A long war

I've been following the war in Lebanon pretty closely and it's devastating to see dozens of horrible images of dead bodies, mostly of children, buildings and homes reduced to rubble and survivors in hospitals with that haunted look in their eyes. I can't pretend it's not going on and obviously like many people, I don't know how to help. All I can do is read about it to remind myself that this is happening to the people of our time. And as much as everyone wants to do something, all our leaders are doing so far is talk and say useless things while people are dying everyday.

Last Friday, Washington Post published A Time to Act, an article written by former Secretary of State Warren Christopher. I thought he pretty much nailed the issue on the head with this piece and he criticized Condoleeza Rice's stance in the matter (she said that there should only be a ceasefire if it is a lasting and sustainable one). This is, and I agree with him completely, what he said should be done instead:

Such a solution is achievable, if at all, only after protracted negotiations
involving multiple parties. In the meantime, civilians will continue to die,
precious infrastructure will continue to be destroyed and the fragile Lebanese democracy will continue to erode.

My own experience in the region underlies my belief that in the short term we should focus our efforts on stopping the killing...

Now obviously it's easier said than done since Israel can't afford to look weak militarily, but calling for a ceasefire now and working it out afterwards is a helluva lot better than dilly dallying around the point. And the point is that people's lives are being destroyed, with hatred sown in the hearts of those who do survive. The Lebanese people are paying for what seems to be a popularity contest between the US and Iran.

He continues to detail his main point so read the rest of the article here.