Kofi Annan Could Have Ordered Peacekeepers to Leave--Kofi Annan's misdirected ire

Sometimes it seems as if United Nations Secretary General Kofi Anan isn't really of this world. For a head of the United nations he seems to exhibit a surprising otherworldliness. Today, a direct strike against a UNIFIL post in southern Lebanon by an Israeli shell killing four UN military observers has been lambasted by Anan as a deliberate attack.

This accusation is without any foundation and Israel has rightly demanded an apology. UNIFIL began as an opportunity for peace, but the UN Interim Force in Lebanon has never made good on its promise. It looked on as Hizballah fortified southern Lebanon, it failed to prevent Hizballah carrying out attacks on Israel. Throughout, Hizballah has used UNIFIL to give cover in battle and to limit Israel's options when counterattacking, while UNIFIL's tacit approval of Hizballah's presence has lent it apparent legitimacy.

'UNIFIL has provided more security to Hizballah than it has to Israel, thereby increasing the likelihood of conflict and helping to make the current war inevitable. Even if they wanted to, the troops could not escape the distorted political constraints imposed by the organization and the nations that sent them. Nor could they escape the iron law of peacekeeping forces: those that are "successful" are not necessary, and those that are most necessary are doomed to failure.'

As recent UNIFIL press releases show, in the last two weeks Hizballah has been firing at Israel from the vicinity of its bases, drawing Israeli fire to the international observers. This is a deliberate ploy to endanger UNIFIL personnel. Israel has fired at Hizballah targets being careful to avoid endangering UN lives. That one shell eventually went astray and killed four UNIFIL soldiers is an accident for which Israel has apologised and which will be the subject of an official inquiry.

But to recap: Hizballah deliberately endanger UNIFIL lives; Israel deliberately tries to avoid endangering UNIFIL lives.

This is an important difference, because Israel isn't fighting against an army that operates according to normal rules of engagement. The Geneva Conventions are a Western invention that organisations like Hizballah and al Qaeda reject. Their rules are the Koranic rules of war, the rules of war of seventh-century desert brigands.

When Israel fires shells and drops bombs it avoids civilian casualties, warning townspeople to leave before they plan their strike. When Hizballah fires its rockets its intention is precisely to cause as many civilian casualties as possible.

Hizballah is fighting subhuman infidels. Israel is fighting a clever, flexible guerilla army.

For Hizballah noncombatants provide cover: human shields. For Israel noncombatants are a hindrance; their safety prevents the army doing its job but is nevertheless respected.

Hizballah's ethics are totally different from those of Israel. When a Hizballah rocket team fires a Katyusha they hope to kill as many people as possible - the warheads are packed with ball-bearings to heighten their effect. When Israeli artillery units fire shells their aim is to stop the Katyusha teams, destroy their launchers, their stockpiles of weapons, their bases, their infrastructure. What Israel specifically tries to avoid is killing civilians. If an Israeli attack results in the death of non-military personnel this is accidental collateral damage. To judge this as being anything other than negligence is to fall into the trap of ethics by result rather than intent.

One of the main reasons why this war has wider implications is because the Western secular ethical values according to which Israel operates are being tested here against ethical values based on the barbaric principles of a cruel archaic culture in which no value, except that of sale or exchange, is placed on the lives of those outside the tribe.

For Israel, the death of four UNIFIL soldiers is sad and regrettable; for Hizballah it's a triumph. Let's remember what this war is about and the kind of civilisation that Hizballah represents.

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Kofi Annan's misdirected ire