Posted on 07/26/2006 6:12:42 PM PDT by blam
Pressure on Blair to push for ceasefire in Lebanon
By George Jones, Political Editor, Malcolm Moore in Rome, and Patrick Bishop
(Filed: 27/07/2006)
America used yesterday's peace summit in Rome to block hopes of an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, as a YouGov poll suggested that public disquiet was growing at Tony Blair's approach to the crisis.
Hizbollah fighters continued to put up determined resistance to Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, killing eight soldiers, the biggest loss since the conflict began 16 days ago.
Maj Gen Udi Adam, the chief of Israel's Northern Command, said: "The fighting will continue for several more weeks and in a number of weeks we will be able to [declare] a victory."
The poll for The Daily Telegraph showed that a majority of people thought the Prime Minister had performed badly. Two thirds said he gave the impression of going along with whatever America said.
The findings will increase pressure on Mr Blair to call for an immediate ceasefire when he meets President George W Bush in Washington tomorrow.
Such a call was firmly rejected by Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, at the Rome meeting, which was attended by European Union and G8 foreign ministers, as well as representatives from Lebanon and Saudi Arabia and the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan. Israel was not present; nor were Syria and Iran, which back Hizbollah.
Condoleezza Rice: Rejection
A conference source said: "Condoleezza Rice's view was that there was no point in calling for an immediate ceasefire because it was almost certainly unachievable."
The United States has backed Israel's demand for Hizbollah to disarm or at least pull back from the border before an end to the offensive can be considered.
Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, supported the US view that a call for an immediate ceasefire was pointless. "Even if you could get a ceasefire half an hour ago, you would probably be back in hostilities in a few days," she said.
Conference sources said that Britain's position was at odds with the overwhelming mood of the meeting.
Agreement was eventually reached "to begin immediate work, with utmost urgency, on a ceasefire". The participants did decide on immediate humanitarian aid for Lebanon and on another summit to raise money for the country's reconstruction.
Aid began arriving in Beirut but earlier plans for a UN force to escort it to the areas where it was needed were not aired in Rome. There was little progress either on the proposal to form an international force to stabilise the border area. The meeting agreed to the principle of a multinational force but Miss Rice implied that Hizbollah would have to be disarmed before it was deployed.
Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, appealed to Israel to return the Shebaa farms district which Hizbollah cites as a justification for maintaining its weapons.
"Israel has occupied Lebanon seven times in 30 years," he said, "but has that brought any additional security and safety? Not at all."
Mr Annan again rebuked Israel for the death of four UN observers on Tuesday. He said that, while he accepted an assurance from Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, that the killing was an error, the UN post had been clearly marked and was shelled all day despite its calls to the Israeli army to stop.
The belief in Washington and Downing Street that Israel could deliver a swift and devastating blow to Hizbollah that would create the conditions for lasting peace appeared to be fading.
Despite saturating the area around the militant stronghold of Bint Jbeil with missile and tank fire, it was still not in control of the town. Hizbollah was able to fire 125 missiles into northern Israel, one of its biggest attacks, wounding at least 31 people.
Sir Stephen Wall, a former foreign policy adviser to Mr Blair, criticised British and American "weasel words" on the Lebanon tragedy.
Writing in the New Statesman today, he asks whether Mr Blair "could not speak up for the simple proposition that the slaughter of innocent people in Lebanon, the destruction of their country and the ruin of half a million lives were wrong and stop immediately?"
Chamberlain Lives.
Britain is spiraling downhill, if this reflects their thinking. I give George Bush a b+ in his handling of the situation.
Studies show that if you give the public a mythical public policy problem, 70% will answer questions. What seems to happen is the public wants to look or be smart and opines on subjects it has no real understanding of.
If you combine the two above you have a situation where the polls make opinion, are then measured as opinion and serve as policy levers by the cognoscenti.
Looked at in another way one can paraphrase Mark Twain and say what most people call thinking is emoting and the aggregation of that "thinking" is called public opinion. It is cherished and held in just high esteem and reverence some feel it is the word of God.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.