In my opinion, Arab opposition to the US/French UN agreement on cessation of fighting is good news.  It is clear Bolton snookered the French (no requirement for Israel to withdraw). But the deal is not good enough for Israel. In particular, there is risk with a Section 7 agreement that might hamper Israel in the future, and force an inevitable US veto over criticism of its actions, or even proposed sanctions for the first time.

Now Arabs will be seen as killing the agreement, not Israel. So nothing happens for another week, and Israel continues to grind down Hiz b'allah in southern Lebanon. So long as some giant missile does not score a direct hit on Tel Aviv and kill a lot of folks, more time is good for Israel at this point.

Richard Baehr   8 08 06