Opinion: United States is Doing Too Little, Too Late

You would actually expect more from someone who wants to mediate and make peace. First, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took over a week's time to go to the Middle East to speak to the parties involved in the conflict. Then, she basically limited herself to assuring Lebanon humanitarian aid and support in rebuilding.

It's too little, too late -- this must be the clear message her visit has left on the Lebanese.

But could more have realistically been expected? Hardly. The government in Washington made it clear from the beginning that it didn't only fully understand Israel's motives, but that it was also willing to coordinate with Jerusalem its agenda for solution attempts.

Washington gave Israel more time

Sure enough, Washington started floundering just as much as Jerusalem. The duration of the Israeli military operations in Lebanon were initially forecast to last "several days," then "several weeks." And before they concluded, Washington didn't want to talk about either a ceasefire or the deployment of international troops.

But in order not to stifle all hopes for an end to the violence, the US secretary of state brought both points into play -- combined with the declaration that possible solutions would be talked about at the international conference in Rome on Wednesday.

As positive as this may sound, it gave Israel a couple of days more to attain its war goal: destroying Hezbollah. It is a goal which everyone -- in particular Israel -- should know can't be achieved in such a short period. Israel like no other country has respective experience in southern Lebanon, after all. It has already once had to experience how a military campaign turned into an 18-year occupation.

UN deaths could speed up decision process

Another incident that has repeated itself: just as Israeli artillery killed Lebanese refugees in the UN camp Kafr Qana in November 1996, Israelis now bombed a well-known post of UN observers in southern Lebanon, killing four blue helmets. Whether Kofi Annan's charges of deliberate action or Israel's expression of regret apply ultimately remains unimportant. The incident makes clear that an international deployment in southern Lebanon would have to look different than up till now.

How it will look and who should and will take part in it with which mandate is supposed to be decided at the meeting in Rome on Wednesday. The participants' opinions so far have diverged greatly from one another. But maybe the death of the UN observers will speed up the decision process, after the death of hundreds of civilians and the flight of hundreds of thousands weren't able to do so.

Thereby, Rome isn't a peace conference, but rather just the attempt to end the fighting and start a process of normalization in Lebanon. The planned international force is also not supposed to force calm and peace, but rather maintain it. But in order for that to be the case, these first must step in. It doesn't look like this is imminent.

Israel at any rate has found the appropriate jargon. Until the international force arrives, it says it will see to calm and order itself. That is: carry on as it has been.