Tell me, after reading this, how the situation in south Lebanon is different in practice, than how it was 6 months ago...UN will not stop Syria sending weapons to Lebanon By Harry De Quetteville and Michael Hirst
(Filed: 27/08/2006)
The United Nations peacekeeping force to be deployed in Lebanon is facing further criticism after the admission that its forces will not even be allowed to intercept shipments of arms to Hezbollah from Syria.
Speaking in Brussels before heading to the region, Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, confirmed that the 15,000-strong force will not meet Israeli demands to police the routes used by the militia to smuggle missiles from Syria.
"Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear," he said. Instead, the Unifil force will only carry out interception missions if asked by the Lebanese government - which has made no such request. Syria, meanwhile, accused by Israel of re-arming Hezbollah during the recent conflict, has said the deployment of any UN forces near its border would be considered a "hostile act".
Mr Annan's disclosure of more limits on the UN force's remit will act as a further blow to its credibility as a peacekeeping force. It is already devoid of any mandate to disarm Hezbollah of its existing weapons, and now appears powerless to stop the militia re-arming. Critics point out that new stocks of weapons and missiles could end up being used against the Unifil troops themselves, should their mission go awry and end up in clashes with Hezbollah fighters.
This is just pure idiocy! And what would one expect from an organization and corrupt, incompetent, and toothless as the U.N.?
In six months Hezbollah will have been re-armed and will start lobbing Kaytusha rockets into northern Israel again, while the blue-hatted baby-sitters do what exactly? Seriously, what is the purpose of the U.N. forces presence if not to insure that Hezbollah does not re-arm and pose a threat to Israel? The article says the U.N. has to have the Lebanese government's permission but Hezbollah is entrenched in the Lebanese government. That request will never be made. Israel should never have caved to international pressure and stopped the bombing until Hezbollah was damaged to the point of not being able to recover for years.
Explain to me again why we are subsidizing, with taxpayer dollars, an organization who is almost always opposed to what is in the best interest if the U.S. and it's allies?
1 comment:
France is desperate for regional relevance. That's why the insisted on brokering that ridiculous "peace" deal with the U.S. and Israel and Lebanon. But as usual, when it comes to putting your money where your mouth is, or in this case your troops, the French cannot be counted on to participate in any meaningful way.
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