Irish Examiner: Ceasefire 'a setback for Iran and Syria', says US

Ceasefire 'a setback for Iran and Syria', says US

Irish Examiner | August 14, 2006

The UN-declared ceasefire in Lebanon, if fully implemented, will be a strategic setback for Iran and Syria, the US State Department said today.

The move will strengthen democracy in Lebanon and stabilises the border with Israel, according to spokesman Sean McCormack.

“You will not have Hezbollah roaming freely in the south of Lebanon,” he said. “Iran and Syria will not have had the ability to rearm Hezbollah.”

The militia, designated as a terrorist group by the department, has fought for 34 days with Israel. The guerrillas used rockets and other weapons provided by Iran and, according to US and Israeli officials, channelled through Syria.

Two years ago, the UN Security Council required Hezbollah to disarm, and that principle is carried over by the new resolution approved unanimously last week.

McCormack said when the two resolutions are implemented “that would represent a setback for Hezbollah”.

Estimates vary as to how long it might take to assemble an international force and deploy it in Lebanon. “We are pushing for this force to be generated as quickly as possible,” McCormack said.

The United Nations has had two preliminary planning sessions, and a larger one is expected later in the week.

Earlier, the White House had urged Hezbollah and Israel to respect the newly-imposed ceasefire in their month-long war as US President George Bush conferred with senior advisers about national security problems around the world.

Mr Bush said that “we live in troubled times” but he expressed confidence about protecting the nation from harm.

On his first day back from vacation, Mr Bush went to the Pentagon to meet with senior advisers, including Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and others.

Later, he was to go to the State Department to meet with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He also was having lunch with a group of people identified by the White House as experts on Iraq.

Mr Bush’s meetings came on the first day of the Mid East truce. “Right now, what has won is diplomacy,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said, referring to the UN resolution that stopped the fighting.

He said it was obvious that Hezbollah had been weakened by the battle, although Israel did not achieve its objective of delivering a knockout blow to the guerrilla group.