Cracks In UN Plan Expose Israel

Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews ^ | 8/18/6 | Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu and Hillel Fendel

[SmithL]

Offers by anti-Israel countries to patrol Lebanon, Hizbullah's welcoming of Lebanese troops and the abandonment of vows to disarm the terrorist group leave Hizbullah stronger and Israel weaker.

Any hopes that the United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution ending the hostilities between Hizbullah terrorists and Israel would make Israel safer continue to dissipate. "Villagers throwing rice and Hizbullah supporters holding banners welcomed the [Lebanese] army to south Lebanon," according to the Associated Press.

For the first time in three decades, Lebanese Army troops neared the Israeli border this morning [Friday], as they continue to deploy in southern Lebanon. However, the commander of the Lebanese forces said that his soldiers would not take over a particular village near the border until the heavily war-damaged fence is repaired and the IDF soldiers leave the area.

At the same time, the Hizbullah presence does not seem to be noticeably weaker. At the village of Kila, several hundred yards from the Israeli border, Hizbullah supporters waved their flags, and terrorists made it a point to symbollically attack the United States and Israel during funeral processions in southern Lebanon.

In one village, residents scorned U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "You will not see your new Middle East," said one sign addressed to Rice.

Further complications for Israel are the almost across-the-board abandonment of the UN resolution's intention of disarming Hizbullah south of the Litani River.

According to a Lebanese cabinet decision, Hizbullah will not disarm in southern Lebanon, but its members will refrain from carrying weapons in public. Pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud clearly defined the Lebanese intentions. "The weapons of the resistance are the only ones, of all Arabs, that succeeded in standing up to Israel and defeating it. No one can take away the weapons of the resistance," he told the cabinet.

Israel has criticized the violation and complained about the failure to bring about the return of two IDF soldiers kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists. But beyond statements, Israel seems powerless to stop what some feel is shaping up as a charade.

"I would say the show is on the road," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown.

France and Germany Make Way for Muslim Nations

France disappointed the U.N. with its surprise announcement that it is sending only 200 troops instead of the thousands that were anticipated. The absence of the French and the refusal of Germany to place its soldiers in a situation of direct confrontation leaves Muslim nations with a larger percentage of the proposed force.

Indonesia and Malaysia each have offered to send 1,000 troops. Neither country has diplomatic ties with Israel, and Malaysia as recently as last week encouraged the world to cut off diplomatic ties with Jerusalem. Israel has objected to the placement of troops from countries with which it does not have diplomatic relations.

Turkey has offered to send 5,000 men, more than any other country. However, Turkey also has been a major transit point for Hizbullah terrorist weapons, according to Israeli intelligence and comments made at an American State Department briefing Thursday.

Italy has proposed sending between 2,000 and 3,000 soldiers, but has also made statements indicating sympathy for Hizbullah. A government minister termed the terrorists' kidnapping of IDF soldiers a "military action," and the government emphasized it would not try to disarm Hizbullah.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi told an Italian news service, "The fact that it won't be Italy who will disarm Hizbullah militia seems to me to be a moot point, also because I don't think the attempt would be productive."

Morocco, which has ties with Israel and has a growing militant Muslim population, has offered to send 1,500-2,000 troops. Like many other nations, it wants a clearer definition from the UN of what is expected of the soldiers and when they are to open fire.

Little Experience
One of the major problems with the UN force that is shaping up is its lack of experience which, accompanied with the presence of a poorly-trained Lebanese army, leaves the area free for Hizbullah to mobilize. Israel already has committed itself to leave southern Lebanon once the UN force is in place.

Brown admitted, "We have [the force] in quantitative terms, but the issue is which battalions we can get there in the timeline required. Are they the right battalions with the right skills and equipment?"

He also explained that the international force would not try to disarm the terrorists, because of the agreement between Hizbullah and the Lebanese government. The force is to join the 2,000-member UNIFIL, unit which has proven to be ineffective - and some say pro-Hizbullah - since its introduction to the area in 1978.

U.S. Secretary of State Rice also has backed down from her previous insistence that Hizbullah cease to be "a state within a state," and that Israel's situation be improved over its pre-war condition. "I don't think there is an expectation that this force is going to physically disarm Hizbullah," she told USA Today. "I think it's a little bit of a misreading about how you disarm a militia. You have to have a plan, first of all, for the disarmament of the militia, and then the hope is that some people lay down their arms voluntarily."

Hizbullah terrorist leaders have made it clear they will keep their weapons, and its terrorists have vowed to continue their war against Israel. Hizbullah official Sheikh Mohammed Yazbik said, "We will preserve the resistance. We won't give up our weapons, our dignity and our honor."

One man, Mohamed Ballout, told Reuters, he is "ashamed that my son was not martyred."

Hizbullah has gathered the support of more than 600,000 Shi'ite Muslims in the area and has built weapons and command centers in the last six years, after then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Barak ordered a sudden unilateral withdrawal of IDF troops in May 2000.

Even a senior American official expressed pessimism about the future. "Our history in Lebanon has not been a happy one," lamented Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.

[Cyber Liberty]

It's been said that Israel cannot afford to lose a single war, or they're doomed.

They just lost one, courtesy of Olmert. It's only a matter of time now that IDF is seen as beatable.

[stm]

Gee, ya think? The UN is pro-terrorist and anti-Israel. Always have been, though no one would ever admit to it. The US and Israel should just give them the heave ho and kick them out of the US. I hear the Hague is nice this time of year, let them move there.

[stm]

Gee, ya think? The UN is pro-terrorist and anti-Israel. Always have been, though no one would ever admit to it. The US and Israel should just give them the heave ho and kick them out of the US. I hear the Hague is nice this time of year, let them move there.

[marron]

Anyone paying attention knew that to stop short of dismantling Hezbollah was to guarantee that war would continue and more Israelis will die.

Israel needs to deal with its Olmert problem, and then get back to business. Don't worry, no one is going to disarm Hezbollah for you, they'll be there waiting for you when you get your house in order. But don't wait too long, or you will have waited too long.

[Mata-Sherry]

Time for Bibi!..........FRegards

[Cobra64]

They're looking for the Keystone Cops to handle this? Oh wait....

[thoughtomator]

This was so predictable, it's pathetic that anyone believed any other result would come to pass. Now Israel cannot attack its enemies without being labeled an aggressor, Hezbollah can re-arm and pose as the savior of the Lebanese whose towns they caused to be destroyed, Muslim troops are being positioned on Israel's border, the government of Lebanon has fully joined in alliance with Hezbollah, and Israel does not have a single one of its three kidnapped soldiers back.

Anyone who calls this anything other than a disaster for Israel is deluding themselves.

[dirtboy]

Offers by anti-Israel countries to patrol Lebanon, Hizbullah's welcoming of Lebanese troops and the abandonment of vows to disarm the terrorist group leave Hizbullah stronger and Israel weaker.

The flip side is, with France weaseling out after driving the cease-fire process, the UN already reneging on key provisions of the cease fire, and no one being willing to disarm Hiz, it's going to be that much harder for the UN-wankers to wear their masks of being neutral players.

And IMO Israel probably needed the cease fire too. They were not ready for the sophistication of the Iranian weapons they faced, specifically the anti-tank missiles. Let's hope the Israelis do two things in the interlude until the cease-fire collapses - re-adjust their tactics, and start the process in motion to put Netanyahu back in the driver's seat. And we have jobs to do as well - continue to demolish the MSM Hizbollah propaganda machine and continue to discredit the UN as a player in any Middle East solution.

[dirtboy]

Anyone who calls this anything other than a disaster for Israel is deluding themselves.

Please see my post #9. It is up to Israel as to whether this is a disaster or just a temporary setback.

[thoughtomator]

With regard to the UN, they have no mask of being neutral players, not that anyone sincerely believes. The UN's record is, and has been since its inception, overwhelmingly anti-Israel.

With regards to Israel needing a ceasefire, I seriously doubt it. I cannot imagine that Israel has not long since thought through how to deal with an enemy armed with anti-tank missiles; certainly any other enemy they might face would be armed with plenty of them. The process of learning and adapting could just as easily occur while continuing the campaign and continuing to disrupt the enemy's ability to respond.

Israel's military problem is a Prime Minister who committed his forces to war without being serious about achieving the stated war goals. Its solution is putting someone in that office who is. They need to produce the vote of no-confidence ASAP because Hezbollah will re-start this the moment they feel they are able. If Olmert is still in office at that time, it bodes quite ill for Israel's future.

[Cyber Liberty]

Even he may not be able to put this egg back together again.

[dirtboy]

With regard to the UN, they have no mask of being neutral players, not that anyone sincerely believes

I disagree. Plenty of mushy moderates think they are neutral brokers, and that is one reason Israel faced the political problems they did with this war.

The two-faced duplicity of the UN and their boosters needs to be revealed every chance we get. We take it for granted that everyone in this country understands what we know. That is not the case - and the failure of the cease-fire gives us the ammo to drive the point home to all but the hard-core left.

[Hound of the Baskervilles]

"And IMO Israel probably needed the cease fire too. They were not ready for the sophistication of the Iranian weapons they faced, specifically the anti-tank missiles. "

Right.

"Let's hope the Israelis do two things in the interlude until the cease-fire collapses - re-adjust their tactics, and start the process in motion to put Netanyahu back in the driver's seat."

Let's just hope they have the budget to beef up the IDF and do better training. And let's hope Bibi is as good a leader as he needs to be if he gets put back in the drivers's seat. That remains to be seen IMHO.

[TYVets]

Cracks In UN Plan Expose Israel.

Any thing the U N does has cracks wide enough to send

the entire state of Texas though them.

[thoughtomator]

At what point is the revelation of the UN treachery sufficient? One would think the record-breaking crime ring organized by Kofi Annan himself in collusion with Saddam Hussein would do it, or if not that, the serial list of failure and collaboration with tyranny that is its entire modern record.

[dirtboy]

Let's just hope they have the budget to beef up the IDF and do better training. And let's hope Bibi is as good a leader as he needs to be if he gets put back in the drivers's seat. That remains to be seen IMHO.

Agree 100 percent. Sharon's vision of land for peace also weakened the military. It will take a hard-liner like Bibi to get the ship righted.

[dirtboy]

At what point is the revelation of the UN treachery sufficient?

It's like everything else we do. We have to keep pounding the evidence of UN perfidy into the body politic to convince a few more people just how worthless that outfit is. You have to realize that most folks alive nowadays were educated in public schools with the notion of the absolute nobility of the UN. Not that many people pay the attention to issues that we do. It's our job to package the issues for the attention-deficit generation.

[stm]

Time to fuel up the tanks and set up the M-109 Paladin batteries again. No point in waiting until the last minute

[uncbob]

Yep and Passionate Conservative Bush signed on to this BS with our great Allie France

He never learns

From failing to clean all the Clinton types out --popcorn with Teddy -- to leaving Sandy Berger off the hook--to backtracking on using the term Islamo-Fascist

Sad
Reagan never backed down on the Evil Empire even though the liberals and MSM went crazy

Bush doesn't have it and what is so scary is I don't see anyone on the horizon that is a leader for the Times we are in