Free Republic

UNITED NATIONS — In a departure from language used by the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Annan yesterday linked the issue of releasing Israeli soldiers to freeing Lebanese terrorists held by Israel. Hezbollah demanded a prisoner swap when it kidnapped the two soldiers on July 12, launching a month-long war. Mr. Annan, speaking to the press in Beirut, retreated from several demands the Security Council made on Hezbollah and went as far as to equate the conduct of Israeli army soldiers with that of terrorists serving the Taliban regime. "You have to talk with those with the guns to stop shooting,...

At around 4 a.m. Saturday, Lt. Col. Emanuel Moreno, a senior commander in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal), was killed in a fierce battle with Hizbullah fighters near Baalbek in the Bekaa valley not far from the Lebanese-Syrian border. From the details of the commando raid that have filtered into the media, we learned that Moreno and his men were airdropped into the area by helicopter along with their two Hummer vehicles, with the mission of attacking a Hizbullah base in the nearby village of Bodei used by the Iranian-sponsored guerrilla fighters for weapons smuggling.Iran is now working...

Since the cease-fire was implemented in Lebanon, we have heard scattered reports indicating that a prisoner swap with the Palestinians may be in the works. In exchange for hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian terrorists now held in Israeli prisons, IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage by Palestinian terrorists for nearly two months, may be released from captivity. These reports lend weight to the view that things are back to normal. Terrorists kidnap Israelis and hold them hostage and Israel releases terrorists in order to free them. It is a comforting thought for people like Prime Minister...

Israeli envoy to UN says that to expect nations like Malaysia and Indonesia - who do not recognize Israel's right to exist - to guard Israel's safety 'is a bit naïve.' The Israeli envoy to the UN, Danny Gillerman, said that it would be "difficult if not inconceivable" to accept nations who do not recognize Israel's right to exist and who have no diplomatic relations with Israel as part of a UN force in southern Lebanon . Gillerman made the statement in an interview with BBC Online, after Malaysia and Indonesia – who do not recognize Israel - have both...

In a classic case of the French being the French, reports indicate that President Chirac is balking at sending troops from his nation to be part of the international force to enforce the United Nations-orchestrated "peace" deal. This is the good news relating to this international force. Recent history suggests that, at best, international forces under the United Nations flag are neutral and ineffectual and, in many, cases outright pernicious. It was only 13 years ago, but nobody seems to remember the American tragic experience in Mogadishu, Somalia, which shows what can happen. That effort began with great optimism. The...

JERUSALEM - However hard Ehud Olmert tries to spin it, the UN ceasefire that began this week is a disaster for Israel and for the war on terrorism generally. With an unprecedented green light from Washington to do whatever necessary to uproot the Iranian front line against Israel, and with a level of national unity and willingness to sacrifice unseen here since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, our leaders squandered weeks restraining the army and fighting a pretend war. Only in the two days before the ceasefire was the army finally given the go-ahead to fight a real war. But,...

(IsraelNN.com) A group of reserve soldiers, who were recently discharged and are setting up a forum, have called upon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, and Foreign Minister Tsipi Livni to resign. Tonight the soldiers will be holding a demonstration at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv at 7p.m. The demonstration is expected to be the first of several, under the banner, “You failed – resign!” In a petition publicized by the forum, the public is asked to sign the following: “We are very worried about the fate of the country. From all ends of the political spectrum, we...

This is galling to have to admit. But with the war officially over, it is retroactively clear that the Europeans were right about one thing. They were right for all the wrong reasons, but they were right nevertheless: Israel's response was disproportionate. This is not, as some claimed, because Israel had no right to go to war. Hizbullah is openly committed to Israel's destruction. It spent the last six years, as organization leader Hassan Nasrallah told a press conference on July 12, arming itself to the teeth for the sole purpose of fighting Israel. And it did so despite Israel's...

Le Monde reports France will only send 'symbolic' force of 10 officers, 200 troops to region. UN to try and convince country to send more soldiers. France wants to send a small, purely symbolic contingent to the strengthened UN force in Lebanon , and the United Nations is trying to convince French officials that a decision to send so few would be devastating, a French newspaper said Thursday. Although France has been widely expected to lead the force, Le Monde newspaper reported that it planned to contribute only 10 officers and a contingent of 200 military engineers to the force...

The magnitude of Israel's failure in Lebanon becomes clearer every day. Hezbollah, stating the obvious, has said it has no intention of disarming (but it may curtail public displays of its weapons). Lebanese officials have made it clear that the "government" has no intention of disarming Hezbollah. Why, asked one leader, should the Lebanese army try to do what the IDF could not accomplish (especially with Hezbollah's popularity now at a new high)? Meanwhile diplomats are scrambling, without much apparent success, to come up with the members of the new UNIFIL force. If that force arrives, it can hardly be...

Despite the public reappearance of armed Hizbullah gunmen in southern Lebanon, senior IDF officers said Wednesday that Israel would uphold the cease-fire and begin to gradually withdraw its forces ahead of the planned deployment of the Lebanese army in the south, scheduled to begin on Thursday. On Wednesday, the Lebanese cabinet approved a plan to deploy troops south of the Litani River and to extend government authority over the region, a key provision of the UN cease-fire plan that ended 34 days of fighting. But the cabinet said soldiers would not "chase" or "take revenge" on Hizbullah guerrillas in a...

Israeli tanks have stopped their withdrawal from Lebanon. Breaking.