Resolution Non-Solution 

August 7, 2006
The New York Post
Original Source: http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/editorial/resolution_non_solution_editorials_.htm

August 7, 2006 -- The U.N. Security Council is not particularly known for bolstering security, but it is good at passing resolutions. This week, it may pass yet another - ostensibly to curb the fighting in Lebanon and Israel. 
One thing is certain: The resolution won't add any security in the region. None. 
Indeed, whether the draft plan - hammered out by the United States and France (France!) - would help or hurt matters remains to be seen. But as along as Hezbollah remains a viable threat in any form, no one should think that the region will be in any way more secure. 
The measure calls for a full cessation of hostilities based on . . . the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations. Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon in anticipation of an international force to be authorized (it's hoped) in a second resolution. 
But Hezbollah and Lebanon have already rejected the deal. If terrorists continue firing, how can Israel not respond? 
In other words, expect the fighting to continue in both the short and long terms. 
Of course, the more time Israel has to weaken its murderous enemy, the better. And this may be the Bush team's thinking. After all, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said repeatedly (even as recently as yesterday) that Lebanon can't return to the status-quo ante. 
But the trajectory of events does not look good. Even if Hezbollah halts its rocket attacks and an international force quickly moves into the south, the terrorist militia will still be able to claim it survived a major bout with Israel. 
Even if, as some hope, Hezbollah can be pushed back to north of the Litani River, 20 miles or so north of the Israeli border, it will still hold deadly weapons - and access to more arms from Syria and Iran. 
As the weekend's rocket attacks on Hadera and Haifa show, Hezbollah can easily hit targets more than 20 miles away. 
So much for the 20-mile buffer. 
The resolution also requests that Secretary-General Kofi Annan come up with proposals for disarming the bandits. Who (besides maybe Hezbollah, Syria and Iran) is comforted by that? 
Indeed, it raises the question of whether the terrorists will simply use any time out to simply re-arm, re-group and prepare for the next battle. 
This conflict is far from over, the Security Council resolution notwithstanding. 
Yet its outcome will prove a watershed moment in the War on Terror. 
Washington must do all it can to see that Hezbollah ends up clearly defanged.