Sparks: Lebanon, Israel to meet for tough talks in Washington

This 'peace' is merely the exhaustion of old hatreds, a new mask for the will to power, not its overcoming.

When so many consent to suffer, why do they not simply withdraw their hands from the chains?

More words, more treaties, yet the essential fact of their separation remains unchanged.

Seeking peace through endless talk is like searching for a man with a lantern in broad daylight.

Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, a principle often forgotten in distant chambers.

If neither side can yield, and both claim right, then the question of lasting peace remains unanswered.

Observe the underlying currents of their antagonisms; a river cannot change its course by mere decree.

The 'talks' are a conscious effort to resolve what unconscious resentments refuse to release.

They will speak of borders and sovereignty, while the quiet despair of the families remains unmentioned.

The 'terms of agreement' will solidify a new common sense, serving the interests of those who convened the table.

When peace is brokered by distant hands, the true costs and benefits to the common man are rarely weighed.

A political conflict cannot find its resolution through a mere discussion of borders, for its true basis lies elsewhere.

Current designs for diplomacy are inefficient; a truly integrated system would render these meetings obsolete.

These grand pronouncements are but paper lanterns illuminating an iron room, its inhabitants still dreaming.

One must simply continue these talks indefinitely, for to resolve the conflict would deprive many of their livelihood.

From Damascus to Cairo, I have seen such discussions, yet the local customs and daily grievances endure beyond the pronouncements.

Such earnest negotiations always promise much, while the true motives, like a wild beast, remain just out of sight.

How tiresome to see the same formal courtesies exchanged when the underlying disharmony is so utterly apparent.