Bush welcomes UN Mideast resolution

Sorry, but whatever has gone on behind the scenes, we have been a party to the public humiliation of Israel.

Ohlmert was begging for a ceasefire. He was getting his ass kicked, and will likely be run out of town by the end of the month.

Israel has humiliated itself with its indecisiveness.

I do not deny the ineptitude of Olmert, which now could have ever more far-reaching consequences. It was truly not clear to me who was leading this U.S./Israel dance. Read on, but first, I have a quibble with this administration's policies re Israel vis a vis the "Road Map to Peace" and concessions wrested from Israel.

Okay, back to the UN Resolution, see this commentary by Caroline Glick, if you have not already.

Comment: An unmitigated disaster

The UN resolution does not strengthen the US hand in future Security Council deliberations regarding Iran's illicit nuclear weapons program because the states that object to any action against Iran - Russia and China - will continue with their refusal to sign on to any substantive action.

Indeed, Russia's behavior regarding the situation in Lebanon, including the fact that a large percentage of Hizbullah's arsenal of advanced anti-tank missiles was sold by Russia to Syria and Iran, exposes that Moscow's role in the current conflict has been similar to the position taken by the Soviet Union in earlier Middle East wars.

Furthermore, because the resolution strengthens the UN as the arbiter of peace and security in the region, the diplomatic price the US will be forced to pay if it decides to go outside the UN to contend with the Iranian threat has been vastly increased.

Bush has never cared about "diplomatic price". Glick has been singularly gloomy in all her predictions, and she has never been either a Sharon or Ohlmert fan.

So, I read her commentaries in that context.

The US will act in its own best interests regardless of what Russia and China think. That is the truth of the matter.

I think Israel, on the whole, is more "European" than we expect and they put importance on the opinion of the "world community" that we do not. This squishiness has led to the placement of Kadima rather than Likud into power. Presently, I am going to take the bickering and opinion going on within Israel with a grain or two of salt.

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