Yes, Ms. Rice, I can understand why you might be getting tired of the old one, but without confronting the Islamic jihad ideology, you will find that your efforts to create a new Middle East will continually end in frustration.
“Rice meets with Olmert in Israel,” from AP, with thanks to JE:
JERUSALEM – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, leading the first high-level U.S. diplomatic mission since war broke out in Lebanon, said Tuesday the time has come for a new Middle East and an urgent end to the violence hanging over the region.
“I have no doubt there are those who wish to strangle a democratic and sovereign Lebanon in its crib,” Rice said. “We, of course, also urgently want to end the violence.”
In its crib?
Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as they prepared to meet in his office, Rice reiterated the United States position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions that make an enduring peace. She said she has “no desire” to be back in weeks or months after terrorists find another way to disrupt any potential cease fire.
“It is time for a new Middle East,” she said. “It is time to say to those that don’t want a different kind of Middle East that we will prevail. They will not.”
Olmert welcomed Rice warmly and vowed that “Israel is determined to carry on this fight against Hezbollah.” He said his government “will not hesitate to take severe measures against those who are aiming thousands of rockets and missiles against innocent civilians for the sole purpose of killing them.”…
“If we have learned anything, it is that any peace is going to have to be based on enduring principles and not on temporary solutions,” Rice said Monday night, appearing with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
That is true. But which principles?