BUSH GIVES ISRAEL 1 MORE WEEK TO CRIPPLE HEZBOLLAH

U.S. Waiting for More Israeli Airstrikes - Helene Cooper and Steven Erlanger
The outlines of an American-Israeli consensus began to emerge on Tuesday in which Israel would continue to bombard Lebanon for about another week to degrade the capabilities of the Hizballah militia, officials of the two countries said. Then, Secretary of State Rice would go to the region. American officials signaled that Rice was waiting at least a few more days before wading into the conflict, in part to give Israel more time to weaken Hizballah forces. (New York Times)

Bush Supports Israel's Move Against Hizballah - Robin Wright and Thomas E. Ricks
President Bush Tuesday endorsed Israel's campaign to cripple or eliminate Hizballah, charged that Syria is trying to reassert control of Lebanon, and called for the isolation of Iran. Bush said the "root cause" of the conflict between Israel and Hizballah "is terrorism and terrorist attacks on a democratic country. And part of those terrorist attacks are inspired by nation states, like Syria and Iran. And in order to be able to deal with this crisis, the world must deal with Hizballah, with Syria, and to continue to work to isolate Iran."

Bush said again that Israel should be allowed to defend itself. "It is now clear for all to see that there are terrorist elements who want to destroy our democratic friends and allies, and the world must work to prevent them from doing so," Bush said. "The real objective here has to be to deny the Mediterranean branch of Tehran a strategic victory," a senior U.S. official added. (Washington Post)