TailOverTeaKettle.com

Then Hezbollah started hurling rockets into Isreal, the official Lebanese ‘goverment’ said there was nothing that it could do to stop the scaliwags. You see, southern Lebanon is just too dangerous for the Lebanese military to venture (having learned their military strategies from the French). The prime minister did accuse Isreal of crimes against humanity for conducting their bombing campaign.

The government also said that it was powerless to secure the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers, although Kofi Annan reportedly said that continuing to hold the hostages was a ’serious irritant’ in the ceasefire process. (Although no more serious than Israel continuing to blockade Lebanon in order to try to cut off their weapons resupply).

The government is also unable to control the border with Syria, although they have promised to consider posting a couple Boy Scout troops in the region to deter the free flow of arms into Lebanon.

While various EU countries wrangle about how to appear to be helping the situation without having to actually contribute troops or enforce the disarmament of Hezbollah, the goverment clings to the UN-brokered ceasefire like a child’s blanket.

However, the prime minister is capable of standing strong. In his first ‘get tough’ stance of the entire campaign, he starts by standing up to … Israel (via AP: Lebanon refuses contact with Israel ).

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Wednesday that he refused to have any direct contact with Israel and Lebanon would be the last Arab country to ever sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.

“Let it be clear, we are not seeking any agreement until there is just and comprehensive peace based on the Arab initiative,” he said.

He was referring to a plan that came out of a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut. It calls for Israel to return all territories it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem — all in exchange for peace and full normalization of Arab relations with Israel.

Nice. I guess he’s been looking at his poll numbers and thought a little tough talk would be good for his image, only hours after crying to the UN and others to make Israel stop defending itself.

In related news, the government is also going to provide aid to its citizens in rebuilding:

Also Wednesday, Saniora said that his government would pay $33,000 per house to compensate residents whose homes were destroyed by Israeli attacks. The government has been criticized for being slow to respond with financial support for people who lost homes in the fighting.

No word whether the government’s $33,000 stipend will be anything like the “crisp” (counterfeit) bills handed out by Hezzbollah earlier.