Let me add just a few points to Bill Bennett’s excellent post:

–Hezbollah is already reconstructing southern Lebanon. Patronage matters. They will win hearts and minds. Anyone who wants assistance in rebuilding, will have to work through them.

– By the time USAID clears a powerpoint presentation through its bureaucracy, Iran will have already delivered tons of aid. We already have a potential distribution network: It’s called the Lebanese army. Who let the ball drop?

–On the frontpage of USA Today, Rice is backtracking on Hezbollah’s disarmament. The headline: “Rice: Not U.N.’s job to disarm Hezbollah.” Okay. So we voted for a ceasefire that didn’t require Hezbollah’s disarmament, but merely urged it?

Dr. Rice, do you really think this is the way to win a war on terror? The stakes are too high for diplomatic obfuscation. Few people are buying it, either in the United States or, more importantly, in the Middle East where the battle of perception is far more important.

As an aside, after all the events which have transpired since Rice made her overture to Iran, it amazes me that the State Department still wishes to give Iran two nuclear reactors.