Failure in Rome

As you've probably heard by now, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Lebanon didn't go anywhere at yesterday's meeting of foreign ministers in Rome. There was agreement on the need "for a United Nations-led international military force to be sent to the Middle East to act as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon," but "[the U.S.] succeeded... in holding off demands for an immediate ceasefire". Blair will keep pushing for the deployment of an international peacekeeping force, but it's not clear when the American green light to the Israeli offensive will turn red. It's unlikely that any diplomatic effort would work without full and committed U.S. support.

Abu Aardvark has more here and offers some interesting commentary:

Real American leadership, such as quickly restraining the Israeli offensive and taking the lead in ceasefire negotiations, could have created a Suez moment and dramatically increased American influence and prestige (especially if the Saudis had delivered Iran in a ceasefire agreement, as I've heard that Saudi officials believed that they could). But by disappearing for the first days of the war and then resurfacing only to provide a megaphone for Israeli arguments and to prevent international efforts at achieving a ceasefire, the Bush administration put America at the center of the storm of blame. I think that the Lebanon war will go down in history as one of the greatest missed opportunities in recent American diplomatic history -- not because we failed to go after Iran, or whatever the bobbleheads are ranting about these days, but because we failed to rise to the occasion and exercise real global leadership in the national interest.

That's pretty much the story of the Bush presidency, isn't it?