Secretary Rice and Ambassador Bolton going in opposites directions vis-a-vis the Middle East crisis

Well, they are surely giving opposite signals to Lebanon and Israel! While Secretary Rice is calling on Israel to show restraint and for Lebanon to reign in its resident militants -- a.k.a. Hezbollah -- John Bolton, our Ambassador at the UN, is making statements at a Security Council meeting like, "No reckoning with Hezbollah will be adequate without a reckoning with its principal state sponsors of terror." At that same meeting, he previously (and quite correctly) identified the state sponsors of the Hezbollah as Syria and Iran.

If that isn't an open invitation for Israel to invade Syria -- or as a minimum -- strike LOCs in Syria being used by the Hezbollah -- what is??? That puts Damascus in danger and that concerns me! (Two or three of my previous postings yesterday and today explain my personal concerns.)

Bolton's crazy statements were being said on the same day that Secretary Rice was properly backing President Bush during a press briefing held in Germany. Besides specifically calling for restraint during the press conference, she said that she personally spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and "urged them to be concerned about civilian casualties." She spoke forcefully about the US concern that Israel might undermine the Road Map peace process with overreaction at this time.

But while George Bush and Condoleezza Rice (Bolton's immediate supervisor,so to speak) are away, who's minding the store (watching John Bolton and his big mouth) back here?

Oh, that's right ... Vice President Dick Cheney.

God help us!