Wednesday, August 23 06

As Italy gets set to assume lead role in Lebanon peace operation, Italians are re-assured disarming Hezbollah is not in the plan. Will adequate resources and support be provided? Syrian President Assad declares that international peacekeepers along the Lebanon-Syria border will be viewed by Syria as a sign of hostility. Amnesty International (AI) accuses Israel of targeting civilians. Signs that Sri Lanka is descending into civil war as the international community departs and four young Canadian men are arrested in U.S. for conspiring to acquire heavy arms for Tamil Tigers. With capacities stretched and U.N. preoccupied, the E.U. quickly deploys peacekeeping forces to stabilize crisis in D.R. Congo. An attempt to tighten the noose on former Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic by NATO and the EU. In The Weekly Standard, Jeremy Rabkin looks at criticism of Israel and the 'fantasy world of international law', and Michael Eisenstadt discusses the sectarian dimension of insurgency in Iraq.