U.S. vetoes settlement resolution

The United States this afternoon vetoed a United Nations Security Council condemning Israeli settlements, ending a messy and fruitless week of diplomacy in the stalled Middle East conflict.

"Every potential action must be measured against one over-riding standard: Will it move the parties closer to negoitaitons and an agreement?" said Ambassador Susan Rice. "This draft resolution risks hardening the positions of both sides."

Rice also restated American agreement with the substance of the resolution, what she called the "folly and illegitimacy of continued settlement activity."

The U.S. had offered to support a weaker presidential statement against resolutions, which was rejected after it leaked (ironically, to the U.S. government station Alhurra).

"We offered a construcive alternative course forward that we believe would have allowed the Council to act unauniously to support the pursuit of peace," Rice said, adding that she "regret[s]" its failure.

The veto will soothe angry pro-Israel voices at home, but the mess does seem to have done a bit of unneeded damage to the Administration's domestic politics.