It's A Step ...

A first step towards stopping the idiocy going on in Lebanon is about to be taken.

I hope that this at least accomplishes the initial goal of bringing the pulverization of Lebanon's civilian population to a stop.

However, the wording of the UN Resolution and the Hezbollah response to it are still worrisome.

The resolution obliges Israel to cease offensive operations in Lebanon, but the loophole of "defensive" operations remains open to Israel - and their claim has always been that their operations are primarily defensive in nature.

Hezbollah, on the other hand agrees to observe the UN ceasefire, but at the same time declares "Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon."...

Assuming that the ceasefire actually happens, I consider it a positive first step.

However, I remain skeptical of it's odds for real success beyond the short term. With The Leading Embarrassment of the Free World declaring that Hezbollah and the arrestees in England are cut from the same cloth, it hardly gives me the impression that there is much chance for a political engagement of all parties involved.

In some respects, the real question is how does one go about engaging Hezbollah politically? I'm not sure that there's any obvious answer to that. The militias of such groups often contain numerous subgroups that are personality cults in their own right, making it very hard for the political arms to control them. However, the political arms can be engaged - and should be. Their presence within the Lebanese legislative assembly is a good enough place to start.