Peace schmeace

Who needs "fake peace" when you can have real war?

President George W. Bush said on Thursday he wanted an end to the conflict in southern Lebanon as soon as possible but that he did not want a "fake peace" that would only delay fighting.

Bush's comments, made during a picture-taking session with Romanian President Traian Basescu, reflected the U.S. position that Washington wants a "sustainable" ceasefire that addresses the threat of Hizbollah in Lebanon instead of an immediate ceasefire.

"Look as soon as we can get this resolved, the better, obviously. But it must be real and it can't be fake. And so there's a serious diplomatic effort making sure there is a lasting peace, not a fake peace," he said.

So serious that it took Condi Rice 13 days to even go to the region. So serious that Bush took time away from his weekend at Rancho Relaxo to make some phone calls.

Meanwhile, as Bush pontificates about "fake peace," there's a real war going on.

Israeli warplanes and artillery hammered Lebanon again on Thursday and the Beirut government said up to 600 people may have been killed in Israel's 16-day-old campaign against Hizbollah guerrillas.

Lebanese Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said hospitals had received 401 bodies of people killed during the war launched by Israel after the Shi'ite guerrillas captured two of its soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12.

"On top of those victims, there are 150 to 200 bodies still under the rubble. We have not been able to pull them out because the areas they died in are still under fire," he told Reuters.

At least 437 people, most of them civilians, have been confirmed killed in Lebanon, according to a Reuters tally. Fifty-one Israelis, including 18 civilians, have been killed.

and

Al Qaeda's No. 2 leader issued a worldwide call Thursday for Muslims to rise up in a holy war against Israel and join the fighting in Lebanon and Gaza until Islam reigns from "Spain to Iraq."

Yeah, this is WAAAAY better than "fake peace."