Via LFG. (Article labeled "Times Select"; posted in its entirety since the link may not last.
The shaky, United Nations-brokered cease-fire in Lebanon suffered another blow on Sunday when the European countries that had been called upon to provide the backbone of a peacekeeping force delayed a decision on committing troops until the mission is more clearly defined.
"Weasel One to Weasel Two - how are we gonna get out of this sh*t?"
Their reservations postponed any action on the force at least until Wednesday, when the European Union will take up the issue. Haunted by their experiences in Bosnia in the 1990s, when their forces were unable to stop widespread ethnic killing, European governments are insisting upon clarifying the chain of command and rules of engagement before plunging into the even greater complexities of the Middle East.
| You'd think, being 'haunted' by their past failures, they'd decide to be darned sure they don't fail this time. You'd think. |
"In the past, when peacekeeping missions were not properly defined, weve seen major failures," a spokeswoman for the French Foreign Ministry, Agnès Romatet-Espagne, said Sunday. There are the bad memories of Bosnia. This time we want the answers beforehand, so we dont come to the problems when they have happened."
In addition, a senior French official said, "Italy, Spain and Finland have raised the same questions as France has." Following the usual diplomatic practice, the official asked not to be identified. A spokesman for the Spanish Foreign Ministry said Spain was willing to send troops, "but the rules have to be clarified and agreed on."
"And the number one rule is nobody is supposed to shoot at us - just at the Jews."
Some countries, like Australia, which has placed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, have refused to commit troops. "We have no intention of making any significant contribution," said a senior Australian government official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. "We dont have any confidence in it. It is not going to have the mandate to disarm Hezbollah."
Gotta love the plain-spoken Aussies! They know a bad joke when they see it.
The confusion over the peacekeeping force, coming just a day after an Israeli commando raid, added to fears that the cease-fire could easily break down.
What cease-fire? You mean the unilateral Israeli withdrawal? 'Cuz the Lebanese and the Hezzies (but I repeat myself) sure haven't done anything they supposedly agreed to do.
"Unfortunately, there is a tilting edge where things very easily, within the next weeks or months, can slide out of control," a top United Nations envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said at a news conference in Beirut on Sunday, after two days of meetings with Lebanese officials. Finland, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, scheduled the Wednesday meeting in Brussels, where diplomatic and military experts were expected to address questions that they believed have still not been properly answered.
"We need to know what are the material and legal means at our disposal," the French defense minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie, said Friday. "You cant send in men and tell them: Observe what is going on, but you dont have the right to defend yourself or shoot."
And why not? That's what the UN always does. See UNFIL, dead Canadians.
| Michèle, you're the Defense Minister. You can give your boys the order to shoot. Really. |
In a further complication, Israels prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told his cabinet on Sunday that he did not want countries that did not have diplomatic relations with Israel to participate in the force, according to an official in the prime ministers office.
Gee, I wonder why that would be? Maybe because those countries would help the Hezzies?
Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh are among the countries that have offered frontline troops but don't think Israel exists, or has the right to have no diplomatic ties with Israel.
Mr. Olmert spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Romano Prodi of Italy and called on Italy to take a leading role in the international force, according to a statement released by Mr. Olmerts office. Italy has offered to send up to 3,000 troops while France, which helped broker the cease-fire, has so far refused to commit more than 200.
And is anybody with two functioning brain cells surprised at this? Phrance wants to pretend they're important, not actually do anything important. And they definitely don't want to upset the Arabs, their favorite bribery trading partners.
While the troubled peacekeeping force dominated discussion in Europe, repercussions from a commando raid in Lebanon on Saturday night were still being felt in Israel.
Why? Because the Israelis were surprised Olmert found his balls for a few minutes?
Israeli officials defended the risky nighttime operation, which they said was aimed at stopping the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah and was fully justified, since the United Nations truce calls for an end to the rearming of the militant group. Officials hinted that the Israeli military would act again if it suspected new weapons were flowing to Hezbollah. "The resolution has very clear directives on limiting the transfer of weapons from Syria and Iran into Lebanon," said Isaac Herzog, the tourism minister and a member of Israels security cabinet. "The directives speak of a full embargo. As long as it is not enforced, we have the full right to act against it."
Preach it, brother! (Someday someone needs to explain to me why their tourism minister is the one delivering this message, instead of, say, their defense minister. Just a thought.)
Israel gave few details about the raid, and speculation abounded in the Israeli news media that the commandos were trying to free the two Israeli soldiers whose capture started the conflict, or to kill a Hezbollah leader. One such official, Sheik Muhammad Yazbeck, lives in the area where the operation took place.
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, touring the ruins on the Shiite southern edge of the capital, where apartment buildings were flattened for blocks, called the Israel bombing raids "a crime against Hezbollah's money humanity." "What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed," he said. There is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israels hatred."
Methinks he doth protest too much. Mealsothinks he's projecting his own hatred of Israel.
The Lebanese defense minister, Elias Murr, who on Saturday threatened to halt the deployment of Lebanese troops to the south if Israel carried out any more raids, warned Sunday that anyone who fired rockets toward Israel from southern Lebanon would be treated as a "traitor" for giving the Israelis an excuse to resume hostilities. The warning appeared to be directed not toward Hezbollah, which he said had pledged to honor the cease-fire, ...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
... but to their buddies in murder fringe groups, particularly those in Palestinian refugee camps. Speaking at a news conference at the Defense Ministry in the hills overlooking Beirut, Mr. Murr also had harsh words for the Israelis, saying the commando raid showed "the whole world" who was violating "international resolutions."
Who gives a rat's ass about "international resolutions" intended to destroy the Jooooooos?
While the Israeli military is normally quick to publicize its successes sometimes even providing videos of the raids through eerie green night-vision lenses scant details of the commando raid near the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek were disclosed.
Hmmmmm. Must have gotten what/who they wanted.
An official statement released by the army said, "The goals of the operation were achieved in full"
Heh.
But in the Lebanese village of Boudai, residents gave graphic accounts yesterday of a commando force, wearing Lebanese Army uniforms and shouting in Arabic, that was chased down by local guerrillas and forced to evacuate by helicopter.
Ah, yes, the Lions of Islam standard lie: "victorious" again - in their own minds.
The commandos were from the Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli news media reported, the countrys most elite, legendary and secretive unit, one that carried out, among other operations, the famous Entebbe raid to free hostages held on an airliner. Lt. Col. Emanuel Morano, who was apparently the leader of the force, put at about 100 men by the Israeli news media, was killed and another officer and a soldier were wounded.
| Lead from the front, did he? A hero. |
In Israel, it was widely assumed that the mission was considered highly important and involved something more than interdicting an effort to resupply Hezbollah with standard weaponry. Many of the reports in the Israeli news media centered on speculation that the raid was intended to gather intelligence or evidence about advanced, Russian-made weaponry sold to Syria and being sent into Lebanon for Hezbollah.
In an analysis in the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, Alex Fishman wrote that Hezbollah had been using advanced Soviet-made antitank weapons. More than 10 days ago, he wrote, a legal opinion was written by lawyers reviewing the United Nations-backed cease-fire agreement "stipulating unequivocally" that attacks on Hezbollah weaponry would be classified as "an act of defense."
Yeah, but those are just words - Joooooos are not supposed to take them seriously!
Whatever the purpose of the raid, most agreed it never would have been disclosed if the commandos had not run into serious difficulties. "Nobody was supposed to hear about the secret operation two days ago deep inside Lebanon, one of the secret operations the public is not told about," the newspaper Maarivsaid. But, the paper added, "the mission got in trouble on the way."
The daily Haaretz quoted an unidentified military source as saying, "We were really lucky the operation did not end with 10 commandos killed."
Jeez, you'd think at least the Israeli MSM would be a little different from the NYT, et al.
Some commentators described the raid as another black mark for the Israeli military, already under severe criticism for its conduct of the Lebanon war. Writing in Yediot Aharonot, Amir Rappaport said, "The operation was intended to be absolutely secret and the mere fact that it was revealed and even claimed casualties is proof of its failure."
"The skirmish between the commando troops and the Hezbollah fighters, which was not planned, also displays Israel to the world as though it violated the U.N. resolution. Absurdly enough, the mission that ran into trouble was also intended to allow Israel to provide proof later on that Syria, Hezbollah and Iran were not honoring the agreement."
For what? Everybody knows they've no intention of honoring the agreement. And any proof Israel would provide would be ignored anyway.
European hesitation over committing troops to the peacekeeping force is to some extent rooted in bitter memories of the Continents experiences in Bosnia, where foreign troops were not only unable to prevent large-scale ethnic killing but were themselves held hostage at times by the warring parties. Some of the peacekeepers ineffectiveness was attributed to unclear rules of engagement and to conflicting chains of command between national defense ministries and the United Nations.
Face it, guys. Anything labeled "U.N." is doomed to failure - it's built in, just like their penchant for five-star resorts and raping refugee goats children.
But some critics say the delay may indicate that military chiefs of staff are at odds with their diplomats who helped write the peacekeeping resolution and planning documents.
Ya' think?
The United Nations has said it is looking for at least 3,500 troops to arrive by Sept. 2. So far France has promised 200 soldiers. Fifty military engineers landed in Lebanon this weekend and the rest are to arrive later this week. But Frances initial contribution has fallen far short of the 2,500 to 4,000 soldiers that it had been expected to offer. France had also been expected to assume leadership of the entire international force, which was intended to number about 15,000 troops and would join 15,000 Lebanese Army troops in patrolling southern Lebanon.
Who was the idiot who believed this would ever happen - and how drunk was he?
Meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Arab foreign ministers expressed their "readiness" to contribute to the reconstruction of Lebanon.
Ready, maybe. Willing? Better print some more of those counterfeit hundred dollar bills, Lebanon, 'cuz the oil ticks ain't gonna thrown their money down the Hezzie rat hole just to see it bulldozed by the IDF in the second round.
"The United Arab Emirates will rebuild the schools and hospitals in southern Lebanon and help remove landmines, Qatar will rebuild the town of Bint Jbail, and Kuwait will set aside $800 million," said Hesham Youssef, adviser to the secretary general of the Arab League. "This is in addition to the $500 million already promised by Saudi Arabia for reconstruction efforts."
And a pony!
Pfui. |
lack of intelligence wasn't the IDF's downfall in Bint Jbail, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said in an interview on Channel 1 Wednesday evening. Halutz said that on the intelligence level, the army was aware of what awaited forces in Bint Jbail. The chief of general staff emphasized that "we're in the process of investigating everything that happened," good and bad, and said that such investigations could take another month. "I promise that when everything is concluded, I will present [the information] before all the Israeli people," he said.
Israel Defense Forces troops killed a senior Hezbollah leader just before the UN cease-fire took effect, the army said Wednesday. GOC Northern Command Udi Adam said IDF forces killed the head of Hezbollah's special forces, identified as Sajed Dawayer, during clashes in 
The IDF General Staff postponed the expansion of ground operations in south Lebanon late Wednesday night, after the security cabinet earlier in the day approved a plan for a widened offensive that would take the army to the Litani River, over 20 kilometers from the border, and beyond, in an effort to prevent the incessant Katyusha rocket attacks on northern Israel. 40,000 IDF troops and reservists were massed along the northern border Wednesday evening in preparation for Israel's largest and deepest ground incursion into southern Lebanon since the beginning of Operation Change of Direction last month. 
(KUNA) -- Hizbollah announced in a statement issued on Friday that its fighters killed six Israeli soldiers, among them an officer, and destroyed six of Israel's Merkava tanks as well as an unspecified number of armored troop carriers and tractors or earth-movers. The statement indicated that Hizbollah fighters engaged Israeli troops in fierce fighting near the southern Lebanese village of Mashroa-al-Taiba, where Hizbollah fighters were able to destroy one tank and an armored troop carrier. More fighting went on at other locations in the south such as at the villages and townships of Markaba, where six Israeli soldiers were killed, and Aita Al-Shaab, where one Israeli tank was destroyed and its occupants killed, according to the Hizbollah statement. Fighting also continued at the villages of Shiheen, Al-Jibain and Maroon Al-Ras.
Hezbollah leader 