Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has visited war-torn Beirut as a part of her effort to bring real peace and security to the troubled region. She also brought an initial commitment of $30 million in humanitarian aid to teh region.

Perhaps the most important aspect of the visit to the region has been this statement of the US position onthe current conflict between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists who control much of Lebanon.

According to a Lebanese political source quoted by Reuters news agency, Rice told Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament and a strong ally of Syria, that the situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border "cannot return to what it was before July 12." She referred to the date on which fighters of the radical Shiite Hezbollah organization, which is supported by Syria and Iran, crossed into Israel, killed three Israeli soldiers and abducted two others, triggering the current crisis.

The Lebanese source, describing the meeting's tone as "very negative," said Rice told Berri there would be no cease-fire before Hezbollah freed the soldiers unconditionally and pulled its forces back at least 12 miles from the border, Reuters reported.

In other words, tehre can be no peace in the region so long as the terrorists continue to be in a position to attack Israel at will, hiding beyon international borders for safety. Any plan for peace must therefore eliminate the threat to the security of Israel, which has repeatedly taken steps in recent years to appease the Palestinians with little received in return except more attacks and casualties. An additional goal is enabling Lebanon, which until last year was dominated by Syria, to gain effective control of its own territory from the hezbollah terrorists.

The visit, which Rice said was requested personally by President Bush, was designed in part to show support for Lebanon's government, the first in years to be led largely by anti-Syrian figures. The visit was also aimed at determining what Lebanon needs to support itself and possibly get control over its southern region, now used by Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel.

"If they could control the country, we would not be in this situation. The status quo has never been stable," said a senior official accompanying Rice.

Ultimately, the issue is Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups. Israel has shown that it can negotiate peace with its neighbors and that it is prepared to accept a Palestinian state. On the other hand, the terrorist groups which control the Palestinian authority and southern Lebanon -- not to mention the Syrians, who are among the sponsors of those groups -- are unwilling to settle for anything less than the destruction of Israel. Thus the problem can only be solved by eliminating (or at least neutralizing) those groups.

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