Lebanon: Hezbollah Rearms While UN Sleeps

the trumpet ^ | Friday, November 10, 2006 | na

[Flavius]

Though southern Lebanon swarms with thousands of United Nations soldiers, Hezbollah continues to rearm at breakneck speed. If the embarrassing oil-for-food scandal in Iraq and the botched UN operations in Liberia, Sudan, Rwanda, Columbia, Kashmir and Angola weren’t enough to convince you the United Nations is a decrepit organization, then what’s currently unraveling in Lebanon probably won’t.

Like fire ants that just had their hill kicked over, Hezbollah soldiers are rebuilding, reshaping and restocking the infrastructure and arsenal that was destroyed and depleted this past summer. Tunnels and trenches are being redug; aid and supplies are flowing in; telecommunication lines are being restored; weapons and missile stocks are being replenished. On top of all this, this major overhaul is being carried out under the noses of over 20,000 Lebanese and UN soldiers.

Like Liberia and Rwanda before it, Hezbollah is making a mockery of the United Nations!

To be fair to the UN, Hezbollah’s method for putting itself back together is quite cunning. In the town of Bint Jbeil recently, locals told reporter Michael Hirst how Hezbollah soldiers are exploiting the major reconstruction occurring in Lebanese towns as a cloak by which they can cover up their own reconstruction efforts. Soldiers who brandished guns and rocket launchers in July now push wheelbarrows, swing brooms and drive shovels. But rather than help rebuild homes and schools, these soldiers are pouring their sweat into tunnels and trenches that will be used for weapons smuggling and launch pads.

The hundreds of trucks carrying aid, supplies and materials into southern Lebanon are perfect, as another local told Hirst, for smuggling weapons and communications equipment into the region. Hezbollah already has 20,000 missiles on hand, with more continuing to flow in.

About 9,500 UN soldiers and at least 12,000 Lebanese soldiers are stationed in southern Lebanon, and still the region is a beehive of terrorist activity. So if UN and Lebanese soldiers aren’t curbing Hezbollah’s activities, what are they doing?

The answer: very little!

Spiegel Online reports (emphasis ours):

“We just stand around,” complain Spanish Marines from the nearby “Isla de Leon” base who are on patrol in Piranha armored cars. The two vehicles stop every 20 minutes and the soldiers hang around on the street. “We can tell you exactly what we’re doing here,” they say. “We are here just to be here.”

Read UN Resolution 1701, and it becomes obvious why UN troops are inactive. Beyond being soft-spoken, toothless and painfully vague, the resolution provides no clear and definite course of action should Hezbollah decide to return to its pre-war status as a fully armed, battle-ready terrorist organization. Thus, Hezbollah is arming right in front of 9,500 UN soldiers, yet the mandate under which the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (unifil) operates fails to stipulate that UN troops should use force to stop these activities.

On paper, UN Resolution 1701 says Hezbollah should not be allowed to rearm. The reality of the situation, though, is that it does absolutely zilch to dissuade the Iranian-sponsored group from restocking its shelves.

The resolution is clear on one matter though, that is, unifil forces are not to act independently in their responsibilities in southern Lebanon, rather, they are to submit to and provide assistance to the Lebanese government and military. Though such a deal seems reasonable—after all, it is Lebanon’s territory that UN forces are working in—there is one major problem: The Lebanese government and military has a soft spot for Hezbollah and a history of failing to deal forcefully with the terrorist group in its midst.

The Lebanese government deployed 12,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon, but those soldiers are doing virtually nothing to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and replenishing its supplies. Hezbollah’s position in the Lebanese coalition government, as well as the staunch support it receives from Tehran and Damascus, gives the group the boldness and audacity that results in it disrespecting the Lebanese government and military.

UN Resolution 1701 requires that Lebanon disarm Hezbollah, a task unifil could assist with, yet after almost three months the Lebanese government has shown no signs that it is even interested in disarming the group.

Hezbollah (i.e. Iran) is preparing for war with Israel, Lebanon is doing nothing to stop it, and UN troops are little more than passive onlookers. In many cases, even UN soldiers themselves are growing frustrated.

“One junior officer, who preferred to remain anonymous, said he was glad that his battalion would be back in Cadiz in southern Spain at the beginning of November, replaced by normal infantry. ‘It’s absurd,’ he says. ‘We landed here and set up our tent city, but since then we’ve only left the camp to drive around and to make sure that we’re seen’” (ibid.).

Arutz Sheva recently noted how Hezbollah terrorists are more prone to roaming freely and conducting their activities at night because unifil does not patrol the streets after dark. Spanish unifil official Richard Ortax admitted that nightly patrols are not conducted by UN troops “because of the danger involved.” These soldiers went to Lebanon prepared for confrontation. They are well-trained and equipped with some of the best technology and weaponry available, not to mention that they outnumber Hezbollah fighters almost 2 to 1—yet it’s too dangerous for them to participate in nightly patrols?

This is as embarrassing as it is ridiculous!

Since Resolution 1701 passed in August, thousands of troops from around the world have descended into southern Lebanon. But those troops can do very little to actually stop Hezbollah from rearming. UN soldiers are cooped up in tent cities, or they are manning road blocks that are more like fishnets with gigantic holes, or patrolling streets teeming with Hezbollah terrorists who are rebuilding infrastructure.

UN officials would argue that its presence in Lebanon is preventing war from breaking out. That might be true for now, but the fact is, if an unrepentant Iranian-backed terrorist group with a proven track record for starting wars with Israel is allowed to rearm and reinstate itself so quickly after its latest war, then a future war is inevitable.

The UN has put 9,500 soldiers in southern Lebanon and essentially told them to close their eyes and do nothing about rampant terrorist activity. As long as Hezbollah’s army is allowed to prepare for war unhindered, there is one thing we can know for sure: The UN’s incompetence is hastening the day the next war begins.

[Flavius]

EU responds

PARIS: French troops forming part of the peacekeeping force in Lebanon nearly shot down Israeli fighter jets, which appeared to be in attacking positions, revealed French defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie Wednesday.

They missed by just two seconds, she told the ...

UN urges Israel to cease flights over Lebanon ABC Online, Australia - 3 hours ago ... conducted regularly by Israeli warplanes, are a clear violation of the Security Council resolution adopted in August to end the war between Israel and the ... Head of UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon calls on Israel to end ' ...

[raftguide]

The UN is not making a mockery of itself, it is building the justification Israel will need to use nuclear weapons to protect itself.

[elhombrelibre]

Ping.

[EagleUSA]

A big war in the ME is forming. The UN and its gross anti-semetic position, is setting it up. They protect the scum that ARE the troublemakers. There will be the fight that is long overdue. Alot of this has been a stalling tactic to get a fighting President out of the White House before the UN makes its final moves against Israel by supporting the bad boys --- just turning a blind eye as they always do when it comes to Israel.

Our leftist-dominated Congress will not lift a finger and God help Israel if our voters are stupid and selfish enough to put a Marxist in the White House.

[Goreknowshowtocheat]

A sea of glass is in Iran's future and Syria too. It is turning out that once we withdraw to fortress America the only thing left will be the Israeli nuclear inventory. I don't know how much oil will be pumped after the nuclear exchanges. It may come to tents and bicycles over here.

[SusaninOhio]

I'm sure the Dems will take good care of all of us.

As far as the UN goes, when are they not sleeping?

[sport]

Ther u.n. is not asleep. They just do not give a damn.

[Flavius]

cant believe no one brought up the perrot

Owner: No, no, 'e's uh,...he's resting. Mr. Praline: Look, matey, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now.

[mcshot]

Unfortunately for the UN troops the Israelis will have to take them out with the trash when the war rekindles. And anything short of a smashing victory will just keep the cycle going until Israel can be made to disappear.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Shocking, I tell you! Who would have thought...????

[Malsua]

Why is this hypocrisy any surprise to anyone?

The world has turned upside down as far as I can tell. Evil humans intent on blowing themselves up have "legitimate grievances". The world has become bizzaro land.

[zarf]

What's a guy gotta do to get a good old fashioned war around here?

[JasonC]

"Hezbollah is making a mockery of the United Nations"

Not possible.

[JasonC]

Wait five minutes.

[ThomasThomas]

The UN is NOT asleep.

[IYAAYAS]

If Israeli jets attacked a french UN position in Lebanon I'd probably wet myself giggling. The UN and the french are a demonstrated enemy of the US. The time for game playing is over I'm afraid.

[SlowBoat407]

I now consider the UN on a par with hizb'allah as an active enemy of Israel and the US.

[Richard Axtell]

The next war will be in Lebanon and Syria, and will involve front line Iranian units, probably their aircraft. This will be the war people have been shutting out of their minds, as if Israel sees itself as threatened with annihilation, Iran's nuclear installations, and certainly its military bases will become nuclear targets for Israeli sub based missiles and aircraft. Seymour Hersh just doesn't have a clue, the idiot.

[Logical me]

How much longer does it take for the US to cut funds to the UN and kick them out.

[JSteff]

"UN urges Israel to cease flights over Lebanon "

UNFIL is in Lebanon as a trip wire like we are in Korea. It gives France, Spain, Germany, et,al a reason to attack Israel. That is the ONLY reason they put so many of their troops amongst the terrorists.

When Hezbollah starts to attack Israel again, and Israel responds and some ero weenie troops get injured or killed, they will have a reason to assist the terrorist in removing Israel.

It has been a set up since the plan went into place. Israel was stupid to agree to it and WE were stupid to force them to agree.

We should have let them degrade the terrorists more before they stopped the last defensive action. This is going to be a worse situation when it restarts... and it will.

Much worse for all including us. Particularly so if a dem run U.S. government does not help Israel..

Who thinks we will? Under the Bush government we would not even give the Israeli's cluster bombs. Think we will get even that involved in helping them?

If Israel is forced to go nuke it will hold major ramifications for the entire world... no matter how justified Israel is in doing so.