The fog of peace -- snips from the morning after

Tom Scudder has done a workmanlike summary of the UN resolution, still slippery with placenta. I haven't had the time to plow through it all, and may not ever. It's rather like reading the phone book when it comes to variety and interest. Nevertheless he does bring some light into dark corners by parsing such as this:

All countries *cough*Syria and Iran*cough* are prohibited from providing arms or training to Hizbullah or other non-state armed forces in Lebanon.

Under "Hezbollah"

Paragraph 4 "Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line;" - hey, you kids! No attacking across the line, even into the Shebaa Farms area.

...And so on. I think everyone knows this is not about land. Land is a smokescreen for political dominance by this or than party to the conflict. Just my two cents.
Go dig around in the details later. First let's see if the fighting comes to an end. Without that anything on paper is less than academic.

Disclosure time. Your blogger is biased. As you read, please take that into account.

Moving right along, check out Allison's blog for the latest development in Israel. This is too good.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall of Likud's Bibi Netanyahu and his advisers right now. He's tanned, rested, and ready, I'm sure. In the last campaign, he talked endlessly about the Hezbollah threat and was ridiculed by many -- myself included -- for trying to spook us with scary ghost story.

His campaign slogan: "I Told You So"

And while you're there, don't skip her link to Julie Burchill's piece in Haaretz. Delightful takedown of the British press. Long and barbed. Think Billmon with a glass of tawny port.

A surprising number of British people - especially the super-creepy British Jews who recently signed a treacherous letter to the press distancing themselves from Israel's actions - seem to think Israel should exist not as a real, imperfect country full of real, imperfect people led by real, imperfect leaders, but as some sort of collective kosher Mater Dolorosa, there to provide a selfless, suffering example to the rest of us.

Can't quit yet.
Billmon is too good to miss...

Already it seems as if every minor league neocon in Washington is taking the opportunity to remind Israel that if there's one thing Americans detest it's a loser. So much for all that tearful singing of the Ha'tikvah. If Washington's Middle Eastern Rottweiler wants to keep getting its kennel ration, it's going to have to put a little more teeth into its work next time.