Saturday, July 15, 2006
I just heard Lebanese PM Siniora call for an immediate cease-fire. He proposes a deployment of Lebanese and UN soldiers in Southern-Lebanon and on the border with Israel. There are some things that I would like to say about this.
- If he and the UN had done their jobs ( as stated in UN resolutions 425 and 1559; France was one of the countries that supported the latter ) it would never have come to the current mess. If such an agreement comes about, does that mean an admission of failure by the UN and the Lebanese government?
- This seems like a beginning of the end of the war.
- While chances are that such a cease-fire and deployment of Lebanese and international troops will stop the rocket attacks from Lebanon for the time being, it will not defuse the Gaza crisis or bring back the kidnapped soldiers . I am afraid that in the end they will become part of a prisoner exchange, and that their loved ones will have to wait a long time for their return home ( alive and well, I pray ).
- Israel will ( and, I am sorry, should ) use the time that remains until it will be forced to agree to a cease-fire to neutralize as many Hezbollah targets as possible. We probably will see an intensification of Israeli operations in Lebanon from now on.
- posted by Bert @ 8:37 PM
