Middle East Musings

With just three months left before his departure, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown is really enjoying running off at the mouth.

This week he is reported saying that Britain should take a back seat in negotiations on the Middle East crisis, lest its diplomacy with the United States appear like a repeat of the team that led the Iraq invasion.

Well he doesn’t mince words, but it seems like his advice might be a bit late for Blair. But what really got me, won my heart so to speak, is that he might acknowledge the United States, as a "critical broker of peace", but then says they should work with France and Arab nations like Jordan and Egypt rather than just appear on a podium with Prime Minister Tony Blair.

I’m pleased I’m not the lone voice in this world for France’s potential role in this. Really pleased because my voice hardly reaches beyond my fingertips.

Now we can wait for Bolton’s return volley.

Also: Olmert is obviously paying lip service to potential peace plans, but his conditions don’t give his words much credibility.

His conditions to bring an end to more than three weeks of fighting called for a robust force of 15,000 foreign combat troops, including British soldiers, to be deployed in the south of the country.

Foreign troops occupying Southern Lebanon hardly seem like a real recipe for peace, more a face saving exercise for the Israelis.

On the other hand, I still can’t see where anyone is going to rustle up 15,000 combat troops to face the rigours of another terrorist engagement.

You would be hard pressed to round up enough eligible neo-Nazi’s, never mind seasoned troops fully equipped.

The old quick hit tactics of Israel were no doubt the dream of the current leaders, but they obviously lack the depth of intelligence and planning of the old guard.

Hezbollah have had at least six years to quietly stockpile weapons and ammunition in their, apparent, sophisticated cave system in Southern Lebanon. Israel is frantically striking anything moving on the roads, trying to stop the flow of ordinance, when the stuff is most likely close at hand.

It is those caves, apparently previously unknown to Israeli intelligence, that has mad an on the ground confrontation near impossible.

So with a little gentle help from Hezbollah, Israel are not only losing the PR advantage, any action they undertake which is still going after three weeks must be close to a military loss.