Talk About Mixed Messages

Its a race. Will Condoliar Rice or the precision-guided bombs get to Israel first?

The Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, which requested the expedited shipment last week after beginning its air campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, American officials said Friday.

The decision to quickly ship the weapons to Israel was made with relatively little debate within the Bush administration, the officials said. Its disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the United States is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iran’s efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

The bombs were purchased last year by Israel and they belong to them, but...

Oh nevermind. She's going to Rome and not the Middle East. Say, don't they sell really good shoes in Italy?

WHEN SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice heads to the Middle East next week, she'll be coping with a lot of pressures: a Lebanese government desperate for help to end the current fighting there, an Israeli government determined to smash Hezbollah's military structure before it stops the conflict, and Arab allies so fearful of their own publics' anger over the fighting that they have decided to meet Secretary Rice in Rome rather than in an Arab capital.

Most surprising, though, is one kind of pressure she won't be feeling: There is little public outcry back home in the U.S. to compel Israel to pull back. This is the dog that isn't barking in the current crisis, giving President Bush and his secretary of state a considerably freer hand in responding -- and in pursuing their staunch support of Israel -- than they might have expected.

This stands in stark contrast to the situation the last time this script played out, when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982. At that time, President Ronald Reagan -- like Mr. Bush, no slouch when it came to supporting Israel -- felt enormous domestic political pressure to force Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his defense minister, Ariel Sharon, to pull back.

So there's really gonna be no problem negotiating a truce from Rome? Hell, why doesn't she just work her miracles from Washington? Israel and Lebanon have email don't they?

I guess the messages aren't mixed at all. Its really only one clear message. Israel, bomb Lebanon back to the stone age.