There was an interesting report on Israel's Channel 2 Television News last night. In the report, an embedded Israeli journalist accompanied an IDF reconnaissance unit across the border into Lebanon. The troops did not encounter any resistance or Hizbullah fighters. Their mission was to destroy an elaborate Hizbullah tunnel that had been located earlier. Before mining the tunnel and blowing it up, the troops gave the reporter a tour. The footage I saw showed a very sophisticated tunnel with a ventilation system, concrete-lined walls, provisions, explosives and ammunition. The commander of the unit remarked, with more than a hint of sarcasm, that is was "amazing what can be achieved in six years" (the time that has passed since the Israeli withdrawal). The reporter followed the soldiers, who were under pressure to finish their mission soon because of the fear of mines or an attack by Hizbullah, through the tunnel and to another exit. As they emerged from the other exit, the cameraman panned the surrounding area. Looming no more than 100 metres behind the tunnel exit was a tall, white UNIFIL observation post.
Can one blame Israelis for being suspicious of UNIFIL and for not trusting the European troops that are now being deployed in Lebanon? This was the same force that stood idly by and looked on as Hizbullah prepared to kidnap IDF soldiers in 2000 and then ambushed them. As of now, there is no reason to believe that the Franco-Italian led force will be any more effective. They don't even have clearly defined goals and it is clear that the French and Italian leaders lack the political will to involve their forces in more dangerous missions that might bring them into confrontation with Hizbullah.
5 comments:
Thank you Todd for those contributions. I wasn't aware of that.
What? So why does Israel have the inaliable right to do on its land as it wishes (including building military bases, industries, facilities), but not the Lebanese (be it state or non-state actor)? And ask yourself this question: Would you have accepted it had all this been done by Lebanese state authorities? The answer is an obvious NO. You want to have full sovereignty over your territory, while your enemies should be regulated by the UN or MNF.
First of all, who is "you" - the Israeli state, the Jewish people, or we as bloggers? You seem to have some difficulty distinguishing these various entities at times (see our previous debate on genocide denial). Second, why do you think the answer is an obvious no? If the Lebanese army had built these kinds of tunnels (just to play hide-and-go-seek, let's say) Israel probably would not have had such a big problem with them - provided that the Lebanese really did use them to play with the underground gorillas rather than as staging grounds for cross border raids. Furthermore, if Lebanese state authorities had built these tunnels, Israel could hold the Lebanese government accountable for any attacks launched from there.
Anyway, I think you're wrong on another count. Israel desparately wants Lebanon to exercise its sovereignty over the south. The problem is that the Lebanese gov't itself (as well as all of its defenders) has admitted that it is incapable of doing so. Lastly, let's not forget that it was Siniora & co. who were clamoring for UN intervention all along.
Take a look at resolution 1701 of the SC, adopted August 11, 2006.
I'm sure if you go to UN Documentation Center you can find it.
I'm not clear on the EXACT role of UNIFIL. Can someone tell me what their duties are once on the ground?
Anyone see the new footage of the October 2000 kidnapping of Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan, and Omar Souad? Looks like they were killed after their capture. This whole thing reeks anyway, and it's looking more and more like the UN covered up the UNIFIL involvement in this. Bastards.
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