Word: hizballah
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...Lebanon will further inflame anger toward the U.S. in the Arab world, coming on top of the chaos and violence in Iraq. These officials say that the loss of goodwill because of Iraq's instability, coupled with the unstinting support for Israel, have moved many Arabs to admire Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a David confronting a Western Goliath. This movement in Arab popular opinion, American officials say, has not been lost on the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, who are now said to be deeply concerned about the growing opposition movement fired with a combustible...
...Rice's immediate mission is to discuss with Lebanese, European and moderate Arab leaders, as well as Israeli officials, the creation of a multinational force to hold a "buffer zone" in southern Lebanon. But some U.S. officials acknowledge that disarming Hizballah is not going to be done soon or maybe ever. It is one thing to take out rocket launcher emplacements. It is another to stop the inflow of new fighters. Hizballah's recruiting posters are taken from the stream of horrific images showing constantly on cable news around the world...
...Translation: it's not in Israel's interest to topple the fledgling Lebanese government and transform the country into a failed state. If that happens, Hizballah and other militant groups will have even more free rein to make trouble, with Iran and Syria able to exploit the chaos for their own ends...
...Rice said dismissively, "I can guarantee you, if you simply look for a ceasefire that acknowledges and freezes the status quo ante, we will be back here in six months again or in five months or in nine months or in a year, trying to get another ceasefire because HIzballah will have decided yet again to try and to use southern Lebanon as a sanctuary to fire against Israel...
...what changed? Officially nothing, most notably the U.S. position. Rice said that her own idea of a ceasefire involved "a cessation of hostilities that is going to last... The south [of Lebanon] can't be a kind of haven for [Hizballah] to launch attacks...