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The Guardian (UK) reports that the Bush administration knew in advance of Israel’s counterstrikes against Hezbollah and now has advised Israel that it has only one more week to wrap things up. The US is giving Israel a window of a week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah before weighing in behind international calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, according to British, European and Israeli sources. The Bush administration, backed by Britain, has blocked efforts for an immediate halt to the fighting initiated at the UN security council, the G8 summit in St Petersburg and the European foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. “It’s clear the Americans have given the Israelis the green light. They [the Israeli attacks] will be allowed to go on longer, perhaps for another week,” a senior European official said yesterday. Diplomatic sources said there was a clear time limit, partly dictated by fears that a prolonged conflict could spin out of control. British prime minister Tony Blair indicated in speaking to Parliament today that “it might take many months to agree the terms of a UN stabilisation force on the Lebanese border.” That would pretty much rule out a UN or other international body leveraging such a force to bring about a ceasefire. After Mr Blair spoke, British officials privately acknowledged the US had given Israel a green light to continue bombing Lebanon until it believes Hizbullah’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
Although no one went on the record with these declarations, I think they have much credence. I would also guess that the US is providing a torrent of intelligence nformation - mostly signals and reconnaissance visual information - to Israel.
Update: I’ve posted a brief analysis of Israel’s strategic aims and why its political leadership on all sides knows that Hezbollah must be reduced now.
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