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Source: http://www.heritage.org/Research/MiddleEast/wm1168.cfm
U.S. Should Not Impose a Cease-fire Deadline on Israel
[Heritage Foundation] Ariel Cohen - Rising civilian casualties in Lebanon are triggering calls for the U.S. to impose a cease-fire on Israel before Secretary of State Rice travels to the region and the UN Security Council takes up the issue. However, Israel is exercising its legitimate right to defend itself after an unprovoked attack by the Hizballah terrorist organization across an internationally recognized border. Moreover, a sovereign state cannot declare a cease-fire against a terrorist organization that refuses to recognize its legitimacy - it will not hold. The U.S., for example, has not declared a cease-fire against al-Qaeda. The writer is senior research fellow in Russian and Eurasian studies and international energy security at the Heritage Foundation.