I bet Hizb'Allah is nervous now. Belgian troops arrive in Lebanon.
Israel agreed to a ceasefire based on a promise that the UN would deploy a force that would assist in disarming Hizb'Allah. And almost two months later Belgium sends some engineers and medics for a field hospital in the town of Tebnine.
Seeing this type of force composition should hardly be a surprise, as they've already said they won't be engaging Hizb'Allah
While the new rules of engagement set by the UN allowed the new UNIFIL force to open fire in order to implement resolution 1701, Pellegrini said he would not automatically order his troops to open fire on Hizbullah guerrillas if they were spotted on their way to the Blue Line to attack Israel. The job of the new multinational force, he said, was to assist the Lebanese army and not to disarm or engage Hizbullah or even to prevent its attacks.
Ah, so Israel gave in to the pressure for a cease fire and after a couple of months the UN sends help to build field hospitals. Well, I guess the UN has the situation well under control and Israel can withdraw, then.
Given the welcome UN troops are getting in south Lebanon, one wonders why the Europeans were so reluctant to go. While they won't be engaging Hizb'Allah, it's looks like they have an excellent chance at other engagements
Nancy Azzi was adjusting a new blue bikini on the public beach in Tyre earlier this week in the hopes that some UNIFIL troops might pass by. Images of hundreds of Spanish troops disembarking on the beach's shores were plastered across Lebanon's newspapers and television screens earlier this month."I just came to have a look," giggled Azzi, 18, who along with her friend, Solvana Rizk, drove from Jounieh north of Beirut to "enjoy" the latest addition to Lebanon's beaches.
"The Italians are gorgeous! I watched them on TV as they arrived at the airport and I knew I had to come down to the South and meet some of them," said Azzi, whose new bathing suit, a shade of blue close to that of the UN flag, was bought in "their honor."
But Azzi added that she hopes to have more than a "meeting" with the Italian troops; she is actually hoping to find "the man of her dreams" among the 1,000 Italian soldiers deployed to date.
Sounds like a hardship posting.
the 1,000 Italian soldiers deployed to date.
Well, isn't that what they're there for, or did the Lebanon Daily Star get this part of the report incorrect?
UNIFIL is tasked to provide a greater number of human shields for Iran's Hezbollah army while they rebuild their force capability.
The United Nations learned their lesson from the latest skirmish in Lebanon - in order to protect Hezbollah they must saturate South Lebanon with troops under a UN flag instead of simply manning outposts.
The UN hopes this strategy will make it extremely difficult for Israel to defend against Hezbollah rocket attacks, if not impossible.
Either the hezbollah is pacified or the next time they attack, Isreal will go all the way to Damascus and beyond perhaps, diplomatically armed with the evidence that the UN failed even though it had a clear mandate.
Ted Kennedy makes me nervous when he gives an interview supporting "Net Neutrality" !! youtube
So those players that are pulling this stunt on Israel figure that this strategy will work?
If they do not proceed with disarming Hezb'allah, then there will be another conflict. Israel will not believe anything else from the UN, and will do whatever it takes to disarm Hezb'allah itself.
Either the UN lives up to the deal, or, more water will build behind the dam, making for a larger catastrophe later.
Israel believe anything from the UN??? Since when has Israel had any response to the UN--other than to ignore over 150 resolutions and then purposely kill 4 UN observers?
Israel 'left' Lebanon because they were getting their butts kicked big time. Actually they didn't leave--they are still in S Lebanon and Shaba Farms. Don't believe everything you read.
George...I've taken your advice....and ignored your post.
Yes George, Israel should believe the UN, just like the populations of Bosnia, Riwanda, Somalia, Haiti and Darfur did.
The UN is a useless, toothless morality play (not even a play, more like a talk show) put on for naive moral cowards who don't ever want to have to live up to the hard work that goes hand in hand with the humanistic platitudes they spew.
I hope that abject peacekeeping failures will soon make this international debating society as dead as the people they talked about saving.
Yes George, Israel should believe the UN, just like the populations of Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti and Darfur did.
The UN is a useless, toothless morality play (not even a play, more like a talk show) put on for naive moral cowards who don't ever want to have to live up to the hard work that goes hand in hand with the humanistic platitudes they spew.
I hope that abject peacekeeping failures will soon make this international debating society as dead as the people they talked about saving.
Oh darn! :-( I checked the link and there was no photo of Miss Azzi in that new blue bikini she bought to honor the Italian troops.
Maybe Reuters or AP or the Beeb could Photoshop something for us...
The UN's Real Mandate
United Nations “peacekeepers” in Lebanon have had their first tense confrontation. No, not with Hizballah terrorists, silly.
With Israel.
UN, Israeli tanks in brief face-off in south Lebanon.
MARWAHEEN, Lebanon (AFP) - UN and Israeli tanks have been involved in a brief face-off on a road in southern Lebanon where the Israeli army has been setting up checkpoints.
Four French Leclerc tanks with UN peacekeepers moved up the hill to stand 500 meters (yards) from the entrance to the border village of Marwaheen, as two Israeli Merkava tanks operated nearby on Lebanese soil.
Standing some 50 meters from each other, the tanks were locked in a 20-minute face-off, the first between the Israeli army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been boosted to oversee the current truce.
The French tanks then withdrew from the area [Heh. —ed.], as observers of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation deployed in the area.
Israeli soldiers confiscated the identity cards of photographers at the scene, claiming they may give pictures of the Israeli military to militants of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. ...-
LGF
Maz2--Lebanon is a sovereign nation and as such Israel has no mandate to be in Lebanon. No matter the excuses given, Israel is the invader in this instance. More spin re photographers--a photograph of Israel in Lebanon would be proof positive that they are still meddling in Lebanese affairs.
I do not have much respect for the UN--but Israel agreed to the UN deployment in the area and agreed to leave Lebanon--again Israel only follows those rules that they agree with--would we roll over an play dead if an enemy nation had tanks and troops in Canada--this situation is schizophrenic--and no one has a problem with it because it is Israel--
Belgium the nation that abandoned Rwanda - there's a trustworty nation.
MSM uses the word, "Palestinian"; there are no Palestinians because there is no state named Palestine.
MSM uses the word, "militants"; the MSM cannot say, Muslim Islamist terrorists. Cowards do not get it. ...-
Captain’s Quarters | New Offensive Brewing In Gaza
The London Telegraph reports that Palestinian militants have acquired tons of explosives and perhaps even advanced missiles, preparing for a showdown with the IDF they expect to come if Gilad Shalit is not freed soon. The terrorists want to emulate Hezbollah’s attack against the Israelis and have upgraded their weapons systems with that in mind:
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip are rearming and retraining for an imminent military showdown with the Israeli army, intelligence sources disclosed yesterday.Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel’s intelligence service Shin Bet, said 19 tons of explosives had been smuggled into Gaza in the past year. Other senior Israeli officials indicated that Palestinian fighters were acquiring more effective weapons. ...-
jack's newswatch
Oh darn! :-( I checked the link and there was no photo of Miss Azzi in that new blue bikini she bought to honor the Italian troops.
Well, now that hot babes are banned from fraternizing with Thai soldiers, maybe they'll start up with the Italians and Spainards in Lebanon. That would be legitimate enough news and perhaps we'll get some pix in due course...!
France does not have a mandate to interfere in Lebanese domestic affairs. ...-
Lebanon to France: Stop intervening | September 28th, 2006
Lebanon’s president launched a scathing attack on French President Jacques Chirac on Thursday, urging him to stop intervening in Lebanese domestic affairs.
President Emile Lahoud, in an interview with Radio France International (RFI), accused Chirac of being responsible for his exclusion from Wednesday’s opening of the Organisation International de la Francophonie, a summit of French-speaking nations held in Bucharest, Romania.
jack's newswatch
Oh, okay, if you guys really want bikinis with UNIFIL troops that which you seek can be found here:
http://beirutspring.blogspot.com/2006/09/to-catch-peacekeeper.html
maz2 at September 28, 2006 02:28 PM:
"MSM uses the word, "Palestinian"; there are no Palestinians because there is no state named Palestine."
That's a pretty dubious assertion. By that definition there are no Kurds, no Basques, no Welsh, no Frisians, no Haida, no Zulus, etc., etc. Nor were there any Poles or Croats or Ukrainians until Poland, Croatia and Ukraine were created during the 20th century. Heck, there were no Germans or Italians until the middle of the 19th century by the same logic.
If you go out and make such arguments in public reasonable people will be forced to conclude that you are a crank and not worth listening to.
"would we roll over an play dead if an enemy nation had tanks and troops in Canada"
No.
On the other hand, would we "roll over and play dead" if a terrorist group in a neighbouring nation kept kidnapping our soldiers and civilians, and launching rockets at our towns, while constantly calling for "the extermination of all Canuckists"?
Hardly.
Why do I get the feeling that you're a wee bit biased, George?
George. Hizbollah attacked Israel for months prior to the invasion of Israel to kidnap soldiers. Why aren't you condemning their invasion? I guess this is an inconvenient fact. Besides, you don't know what you are talking about. Nations have a right to defend their sovereignty, even if that means chasing invaders from where they came from (can't say their country, because these a***s don't have one - in fact they are invaders in Lebanon). I guess you are firmly in the camp of "Israel has a right to defend themselves, as long as they don't defend themselves." Grow up.
The Israeli soldiers were captured on Lebanese soil--those were the first reports until the reports were 'cleansed'. Israel is still in Lebanon against the ceasefire resolution--what part of leave Lebanon did Israel not understand?
Who can blame some Lebanese babes for being attracted to the Western troops? They are some of the finest men on the planet. Seems like a much better prospect than being forced to marry your cousin.
Excellent point, randall! You encapsulated a lot in those three sentences.