeping force whose mission would be to disarm Hezbollah, not just verify that it isn't launching Katyushas. We doubt this or any other U.N. plan can succeed before Israel has done a lot more to degrade Hezbollah's military capabilities. But the U.S.-French approach is certainly far preferable to the kind of solution proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which is essentially an unconditional Israeli cease-fire that would leave Hezbollah intact and ready to attack again whenever it chooses. For Hezbollah, this would be a major victory--one that would damage both Israel and Lebanon for years to come. Reaction to the Security Council text has certainly been clarifying. "This agreement is bad in every sense of the word," said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, whose government effectively ran Lebanon until last year. President Bush gave the appropriate response yesterday at his Crawford ranch when he said that "Syria and Iran sponsor and promote Hezbollah activities." He added that the Syrians "know exactly what our position is. The problem is that their response hasn't been very positive. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been positive at all." . . . |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #2 You have to admit "Useless" is a lot better than the previous French diplomatic positon which was "Useful only to our Enemies" |
| Posted by: Oldcat 2006-08-08 12:11 |
| #1 Usefull? |
| Posted by: Clerert Uneamp2772 2006-08-08 11:11 |