Hello? Is There Anyone Out There?
My comments are at the end, below the fold.
Former President Carter, who helped broker the historic Camp David peace accord, said President Bush has pursued an “erroneous policy” that has fostered violence in the Middle East.
Carter said the United States should work for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah and the world community should concentrate on a long-term solution, but he is uncertain whether Bush can accomplish a cease-fire.
“It depends on whether world opinion is strong enough to get the administration to change its erroneous policy, which has been to encourage the continuation of attacks on both sides,” Carter, a Democrat, told The Grand Rapids Press in an interview Friday.
The UN is discussing a draft resolution on the Lebanon crisis, demanding that Hezbollah halt all attacks and Israel stop all offensive military operations.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a quick vote was important.
If the resolution was passed soon, it should quickly end large-scale violence, she said.
But she warned that ongoing “skirmishes” could not be ruled out, and the resolution was only the first step towards lasting peace.
A senior Lebanese official said his country would reject the resolution.
Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah negotiator, said the draft ignored a Lebanese government ceasefire plan, including calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon.
Israel has continued raids in Lebanon, killing at least 10 people.
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Senior Israeli officials said they were broadly happy with the text of the resolution.
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said it was good for Israel but the country had to pursue its military goals.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders, said the draft resolution was a “recipe for the continuation of the war”.
Finally the BBC reports: Iran to ignore nuclear resolution
Jimmy Carter has credibility with the people in the Middle East. The governments may not like what he has to say, but the people believe he represents a way to peace, because he has accomplished peace. He has succeeded where others have failed. He has passed the test of Deuteronomy, a test that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all recognize.
Jimmy Carter is not perfect or a wonder worker, he is merely a man who does his best to be fair to everyone. It is a sad commentary on the world that such a minor talent is so rare.
This Security Council resolution is going nowhere. Did the arrogant people who crafted it think Lebanon was too stupid not to realize that Hezbollah was ordered to stop all its activities, while Israel is only required to call its air strikes defensive?
This is the sort of game-playing that has led Iran to ignore the Security Council. No one believes the Security Council is fair: The US almost automatically vetoes resolutions that condemn Israel and refuses to allow the enforcement of the 1967 Resolution requiring Israel to withdraw from the occupied territory to be enforced.
To be effective, the Security Council must be perceived as impartial, and it isn’t.
