Now, the Fallout

Israeli leaders face a reckoning, while the people prepare for the next round of fighting.

"Even though Nasrallah's rockets killed lots of Israelis, and many Arabs among them, I have yet to meet an Israeli who is scared or even nervous. Still, most here believe that they are always walking a very fine line with little room for error, and what mistakes that have been made need to be corrected quickly.

In contrast, the Bush administration is now behaving more like an Arab regime, as though no one will ever have to pay the price for endangering the lives of people the administration is supposed to protect. Why Secretary of State Rice spent so much time and prestige working on U.N. Resolution 1701 is baffling. Presumably, it was to garner support for America's own fight with the Iranians; if that's so, the White House should learn from its mistakes here and correct them before crunch time. If Washington was more like Jerusalem, Rice would probably be looking for another job right now. Her ceasefire is on the verge of falling apart after less than a week for reasons that were obvious from the outset." Read more.