why is this newsworthy? (a head in the sand episode)

OK, the U.N. Security Council, after a month of huffing and puffing has finally agreed upon and actually passed a resolution asking Israel to lay off, and authorizing the deployment of troops to keep things from flaring up. The authority for troop deployment is under section 6 of the U.N. charter, rather than section 7, which the U.S. initially wanted.

Gee, I am glad they got that all cleared up. The difference in the two sections puts some sort of a legal twist to the rules of engagement and the actual mission of the peacekeepers, it sounds as though section 7 would put the troops in to actually engage combatants, while section 6 merely puts troops in there as a 'security measure'.

What they really mean is that the world has done its part to diffuse this terrible situation and we can all rest easier, and wash our hands of the mess before we watch it on TV.

What is required here, on a national level, is first a definition of the threat to the stability of the region, an understanding of the how's and why's of how the threat works, (indeed, how it sees the world in general), and an agreement, amongst ourselves of how it should be combatted, and where the oft-spoken of 'line in the sand' really is, and what we will do when it is crossed.

That could be any day now.