Officials: U.S., France reach Mideast resolution

Deal seeking end to fighting to be adopted in next few days, Bolton says

UNITED NATIONS - The United States and France reached agreement Saturday on a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending the fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said.

Bolton refused to comment on the text, but an official with knowledge of the document said the draft calls for a “full cessation of violence” between Israel and Hezbollah, but would allow Israel the right to launch strikes if Hezbollah attacks it.

“It does not say immediate cessation of violence,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the draft had not yet been made public.

That appeared to be a major victory for the U.S. and Israel.

France and many other nations had demanded an immediate halt to the fighting without conditions as a way to push the region back toward stability.

[Read on.]

Hat tip: Bruce Kesler. "This wouldn't have happened without Bush & Bolton"

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James Joyner comments here.

*** Update and bump

A Look Into The U.N.-U.S.-France Negotiations Over Lebanon
Bruce Kesler

There’s precious little detail in the media about what specifically is being negotiated, primarily between the U.S. and France, with priority to their deemed larger interests and constituencies, and secondarily to Israeli and Lebanese longer-range interests.

David Makovsky, senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute, frequent guest on Jim Lehrer’s News Hour, is an analyst friendly to Israel and a reliable source. His summary of the issues, is one of the few available, and is not encouraging. No one even semi-rational can believe that U.N. Security Council measures will accomplish more than a temporary reprieve from Hezbollah and the belligerence of its taskmasters in Syria and Iran, and instigated instability throughout the Middle East.

The key issues are whether there’s any meat behind the promises, ...

[...]

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Bryan Preston is not impressed. "Sheba Farms, Sudetenland…"

Folks, the more I learn about it the more it sounds like Israel just got Muniched. If, IF, some multinational entity other than the disUnited Nations is willing to station enough troops in Lebanon to really and truly cut off arms shipments to Hezbollah it might work. Otherwise ...

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Captain's Quarters and Vital Perspective have more.

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See also Flopping Aces: The UN Cease Fire Resolution

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Dan Riehl: Israel Should Tell UN To Stuff It

Contributed by Bill Faith on August 5, 2006 at 12:21 PM in Bill Faith, Islamism Delenda Est, Israel, Lebanon | Permalink

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