Blue Crab Boulevard

US And France Reach Agreement On UN Resolution

It looks as if time may have run out for Israel to destroy Hezbollah. An agreement has been reached on a draft UN resolution to stop the fighting in Lebanon.

UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France agreed Saturday on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah but would allow Israel to defend itself if attacked, officials said.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton and French President Jacques Chirac's office confirmed that agreement had been reached.

Officials with knowledge of the document said the draft calls for a "full cessation" of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, but would allow Israel the right to launch strikes if attacked by Hezbollah.

But it does not call for an "immediate cessation of violence," those officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft had not yet been made public.

That appeared to be a victory for the U.S. and Israel. France and many other nations had demanded an immediate halt to violence without conditions as a way to push the region back toward stability.

The French presidential palace in Paris said a deal was reached on a resolution that seeks a total halt to hostilities and would work toward a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution.

The full 15-nation Security Council was to meet later Saturday to discuss the resolution, and it was likely to be adopted in the next couple of days, Bolton said.

Bolton said the resolution would be the first of two. The second could spell out a larger political framework for peace between Israel and Hezbollah or set the conditions for a peacekeeping force to deploy to Lebanon.

"We're prepared to continue to work tomorrow in order to make progress on the adoption of the resolution but we have reached agreement and we're now ready to proceed," Bolton said. "We're prepared to move as quickly as other members of the council want to move."

The wording appears odd to me. Calling for a full cessation rather than an immediate cessation may actually give Israel leeway to continue to fight for a while longer, since it is highly unlikely Hezbollah will stop attacking.

War | Gaius Saturday, 5 August , 2006

By Black Jack, Saturday, 5 August , 2006 @ 6:35 pm

France is involved, the UN is involved, and Hezbollah says “no way.”

So far, I gotta go with Liberty and Justice above. This draft resolution is DOA, but likely everyone in the know, already knows it. Let the UN talk, vote, or play the penny whistle. The action isn’t in their court.

My take is that the IDF keeps going till Hezbollah runs out of rockets and Israel gets their solders back. Then the sleek headed men can get to work.
By TC@LeatherPenguin, Saturday, 5 August , 2006 @ 7:21 pm

Who the hell did they get an agreement with? I mean, what the hell just made the opponent an obviolus fair parlay?
By beth, Sunday, 6 August , 2006 @ 1:59 am

Since when did a UN resolution have any effect on anything? The US made and agreement with France - neither of whom is fighting in this particular battle.

Looks to me like the US has bought Israel more time ….

I really like the way Bolton and Condi Rice are working this.