U.N. Resolution: Lebanon-Israel

The U.N. resolution that was recently passed called for an end to the fighting, but in an open-ended manner that leaves a lot to be desired. But beyond the details of the diplomatic agreement (about which you can read summaries of by Suzanne Nossel and Karim Makdisi) what is most astonishing to me is that after a month-long bombing campaign, the negotiations remain barely further along than when the conflict began. That means that the entire of infrastructure of Lebanon was destroyed while 1,000 Lebanese civilians were killed, and the entire economy of Northern Israel put on hold with 43 Israeli civilians killed, all so that things could be settled through negotiations, as they could have been long-ago when the international community--sans the US, Israel and Great Britain--called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. I repeat, the Lebanese civilian infrastructure was absolutely demolished so that negotiations could take place in much the same manner they would have before this collective punishment was sanctioned by our government. Now, god forbid someone who lost their family in this tragic affair decides to release that anger against our country through the idiocy of violence, we will forget how we sat back and let this destruction take place.

This is sad on so many levels.