More To Be Proud Of

[filkertom]

Our government's official line:

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States declined to join calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, insisting such a pact would only be a temporary fix for the worsening crisis.

"What ... everybody wants to see is a cessation of violence," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"But nobody wants to see a cessation of violence done in such a way that you end up back where we are today at some point in the future."

A United Nations team, European Union foreign ministers and other key political players have called for a ceasefire, but Hezbollah has already rejected such a step on terms laid down by Israel.

A senior State Department official meanwhile spelled out Washington's objections to an immediate ceasefire.

"A ceasefire is a very specific term," the official said. It implies some sort of temporary status.

"You want to get to a place where you actually have a cessation of violence not only in the immediate term, but the longer term. Ceasefire implies a state of suspended hostilities which is not what you want," the official said.

"In order to have a lasting cessation of hostilities, you have to take those steps where the government of Lebanon exercises control over its entire space and Hezbollah is dismantled," the official said.

The official's comments bolstered the view of analysts who have interpreted Washington's statements on the crisis to mean that the Bush administration wants to allow Israel space to wipe out Hezbollah's infrastructure.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Friday said a ceasefire would only be considered on three conditions: that Hezbollah release two captured Israeli soldiers, the firing of Hezbollah rockets on Israeli towns cease, and that the militia be disarmed in line with a UN resolution.

In Damascus, Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is a key backer of Hezbollah along with
Syria, called for a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners between Israel and Arab militants.

"We need to reflect in a reasonable and just manner so that we can put an end to the crisis," Mottaki said after talks Monday with President Bashar al-Assad. "A ceasefire could be pronounced which would be followed by an exchange."

[Emphasis mine.]

So, basically, our State Department is demented.

Comments

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

What makes you think it's just the State Departent that's demented...?

That conversation that got caught by a mic that should've been off, shows that both Tony and Bush are dead set against peace. They want the war to continue, everywhere, anywhere... all the time.

Right about now I'm seriously considering wether there's some sort of Evil spirit possesing them all, or something. Because the other explaination is that somehow they've all gone completely howling at the moon bonkers!

[antongarou.livejournal.com]

Actually, that remark that got caught is nearly on the money.Until Hizbullah stops firing rockets at Israel *nothing* will happen except more bloodshed.

[kimpire.livejournal.com]

The conversation that got caught by the mike demonstrates an understanding of the region far beyond anything you usually attribute to Bush and Blair. The UN doesn't seem to understand that merely declaring a unilateral cease-fire (and not retrieving Israel's lost soldiers, not doing anything to remove a terrorist organization from its borders, etc.) merely allows them to regroup and continue massing forces on our border for the next incursion.

Never forget that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon was universally recognized as complete and that Hizbullah, as a part of the Lebanese government, has committed a direct act of war from one sovereign state to another. It wasn't an act of "resistance", of "freedom fighting", or any of the other bullshit that Europe tends to use to legitimize Islamic terrorism. And putting up a cease-fire won't solve the root of the problem: Iran and Syria trying to reduce international pressure on their own regimes by focusing the world's attention elsewhere through a terrorist proxy. Bush and Blair's conversation demonstrates an understanding of this that many other people seem to lack.