Via the NYT: Bush and Blair Push Plan to End Mideast Fighting

The rising civilian death toll has placed added pressure on Mr. Bush from European and Arab allies who have called for an immediate cease-fire. But Mr. Bush has said that Israel cannot stop its attacks unless Hezbollah does first.

Of course, a main problem with that formulation is that in an active conflict, neither side is likely to stop fighting of its own accord; indeed, the whole point of a ceasefire agreement is to give both sides a chance to stop fighting without risk of immediately being attacked by the other side when the firing stops.

So, if the goal is a ceasefire, then the notion that one side would stop fighting first doesn’t make much sense.

Of course, it seems that the administration’s view (hope) is that Israel will, in fact, degrade Hezbollah’s military capacities to the point that they will have to quit fighting and then a “ceasefire” can be declared. While I would like to see Hezbollah’s ability to act as an armed group cease to be, I am not optimistic that this is going to happen as the result of the current conflict. Indeed, it seems that this has already been a more difficult task to acheive than was initially believed.