[Fitzcarraldo]

22:03 British Foreign Secretary departs for UN to push deal on Mideast resolution (AP)

21:15 Mubarak accuses U.S. of failing to act quickly enough to defuse Lebanon crisis (AP)

21:06 Israeli official: Cease-fire resolution would call for `emboldened UNIFIL` (Reuters)

[conservativehistorian]

This putative cease fire agreement is a huge setback for the United States and possibly an existential disaster for Israel, for the following reasons:

Hezbollah has not been destroyed, but only weakened.
Its prestige is greatly enhanced, not only in Lebanon, but amongst the world wide Moslem community.
Its enabler, Iran, will be emboldened, and will cause even more difficulty for the US in Iraq.
The arms "embargo" will not be enforced.
The aura of military invincibility previously enjoyed by Israel has been destroyed.
Hezbollah will have no constraints upon its rocketing of Israeli civilians, nor will its crony, Hamas.
The United States will be viewed, perhaps unjustly, as a feckless ally.

The culprits (other than the bad guys, of occurs) are:
Olmert, who had the opportunity,the motive, and the means to seriously damage, if not destroy, for four weeks, and blew it.
C. Rice, who has been shown to be a both incompetent and weak in confronting Iran. It was due to her that two months ago the U.S. changed its long-standing policy and offered "inducements" to the mullahs. The results of this mistaken policy are evident.

I hope that the my fellow freepers may be able to disciple my profound gloom.