Posted on 07/26/2006 11:18:50 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Irish UN workers warned Israelis of airstrike six times
26/07/2006 - 16:18:17 It emerged today that the senior Irish officer in Lebanon, Lt. Col. John Molloy, contacted his liaison officer in the Israeli Defence Forces to express his concerns about nearby attacks six times prior to the destruction of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike. Pictured: Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern.
It emerged today that the senior Irish officer in Lebanon, Lt. Col. John Molloy, contacted his liaison officer in the Israeli Defence Forces to express his concerns about nearby attacks six times prior to the destruction of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike.
Thirty-six hours earlier, an Irish soldier had been in the Unifil facility at Khiyam where the Finnish, Canadian, Chinese and Australian soldiers died.
Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said that it was extremely disquieting that Egyptian Unifil soldiers were fired on by Israelis as they tried to retrieve the bodies. One of the last strikes on the observation post hit the door, he added.
“All our evidence suggests that this was an incredible accident or in some way directly targeted,” continued Mr Ahern.
Defence Minister Willie O’Dea said he put it quite forcibly to the ambassador that the Irish Government was extremely upset about last night’s attack.
Mr O’Dea went on to pledge that Ireland’s 17 peacekeeping troops in Lebanon will not be withdrawn despite last night’s attack.
He made the pledge after he and Mr Ahern met Israeli Ambassador Daniel Megiddo to express the Government’s shock and anger at the incident.
The ministers said they conveyed their grave disquiet at the air strike in southern Lebanon and sought assurances about the safety of all troops in the region.
Mr O’Dea said after the 30-minute meeting at Iveagh House: “I think it is fair to say that moral is very high among the Irish troops. There is no question of withdrawing.
“We instanced our grave disquiet at what has happened. As far as we are concerned, from this incident and other pieces of evidence brought to us from personnel on the ground, Israelis at the very least were reckless in this region.
“The ambassador is under no illusion about the feeling of Ireland in this respect.”
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Megiddo said he gave the Irish Government his assurances, as far as possible, that further attacks on UN posts would be avoided.
“After all this is a war zone,” he said. “You cannot forget that.”
“We had a frank conversation not only about the incident of last night but the entire situation in Israel the last 14 days and who started it all.
“We mustn’t forget that. After all it was started by two soldiers being kidnapped from Israeli territory.
“They asked me to do the utmost for the safety of Unifil people and humanitarian workers in Lebanon and I will do that obviously.”
Mr O’Dea said: “It should be possible for the Israelis to do whatever they are doing out there without running a serious risk to the lives of people who are manning those observation posts in the interests of the Lebanese and the Israelis.”
The ministers said they thanked Mr Megiddo for assisting the evacuation of Irish citizens out of Lebanon and he stressed the need for safe channels for humanitarian aid.
Mr Ahern also passed on his sympathies by telephone to the Finnish foreign minister, whose government holds the EU presidency.
Mr Ahern will be attending an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers which has been called for August 1.
The Dundalk TD added that it would not be possible for an international stabilisation force to enter Lebanon now unless hostilities ceased completely.
boo effin' hoo.
I think we're hearing one side of the story. The UN is the same crowd that filmed an Israeli soldier being hijacked and lied about the fact.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the observation post was leaking information about Israeli positions to Hezbollah. This smacks of the same sort of warning Bashir got as fighters buzzed his house at 100 feet off the deck.
guess they should have just called off the whole offensive, what with four "observers" in danger.... who needs human shields, anyway.
I heard on Rush earlier this afternoon that the Hezbos were stationing weapons near UN outposts. The peacekeepers seem to be more outraged over the Israelis trying to strike the Hezbos near the outposts than the fact that the terrorists were there.
Im sorry to see that 4 innocent observers died in this attack. But at the same time, maybe they should rethink their position when their boss is calling Israel a bunch of terrorists, and they are there to 'document' evidence of Israeli abuse on the poor lebanese people.
Sounds to me like the UN dudes should have bugged out if they knew about it. DUH!
Do you think it's wise putting an ad for an abortion pill here?
More grist for the anti-Israeli sentiments in Ireland.
Is this the "peace keeper" observation station that allowed the Hizbolla to set up the bill board facing the Isreali border with blown-up photographs of beheaded Isreali soldiers having the decapitated head held aloft by the terroists? This bill board has been left for some years in place there as I understand it.
I am NOT any sort of fan of the UN BUT so sorry to hear of what is a needless loss of life.
Several thoughts come to mind:
Perhaps the bad guys moved in close to the UN post in a stupid attempt to buy some insurance from air strikes;
or it WAS a tragic case of collateral damage
or -- worst case -- it WAS intentional ala the USS LIBERTY attack by the Israelis during the 6 day war.
If the latter WAS the case, I suggest they fire whoever is running Israel's PR effort.
Gee, that means they had at least six chances to go somewhere else safer...
If it ain't part of the solution, its part of the problem. And the UN isn't a solution for anything...
Gee, I guess if they would stop having those Hezzy flags flying next to the UN flag and actively or passively aiding the terrorists, they might not get hit.
At first I thought that the headline was a story about how the UN warned the Israeli's about impending missle attacks 6 times. Then I realized, it was the UN warning the Israeli's that their airstrikes were coming too close to the UN observers.
That's almost funny.
You would have thought after the second warning, the UN guys would have figured out that either the message wasn't getting through, or that Israel didn't care. I'm sure the latter is just too horrible of a thought for the UN to even deal with.
Huh?
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