UNIFIL Renewed

Hizbullah needs allies. Not many nations want to openly support Hizbullah and it goal of ruling Lebanon for the Iranians. So the world created the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

These brave boys gangsters in the blue beret are suppose to enforce UN Resolultion 1701. For those of you who don't know or remember what 1701 does, I'll refresh your memories.

1701 was to suppose to stop all hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah after the 2006 war. It was to stop the rearming of Hizbullah. And keep the peace.

From the text of 1701:

11. Decides, in order to supplement and enhance the force in numbers, equipment, mandate and scope of operations, to authorize an increase in the force strength of Unifil to a maximum of 15,000 troops, and that the force shall, in addition to carrying out its mandate under resolutions 425 and 426 (1978):

a. Monitor the cessation of hostilities;

15. Decides further that all states shall take the necessary measures to prevent, by their nationals or from their territories or using their flag vessels or aircraft;

a. the sale or supply to any entity or individual in Lebanon of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, whether or not originating in their territories, and;

b. the provision to any entity or individual in Lebanon of any technical training or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use of the items listed in subparagraph (a) above, except that these prohibitions shall not apply to arms, related material, training or assistance authorized by the government of Lebanon or by Unifil as authorised in paragraph 11;

Let us just say that UNIFIL hasn't done a good job. Corruption, scandal and the usual mismanagement that just accompanies any UN project. UNIFIL troops know to run when Hizbullah fighters thugs come into an area. Or to ignore the occasional explosions when the homes storing explosives and arms mysteriously go boom.

They are more concerned with cows from Israel wandering into Lebanon.

Yet the UN doesn't ever address these problems. Instead it pats UNIFIL on the back and renews its charter.

The United Nation's Security Council voted Thursday to renew the mandate of UN troops in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL). The normally routine vote became the background for controversy this year as allegations surfaced regarding UNIFIL's enforcement – or lack thereof – of UN resolution 1701.

Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, forbids the presence of Hizbullah or other non-governmental armed forces between the Israel-Lebanon border and the Litani River.

According to the Lebanese Daily Star, the draft mentions “deep concern over violations relating to Resolution 1701, especially the latest dangerous violations,” but does not explicitly cite incidents such as the arms cache blast in July in southern Lebanon. The explosion was seen as a sign of Hizbullah activity in the area.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, made it clear during Thursday's vote that Israel sees UNIFIL as responsible for enforcing the resolution. The renewed mandate will allow UNIFIL troops to make “increased efforts” to clear the region they patrol as required by 1701, she said. Her remarks were not incorporated into the resolution.

Recent events in southern Lebanon, including the blasts heard in July, show that non-governmental forces remain active in the area, Shalev warned. “A terrorist organization, Hizbullah, continues to deploy its assets and operates actively both north and south of the Litani river,” she told the council.

In addition to voting to extend the UN mandate, council members voted to review the UNIFIL structure. The UN may decide to increase UNIFIL's naval capabilities. UNIFIL was created in 1978. It's numbers were brought to 12,000 following the 2006 war.

Ever wonder who is funding this horse and pony show? You guess it! The American Taxpayer! Feel cheated yet? Just wait. President Obama wants to increase funding to the UN. Feel sickened?

UNIFIL spending your tax dollars wisely as they round up Israeli cows instead of stopping the flow of arms to Hizbullah.

Well Duh!

Cross posted at Reject the UN

For 2 years Israel has been screaming to the world that Hizbollah with Syria's help has been smuggling weapons into Lebanon instead of disarming. And the world has ignored it. UNIFIL commander Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano of Italy has accused Israel of violating Security Council Resolution 1701. You remember 1701, the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hizbollah. Gen. Graziano has even said:

In contrast, he said that the UN enjoyed excellent cooperation with Hizbullah and with the local Lebanese people.

"Hizbullah is one of parties that agrees with 1701," he stressed.

I'm sure your bank account General is bigger now than when you left Italy. But somehow Israel got the UN to form a task force to look into the problem (and people say there is no G-d). Low and behold they come up with a different result.

A United Nations task force assigned to report on weapons smuggling in Lebanon said Monday that Hizbullah has been bringing arms across the Syrian-Lebanese border. This confirms Israeli allegations that the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group has been steadily rearming with Syrian assistance and Lebanese collusion.

Last month, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney that "the number of missiles in the hands of Hizbullah has doubled, if not tripled, and that the range of the missiles has been extended. And this has been accomplished with the close assistance of the Syrians." In March, an anonymous source told the Associated Press that Hizbullah held new Iranian rockets capable of striking as far south as Dimona, Israel's nuclear facility in the Negev.

According to the task force report, submitted to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, neither Lebanese nor Syrian officials have done anything to end weapons transfers to Hizbullah. The task force, which has seen no improvement in the situation since it started its work in 2007, noted that weapons flow easily across the Syrian-Lebanese frontier due to lax or non-existent inspections. Even the air and sea ports into Lebanon, the report says, have been used for weapons smuggling.

Earlier this month, Lebanon's cabinet voted to allow Hizbullah to maintain its weapons arsenal. The government decision specifically approves Hizbullah activities aimed at Israel.

This is in clear violation of Security Council Resolution 1701.

Now the terms of 1701 state:

full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State;

Which leads me to wonder if anyone at the UN ever talks to anyone else. Somebody should have talked to General Graziano so the 2 groups would have gotten their stories straight. And I do believe someone's head will roll. But not General Graziano's. He was dutifully bought and paid for by his Muslim masters and his job is secure.

Just another bit of corruption at the Tower of Babel.

UNIFIL commander: Israel violating 1701

Cross posted at Reject the UN

Now this is the pot calling the kettle black. It has been reported today that UNIFIL commander Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano of Italy has accused Israel of violating Security Council Resolution 1701. You remember 1701, the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hizbollah.

During a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Graziano cited the IAF forays over Lebanon and the dispute over the village of Ghajar, which he called "an open violation of 1701" and "an area under occupation."

In contrast, he said that the UN enjoyed excellent cooperation with Hizbullah and with the local Lebanese people.

"Hizbullah is one of parties that agrees with 1701," he stressed.

Graziano asserted that apart from UN troops, Lebanese soldiers and hunters, no one was armed south of the Litani River.

"We have seen some movement where one or two people were arrested but never with arms," he said.

He conceded that his soldiers were not trying to prevent weapons smuggling from Syria as demanded by the UNSC because the Lebanese government had not requested such action.

Now the terms of 1701 state:

full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State;

So when reports like this one comes up, it is just Hizbollah doing nothing.

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem told the British newspaper the Guardian that the group is rearming in the wake of the Second Lebanon War and is prepared for another war this summer.

"We are prepared for the possibility of another adventure or the demand of American policy that might push the IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] in that direction," said Kassem in an interview published Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Ban said that he "received information from Israel and other countries" that included evidence of arms smuggling from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah, calling it a "blatant violation" of Security Council resolutions - including the resolution that led to a cease-fire in the Second Lebanon War.

That resolution calls for all Lebanese groups do disarm, with the exception of the Lebanese army.

So you see another liar from the UN. An organization that considers anti-Semitism a valid form of expression. An organization that is corrupt as witnessed by Maj. Gen. Graziano's refusal to stop the re-arming of Hizbollah (violating 1701) and instead condemn Israel for trying to stop the re-arming. I wonder how much Hizbollah and its ally Iran paid the good general for this bit of insanity.

Is it any wonder when reports come to the attention of the Civilized world of gross violations by Hizbollah and the commander of UNIFIL tells a different story, the world starts to wonder if the UN is necessary.

The UN is no longer necessary or needed. It has become a hot bed of corruption and deceit. It is time that the US leave the Tower of Babel and take back the land on the East River through the power of Imminent Domain.