The UN Has Kept The Peace In Lebanon For 28 Years

Sweetness & Light ^ | July 22, 2006 | N/A

[Sam Hill]

Somebody needs to remind Koffi Annan and the other DNC diplomats that the United Nations has been "keeping the peace" in Lebanon for almost thirty years.

Even Wikipedia has noticed:

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon

The United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, or UNIFIL, was created by the United Nations, with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 425 and 426 on 19 March 1978, to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon (following its incursion a few days earlier in Operation Litani), restore the international peace and security, and help the Lebanese Government restore its effective authority in the area. The first UNIFIL troops arrived in the area on 23 March 1978; these troops were reassigned from other UN peacekeeping operations in the area (namely UNEF and UNDOF).

When Israel invaded Lebanon again in 1982 (1982 Lebanon War), U.N. positions were overrun. During the occupation, UNIFIL's function was mainly the provision of food and aid to locals in Southern Lebanon. Beginning in 1985, Israel scaled back its permanent positions in Lebanon, although this process was punctuated by brief invasions and bombings, as in the 1993 Operation Accountability and the 1996 Operation Grapes of Wrath. In 1999, it undertook a full withdrawal, which concluded in 2000 and enabled UNIFIL to resume its military tasks. The Syrian and Lebanese governments claim that the Shebaa Farms area, which Israel and others in the international community view as part of the occupied Golan Heights, is Lebanese territory. They contend that this dispute gives continued legal sanction to armed anti-Israeli groups in Lebanon (though the UN has officially certified that Israel has fully withdrawn from all areas it occupied after 1973). At the request of the country of Lebanon in January 2006, the UN extended UNIFIL's mandate to expire July 31, 2006.

Mandate

UNIFIL is tasked with achieving the following objectives:

* Confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon;
* Restore international peace and security;
* Assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

Additionally, the 2006 mandate extension required assisting the Lebanese government in establishing a "monopoly" on military action, adding impetus to disarm Hizbullah guerillas.

Current operation

UNIFIL is currently primarily deployed along the U.N. drawn Blue Line dividing Israel (and the Israeli Golan Heights) and southern Lebanon. Its activities have centred around monitoring military activity between Hezbollah and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) with the aim of reducing tensions and allaying continuing low-level armed conflict. UNIFIL has also played an important role in clearing landmines, assisting displaced persons, and providing humanitarian assistance in this underdeveloped region...

Troop Status

UNIFIL currently (30 April 2006) employs 1991 soldiers, some 50 UNTSO observers and 390 civilians [4]. The force includes troops from China, France, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy and Poland. Its annual budget is about US$100 million. UNIFIL is led by French Major General Alain Pellegrini, formerly French military attache in Beirut and head of the mideast division of the French military intelligence.

To date UNIFIL has suffered 257 fatalities (of which 8 civilians) during the course of its deployment.

Quotes

"UNIFIL, I'm afraid, is a joke. They’ve been there for 26 years and since then, there have been so many skirmishes [along the border]." - former Israeli ambassador Itamar Rabinovich 7/20/2006

How soon they (meaning our one party media) forget.

[Sam Hill]

But you never know. It might just work this time around. (Just kidding.)

[Sam Hill]

Memory jog.

[Reaganesque]

UNIFIL=UNIFAIL

[Sam Ketcham]

Those UN soldiers miss the raping, pillaging and plundering they like!

[lilylangtree]

And they've done such a wonderful job too. (big sarc)

[Reaganesque]

UNIFIL is led by French Major General Alain Pellegrini...

Well, there's your problem right there!

[silverleaf]

IF the UN "kept the peace" in Lebanon for 30 years, why and how did Hizbollah end up with 13,000 rockets/missiles and Chinese SILKWORM missiles?

[no-to-illegals]

the guys in the blue helmets have saved the world from itself once again...... can't we give the leadership more money, after all, without the 'un' leadership not one single person on the planet would be out of harm's way...../sarcasm

[MissAmericanPie]

This is from the Onion right?

[Jakarta ex-pat]

I knew there was a reason the UN existed.

God bless the UN!

[no-to-illegals]

little 'un' please.....they 'un' are so humble when they are 'un' in every way.

[Jakarta ex-pat]

Sorry. It was UNintentional.

[Sam Hill]

"This is from the Onion right?"

No, this information actually come from an operation that is even more of a joke -- the UN's own UNIFL site:

UNIFIL: United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon
http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/index.html

[no-to-illegals]

LOL ..... ah but it looked intentional to me... bly ye....

[Wuli]

So, it would seem to me that while the U.N. was tasked to assist the government of Lebanon with achieving a monopoly on military forces within its borders, those U.N. "observers" could probably be hauled into Gitmo and tell us loads of stuff about the Iran-supplied missiles and reinforced-concrete bunkers acquired by Hezbolla in southern Lebanan, between 2000 and last week - WHILE THE U.N. OBSERVERS OBSERVED!!!!

[vox humana]

Where is the "BARF ALERT" in your title? LOL

[NonValueAdded]

Almost 30 years. Almost $3 billion at the current burn rate. Mission decidedly NOT accomplished.

US out of the UN
UN out of the US

[no-to-illegals]

I would expect any 'un' observers to say that they are 'un'attached from such information The 'un' is one of the largest criminal organization in the world (read they don't go to jail for their crimes). 'un' may be the largest criminal organization of its kind (read chaos)......of course oil for food, never happened, and I'm Knight Rider with my horse Midnight.....no really....

[calex59]

It is sarcasm. Read the whole article and you will get it. That is why "keeping the peace" is in quotes.

[KarlInOhio]

Where is the "BARF ALERT" in your title? LOL

UN = uncontrollable nausea. The Barf Alert is implied in all articles about the UN.