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Both Sides Declare Victory with Mideast Cease-Fire

U.S. President George W. Bush has declared in the wake of the implementation of a cease-fire in the Middle East that ?Hizballah lost?. Apparently, the perception in Washington ? or the perception that people in the Bush Administration would like others to get ? is that Israel?s failure to wipe out the Hizballah terror group, but still push it back, is a victory of some sort. At the same time, Hizballah is also declaring victory, with the terror group?s leader Hassan Nasrallah boasting that his group had done something that no Arab army has done before.

In Jerusalem, the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is declaring victory for Israel, while at the same time acknowledging the charges of his many critics that there were ?deficiencies? over the course of the war and in how it was handled. Meanwhile, the Arab League and Iran came out at first against the latest UN Security Council resolution, a cease-fire that they say will gain for Israel through a resolution what it couldn?t get on the battlefield. With all of these victories being declared, what exactly does this bode for the Middle East?

Really, it remains to be seen whether the cease-fire will hold or not. There have been continuous reports of clashes between Israeli troops and Hizballah members, and Tuesday saw attempts to launch rockets into Israel, the launched rockets landed within Lebanese territory. With Lebanon considering allowing Hizballah to keep its weapons in violation of several UN resolutions, this cease-fire may only be a breather between big battles.