Scorpions in a Bottle ; Mideast Quandary Can't Be Solved by Force

Summary

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After a brief interlude when the United States took a hands-off position toward the fighting in Lebanon, the U.S. has teamed up with France to offer a cease-fire resolution in the U.N. Security Council. Because of opposition from Lebanon and other Arab states, the resolution is unlikely to succeed. And even if it were passed in the cavern of winds on the East River, one wonders whether it would actually bring about a cease-fire.

A U.N. cease-fire resolution is an optimistic gesture, but if one of the parties to the conflict is not interested in stopping the fighting it is unlikely to be effective. In the present conflict, Israel, Lebanon and the jihadist Hezbollah group are demanding conditions that are unlikely to materialize soon. Neither side seems ready to quit fighting just yet.

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Extract

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Scorpions in a Bottle ; Mideast Quandary Can't Be Solved by Force

The U.N. can raise peacekeeping forces to police a cease-fire and minimize accidental conflict when both parties agree to stop fighting, but the United Nations is in no position to impose a cease- fire on the parties involved. What country would...

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