Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon today, meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, Nabih Berri.

Rice met with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who greeted her with a kiss on both cheeks. Rice told him, “Thank you for your courage and steadfastness.”

Saniora told Rice he was glad to have her in Lebanon, adding that his government is looking to “put an end to the war that is being inflicted on Lebanon.” The two shook hands across a conference table on which there were two flags, one Lebanese and one American. Half a dozen other diplomats sat around the table.

Rice also paid a short visit to the speaker of Lebanon’s parliament, Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Going into the session at Berri’s lavish office and residence, Rice said, “I am deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they are enduring. I am obviously concerned about the humanitarian situation.”

This is a complex situation with plenty of players on every side. Secretary Rice got right to the heart of the problem with this quote:

“If there is a cessation of hostilities, the government of Lebanon is going to have to be the party,” she said. “Let’s treat the government of Lebanon as the sovereign government that it is.”

Captain Ed picks up on the same theme:

That is the key point in all of the discussions regarding a cease-fire, and it expands on a point made by John Bolton last week at the United Nations. No one will trust a cease-fire agreement with a band of terrorists. For one practical reason, the terrorists have nothing to lose by violating an agreement — no territory, no fixed assets, nothing. Second, the aim of terrorists has nothing to do with a negotiated peace but for all-out victory, which relates to the first reason.

There are really two related points. The one above, that terrorists are not a nation, and this:

We want Lebanon to thrive, but the Lebanese government can’t have it both ways. If they cannot control Hezbollah, then they will reap the consequences of Hezbollah’s actions, up to and including war.

Exactly right. To repeat Secretary Rice, “Let’s treat the government of Lebanon as the sovereign government that it is.”