Democracy is a (painfully) slow process...

It took the UN long enough to say "Um, why don't we stop fighting?"

The resolution calls on Israel to begin withdrawing all its forces from Lebanon "in parallel" with the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers and 15,000 additional Lebanese troops. It gives the international force the mandate to use firepower but no explicit role in disarming Hezbollah, leaving the fate of the Lebanese militia to a future political settlement.

Numerically, the Israel forces have done more damage in Lebanon... often hurting civillians because they're trying to fight guerrilla-like forces.

Israel and Lebanon agreed to accept the terms of the U.N. cease-fire, according to U.S. and U.N. diplomats. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will ask his cabinet to approve the resolution when it meets Sunday, according to Israeli officials. The Lebanese cabinet is scheduled to vote on it Saturday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the cease-fire will not go into effect immediately. She said U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will consult with Israel and Lebanon in the coming days to set a date for the cessation of hostilities.

"No one can expect an immediate end to all acts of violence," Rice said. She cautioned that "the conditions of a lasting peace must be nurtured over time."

The resolution provides the first significant hope for a gradual reduction in the violence -- and potentially an end to the month-long conflict, which has killed more than 800 Lebanese and 122 Israelis. Fighting continued Friday, with Israeli warplanes strafing cars and trucks evacuating people from the town of Marjayoun, killing four people, and with Hezbollah firing 124 rockets into Israel but causing no casualties.

I say... it was about damn time...