1 Boring Old Man

Rice Calls For Force Along Border In Lebanon
Plan Greeted Skeptically By Officials in Beirut

 

On an unannounced trip to ravaged Beirut, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outlined a plan Monday to deploy an international force, possibly led by NATO, in a buffer zone just inside Lebanon for 60 to 90 days, after which it would expand its mission to help the Lebanese army regain control of the south, Lebanese and U.S. officials said.

 

The force would also help train the army, which according to U.S. officials now has neither the will nor the means to disarm Hezbollah, Lebanon’s last private militia.

 

But Rice’s plan to end the conflict, prop up the Lebanese government and weaken Hezbollah was greeted with skepticism by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Lebanon’s top elected Shiite official, and other leaders. Siniora and the speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, a Shiite with close ties to Hezbollah, warned that Hezbollah was unlikely to accept any foreign military presence in its traditional stronghold in heavily Shiite southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has already rejected calls to disarm.

Does that sound like an attempt to make peace? To me it sounds like a request to occupy Lebanon, and continue to War with Hezbollah. I’m certainly no supporter of Hezbollah, but this is no peacekeeping offer. It’s an example of the Bush Doctrine. This guy just can’t stop…