Chuck Hagel Demands Bush Call for Immediate Cease Fire in Middle East

There aren't many sane GOP members of Congress anymore, but Republican Chuck Hagel happens to be one of them. And what he says with regards to the Middle East crisis shows more clarity than any 400 other members of the House of Reps and Senate put together.

Specifically, Hagel has asked Bush to push NOW for an immediate cease-fire in Israel's unprecedented attack on Lebanon to criple Hezbollah. From the wires:

The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate ceasefire. This madness must stop," Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, a possible candidate in the 2008 presidential election, said on the Senate floor.

The Bush administration has been under pressure from Arab and European states to press Israel into halting its offensive, but has received relatively limited pressure from US lawmakers -- especially those in his own party -- to do the same.

Hagel said the US link to Israel was a "special and historic one."

"But, it need not and cannot be at the expense of our Arab and Muslim relationships," he said.