Long-term Pain

As the rockets stop coming in and the dead are buried and forgotten, the weak spined leadership looks to the easy options.
Israel has essentially given up hope of Hizbullah being disarmed, and instead is now concentrating on ensuring that an arms embargo called for in UN Security Council resolution 1701 be implemented, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Furthermore, senior Israeli officials have made it clear in recent days during talks with foreign governments that Israel realizes a Hizbullah presence south of the Litani River is unavoidable, if for no other reason than because the organization is so well rooted there that the only way to get rid of Hizbullah would be to evacuate the entire region.

The impression Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has left in recent days on her European counterparts during meetings both in Israel and in Europe is that Israel recognizes it is unrealistic for anyone to take away Hizbullah's weapons, and that what is most important at this time is to ensure that there is an effective embargo on any new weapons to Hizbullah.

The prospect of having to disarm Hizbullah, along with the fear of unclear rules of disengagement, have been largely responsible for European countries' reluctance to send large contingencies to the force.
The French seem happy to send more troops [2000], now that they no longer need to do anything, the Russians are still dithering though, perhaps they are worried their soldiers might have to bear the brunt of their own weapons supplied to Hizbullah.
Russia is still considering the possibility of sending troops to join the United Nations force in Lebanon along the border with Israel, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said early Friday.

“We are examining the situation, so far we are not clear on the peacekeepers’ status and rights, what they will do there, what mandate they will have,” Ivanov said as quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency. However, “giving such humanitarian aid would fully answer our country’s interests,” Ivanov added.
I guess reports of the Russians growing some balls are also 'premature’, they are dithering about sanctions on Iran as well.
Talk of introducing sanctions against Iran after its response to the world powers’ demand to freeze uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities was as yet “premature”, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said early Friday, according to an AFP report.
They are probably putting their own interests [arms sales to Iran & Syria] before anything else, who cares if we are doing business with a madman, it’s not our problem what he does with them.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, if he ever became the supreme decision maker in his country, would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel," Giora Eiland, Israel's former national security adviser, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
But it seems the Israelis have started to remember who they trust when it comes to the security of the nation.
Israelis have shifted rightward after the war in Lebanon and right-wing parties would dramatically increase their power at the expense of Kadima and Labor if elections were held now, according to public opinion polls taken this week.
Please choose wisely next time, with the enemies you face, you will need leaders with backbone.

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