Posted on 08/11/2006 7:36:22 AM PDT by EagleUSA
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said on Friday that negotiators were on the verge of an agreement on a draft resolution calling for a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon's Hizbollah.
"We are now very, very close to agreement and our aspiration to have a vote at the end of the afternoon remains," Bolton told reporters.
More than 1,000 Lebanese and 121 Israelis have been killed in the five-week-old war.
Throughout Thursday, negotiators believed they had achieved a breakthrough. But the deal came apart when Beirut rejected deployment of additional U.N. troops under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows for the use of force rather than just self-defense.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Any deal is a loss for Isarael and assurance that the next time will be far worse. I lost my optimism in for the outcome of this battle when Israel apologized so abjectly after Qana. They appeared to have quite lost their nerve.
Any deal is a loss for Isarael and assurance that the next time will be far worse.
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This is why Israel must tell the U.N. to pound sand. The impotent, useless U.N. will allow Iran to continue to arm the Hezzies, Syria will be allowed to continue its middleman role, and the Hezzies will be re-armed for more attacks. The Lebanon government will be afraid to fart, from fear of the Iranians and the Syrians, so they will remain a Hezzie puppet....and Israel continues to lose.
Israel needs to make sure the RIGHT MAN is in charge, and they need to push forward until they have occupied all key land in South Lebanon. Then route out all the Hezzies methodically. It is the only position from which they even begin to consider any discussion with the U.N.
Exactly. What a waste of time... how can you talk to terrorists who were to be kicked out two years ago?
Lebanon laid down with dogs and got fleas... they get the medicine they deserve. I guess they consider Hez having posts in the govt. as 'upstanding members' of Lebanon. If thats the case... Olmert should get off the vacillations or step down so Bibi or someone else can take care of it.
Let me guess, no mention of the soldiers; more useless terrorist assisting unarmed UNIFIL (they've only watched missles going past for 28 years there, doing nothing); no international armed force; Israel is to ceasefire first with no conditions for Hez or a way to stop them when they keep firing; more humanitarian funds for Lebanon only as the UN continues rebuilding the bridges IDF bombed to stop resupply; a bill for Israel to rebuild all of Lebanon; no accountability for Iran and Syria (even though Iranian guards and weapons, as well as Syrians are fighting there and supplying).
If I were Bolton, I would fly over those Iranian Guard bodies and the identifying missile parts and lay them in the center of the security council... of course the sons of Satan would still deny... but what the heck.
Afraid you're right, they give an impression of being quite beaten.
(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)
Any deal that doesn't include the return of the kidnapped soldiers is a bad deal for Israel.
Events may prove him to be right in the long run, but at this juncture, I can't envision how.
Bush didn't blink, Olmert did.
Was one of them returned? How many were snatched -- 2 or 3? I agree -- any deal that doesn't return them is VERY VERY VERY VERY BAD. A surrender and a cave in.
I'm sorry but I'm starting to think Israel has nobody to blame but their leadership and fear, if the Dems get control, the same fate awaits us. Take this from IsraelInsider:
It should not come as a surprise to anyone that we lost. As I said when this all began, we are led by losers.
We will never win, we will never succeed, if led by such "leaders." Their leadership will only lead to greater losses. Better to find out sooner than later, before the losses multiply.
Those who led us to defeat in battle must now face the tough questions, and bitter consequences....
They must be shamed and humiliated so they will never dare presume to lead again. So they do not have the "momentum" to revise and spin this fiasco into and additional withdrawals. So they will go back home to their lives as highly paid shysters and megaphone-carrying union leaders and never dare show their declare-victory-and-run-home faces in public again....
Israel lost this battle because of them. Israel lost much prestige, and much deterrent power becomes of them. Israel became perceived as a paper tiger. Israel lost a golden opportunity to take care of its enemies, to strengthen and support its allies. Israel failed its friends, its soldiers, its citizens. Because of them....
I'm sorry but I'm starting to think Israel has nobody to blame but their leadership and fear...
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To some extent, I agree, in that they should have told outsiders to go pack it, a long time ago. It was time to cut the political puppet strings way back. Sadly, those strings still exist. I don't think fear is a characteristic of the majority of Israelis though... possibly only a few weak politicians in their government maybe. But I remain totally in favor of Israel making its own decisions about how to best protect itself from the genocidal maniacs they are surrounded by...
It seems as if events have made this statement incorrect.
Really? Reports are that Olmert is now accepting the terms of the UN agreement. You don't believe for a moment that Bush, Rice/ Bolton would have let this move along without knowing Olmert was on board, do you? I think they were prepared to give Olmert as much time as he wanted. Israel, unfortunately, has lost the military initiative they had before them 3 weeks ago because of Olmert's tentative approach. Now, instead of a situation where hezbullah was pacified or dismantled in southern Lebanon, Syria was smacked down and Iran was humiliated, now virtually the opposite has occurred to what will prove to be great cost to Israel and the US.n Olmert is finished.
Now, on the other hand, if the time this has bought allows for some real progress to be made, then I may have to eat crow. But I'm not ready to start sprinkling spices just yet.
I fear you're right. Maybe we can split the crow. Half is not as unpalatable as a whole.
From the looks of it, crow is not on my menu. :-)
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