Post a Comment On: Internal Monologue

Billmon has been a wonderful recent discovery for me. Here's his latest on the proposes ceasefire (which doesn't seem to have much of a chance):
Two weeks ago Lebanon's Prime Minister was demanding an immediate cease fire while Shrub and company were insisting that only a "lasting cease fire," leading to a "permanent solution," would do. Now it's the other way around: Speaking to reporters today at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., where he is on vacation, Mr. Bush said, “Everyone wants the violence to stop.’’“People understand that there needs to be a cessation of hostilities in order for us to address the root causes of the problem,’’ he said . .Mr. Siniora said he opposed the cease-fire resolution in its current form, saying it would not effectively halt the violence. “It barely leads to a cease-fire,’’ he said, with tears in his eyes. “We want a permanent and full cease-fire.’’ Obviously, something has changed -- that something being the completely unexpected outcome of the war (unexpected by everyone but Hizbullah I mean.) UPDATE: Sullivan notes the same phenomenon. The post he links to is less sympathetic to the non-Israeli parties, but the substance of the flip and the reasons for it seem to be the same.