Bush administration finally says "cease fire"

After several days of insisting that an immediate cease fire would actually be worse than continued killing in the Middle East, the Bush administration has flip-flopped in the name of sanity.

Secretary of State Condolleeza Rice now advocates a cessation of the violence between Israel and Lebanon.

"We believe that a ceasefire is urgent," Rice told reporters en route to Israel. "It is however important to have conditions that make it sustainable."

Israeli leaders, while warning the offensive could last for some time, have suggested they would accept some form of international peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

Washington has come under increasing pressure for bold action amid criticism it is stalling to allow Israel time to attempt to wipe out Hezbollah, which set off the conflict after seizing two Israeli soldiers on July 12.

The remark about "conditions" is a reference to the administration's previous insistence that an immediate cease fire would only be a band-aid solution. Presumably, Bush and Rice still believe the total destruction of Hezbollah is the only way to achieve a lasting peace, but at least they are willing to acknowledge that less killing is better than more killing.

In the previous post, I wrote that in this case, as in nearly all others, the most sensible course of action is the opposite of the one Bush's instincts tell him to pursue. I don't know who or what convinced him to back away (at least rhetorically) from the war = peace theme of his previous stance, but as much distance as we can get between ourselves and Bush's "gut," the better off everyone will be.