United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan’s embarrassing visits to Syria and Iran (and Saudi Arabia, oddly enough) produced laughable empty promises to “support the Hizballah-Israel truce” from the two countries most responsible for creating and sustaining Hizballah.

Now Annan seems to think those empty promises are real checks he can take to the bank: Annan sees end of Israel blockade of Lebanon in 48 hours.