Haaretz prints an interview today with John Bolton, who was in Israel to attend the Herzliya Conference. Bolton offers this startling glimpse into how U.S. policy shifted during Israel's war with Hezbollah:
the main reason for America's retreat from its initial position was U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who "changed her mind fundamentally" after an Israeli aerial assault killed 28 civilians in Kana on July 30. "Rice exerted enormous pressure on me to reach an agreement already," he said. "Until Kana, the U.S. wasn't interested in another typical Middle Eastern cease-fire. We thought we would exploit the fighting to fundamentally change the situation, especially in Lebanon and Syria. But under the influence of her shock over Kana, the secretary of state changed her mind and only wanted an immediate end to the fire. That was the policy Rice dictated."
Olmert bungled the war, but a few more weeks of fighting might have provided a different result. Instead we got 'another typical Middle Eastern cease-fire.'