Opinion  Soapbox
Putting force into peace-keeping forces
Noa Levanon
Published: 13.08.06, 17:01
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9 Talkbacks for this article
1. LESS than useless
Sharon ,   Haifa, Israel   (08.13.06)
In our case, they've been handing Hiz & co. "ammunition."
2. Boy did we screw electing Olmert!
Amir ,   Tel Aviv   (08.13.06)
3. Great article! is Olmert reading this?
Mike ,   Tel Aviv   (08.13.06)
Excellent article that explains clearly and accurately the inherent problem associated with this so called ceasefire. In times of crisis the UN forces will not do a thing and even before that we cannot expect them to take any real action to prevent hezbollah disarming and rebuilding. The countdown for the next war has began, hopefully Israel will be better prepared the next time around.
4. U.N.= Useless Nations led by Koofi Annal
Avraham ,   Netivot   (08.13.06)
5. International Forces won't Fight Guerillas for Israel
dougjnn ,   New York   (08.13.06)
Noa Levanon As things stand, increased numbers of UNIFIL forces may be useful in fulfilling the humanitarian and rehabilitation aspects of the proposed UN resolution, but they certainly do not address the more important peace-keeping objectives of the document. Based on the current mandate, UNIFIL forces can do nothing more than observe a situation falling to pieces and report on it post-mortem. No UN or international force is going to disarm Hezbollah by force. It was always a complete Israeli illusion to think otherwise. If you’d gotten a mandate that read like that it simply would have been ignored when Hezbollah started guerilla war against the international force – whatever it was called. Yeah there are different mandates in Afganistan and Bosnia – NATO ones, with US backbone. That wasn’t in the cards here. Never was. No one wanted to do that for you, including America. What you’ve achieved is deterrence. That was better after a week or so when you should have stopped under US “pressure” as I said then and since, than it is now, with your slow ground progress and evident extreme reluctance to risk casualties. Still, you’ve heightened lots of political pressures within Lebanon to pressure Hez to disarm, especially it’s rockets. Giving ‘back’ Shebaa farms when and if Hez has disarmed as verified by UNIFIL would be smart on Israel’s side. Creates more incentives and pressures and less excuses for future incursions or rockets. Same with landmines map and the prisoner exchange.
6. You want LASTING peace...You need NATO
Debra ,   USA   (08.14.06)
UN peace-keepers have NO dog in this fight and they will not risk their lives to protect Israel...or anyone else. The ONLY solution is a PROFESSIONAL MILITARY FORCE. NATO is a WAR MACHINE, able to accomplish this task. Perhaps that's why they were REJECTED by the UN delegates, because they WOULD be successful.
7. Uhhh, Debra, NATO said no thanks, we'll pass.
dougjnn ,   New York   (08.14.06)
It's perfectly true that Lebanon (with Hezbollah pulling the strins by threatening people) with Arab backing didn't want NATO. It's also true that even before then NATO said no thanks. We're overstretched, and we're not gonna fight a guerilla war with Hezbollah for Israel in any event.
8. noa levanon
(08.16.06)
well written article!! point well taken backed up by historical fact.
9. UNIFIL aided Hezbollah
T. A. Adams ,   OKC, OK - USA   (08.28.06)
Here is irrefutable evidence from their own website proving that the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) defied the peacekeeping mandate, which requires "full impartiality and objectivity." This site was used as an underground apparatus to aid Hezbollah by broadcasting/posting detailed information on the movement and location of Israeli troops while protecting Hezbollah’s locations and movement. Their daily updates (press releases) beginning July 17 through August 25 are found at the link below. Please note the difference in what is reported on Hezbollah and what is reported on Israel troops. This is in clear violation of UN mandates and the UN needs to be held accountable by the free world. http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unifil/unifilpress.htm
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