Buckeye Blues

The Iraqi prime minister confirmed that he talked first about Lebanese civilians. But he went on to clarify the reason for the frank exchange: “I also emphasized the importance of immediate ceasefire.” Translation of “immediate ceasefire”: Israel must stop its military operations now.

This is not a mere semantic debate. The timing of a ceasefire is precisely what annoyed President Bush so deeply during his open mic moment at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg. Bush believes that peace is only possible once Hizbullah is neutralized. He considers calls for a ceasefire, like those of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as exercises in self-delusion.

Yet the ceasefire question impacts other allies—not just the U.N. and some Arab nations. France, which has worked closely with the United States on Lebanon for the last year, agreed to the G8 summit’s sequence of events to end the crisis: first an end to Hizbullah’s attacks, then finally a halt to Israel’s military operations. Many diplomats believe that France will be a big contributor to any international peacekeeping force that enters Lebanon to secure the southern region that is now under Hizbullah’s control.

But here again, the ceasefire question is critical. The official spokesman for the French foreign ministry said this week that France would only want to see a peacekeeping force once there was both a ceasefire and a “political agreement” that included the disarming of Hizbullah. Translation: the French will only send troops once the war is over and Hizbullah is committed to peace.

This is the thorniest question for the diplomats gathering in Rome on Wednesday, among them Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She has already said she thinks the force needs to be “robust” and “capable of helping the Lebanese forces” stop Hizbullah from attacking Israel from its base in southern Lebanon. That’s a very different mission from the one the French have in mind.

That kind of dispute over conditions on the ground does not bode well for the rapid creation of an international force. And it does not bode well for Blair, who arrives at the White House on Friday for his second face-to-face session with Bush in less than two weeks. Blair is an enthusiastic advocate for the peacekeeping force, and he has not called for an immediate ceasefire. Instead, speaking alongside Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, he simply said he wanted “the killing to stop on both sides.”