Fragile Does Not Even Begin To Describe the Cease-Fire Truce Between Israel, Hezbollah, and Lebanon

[Ed. note: Take the poll on "who won" this conflict at near the top right of the sidebar. Thank you.]

I suppose it's something of a miracle the two sides - or is it more than six or eight sides, considering that we aren't just talking about Israel and Lebanon here, but also the Hezbollah, U.S., Europe, the Arab nations, the Palestinians, and the U.N - the Middle East ever saw a cease-fire-slash-truce at all after more than 30 days of bloody battle. That such a truce dangles by an incredibly delicate and dainty thread sounds almost a bit too forceful for what lies in place now.

Just as many analysts - and myself, as a total civilian - predicted, both sides (Hezbollah and Israel) have claimed victory. While I know Israel did not win and while Hizbollah really did a lot more damage than one might have expected, I'm not sure what they won either, except perhaps the hearts and minds of Lebanese civilians who came to view Hezbollah as their only life line while Israel bombed, shot, and bloodied the hell out of the nation of Lebanon.

Both the U.S. and Israel lost BIG TIME in terms of the warm and cozy feeling Lebanese civilians got for the Hezbollah guerrillas... to say anything else is just patently ridiculous. Once again, the U.S. comes out of this far more hated and distrusted than it was going in.

Does anyone reading here believe this truce will hold up even as long as 30 days? I'm not certain that I do, as fervently as I hope that it lasts.