"I made it clear to the Congress that I will not allow our nation to cross this moral line. I felt like crossing this line would be a mistake, and once crossed, we would find it almost impossible to turn back."

- George W Bush, 19.7.06, speaking out against the innocent killing of human life. Not the people of Lebanon, but embryonic stem cells.

"How you get a ceasefire between one entity, which is a government of a democratically elected state on the one hand, and another entity on the other which is a terrorist gang, no one has yet explained."

- John Bolton, US Ambassador to the UN, 20.7.06, as clueless about the diplomacy business as ever. And what about when the "terrorist gang" is also part of the government of a democratically elected state?

"That might make people feel good for a few hours"

- Tony Blair, dampening calls for him to support a unilateral ceasefire by Israel, 21.7.06. I would have thought the end of hostilities would have the Lebanese people feeling good for more than just a few hours...

"get Hezbollah to stop doing this Shi'ite..."

- what George W Bush really said to Tony Blair, St Petersburg, 17.7.06