Bush pressured to call for Mideast truce
(AP)
Updated: 2006-08-01 16:06
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan initially had planned to hold a meeting
Monday that would have brought together nations willing to send troops for an
expanded U.N. peacekeeping force. But diplomats said the meeting was postponed
to give more time for efforts to bring peace to the region.
However, the Bush administration's resistance to a simple and immediate
cease-fire was losing support around the world.
And, although pro-Israel sentiment runs deep in Congress, Sen. Chuck Hagel
broke with the president on Monday and said Israel's pounding of Lebanon was
hurting, not helping, America's image in the Middle East.
"The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now," Hagel said. "This
madness must stop." Hagel has also been critical of the administration's Iraq
policy.
Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned Israel's response to
Hezbollah rocket strikes as "disproportionate," suggesting a split between Prime
Minister Tony Blair and other members of his Cabinet.
Straw, who was removed from his post in May, is the Leader of the Commons, a
senior Cabinet position.
Blair denies a Cabinet rift, but has said the U.S. must work faster to stop
the violence.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the talk of a larger peace package
must wait until the firing stops.
Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, hours
after the Israeli government agreed to a 48-hour halt while investigating its
bombing in Qana.
En route home from the region Monday, Rice said that in response to a U.S.
request for clarification on the new airstrikes, "the Israelis tell us that it's
close air support for their forces that were being engaged."
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