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Cox & Forkum on Disarming Hezbollah
Cox & Forkum: Militant Message
The Age: Disarming Hezbollah put on hold.
ISRAEL has dropped its demand for the immediate disarming of Hezbollah and begun to focus on persuading UN forces to stop the flow of weapons into Lebanon.Israel accepted that its goals must be realistic and the first step was to prevent Hezbollah from staging cross-border raids or acquiring long-range weapons, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.
“It is not that we have given up on disarming Hezbollah in Lebanon, but we see it as a process and the most important thing is … to prevent their strategic rearmament,” he said.
The UN-brokered ceasefire says international forces must help the Lebanese army disarm militias, but it does not specify whether they should actively remove weapons from Hezbollah fighters.
And what are the U.N.’s plans for disarming Hezbollah? From AP: Israel seeks troops from Muslim nations. (via LGF)
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed Friday it was not the peacekeepers’ task to strip the guerrillas of their weapons, saying that was an issue for Lebanon’s government and “cannot be done by force.”“The troops are not going there to disarm Hezbollah. Let’s be clear about that,” he said.
Meanwhile in Iraq, from AP: Blasts in Iraq kill 31, injure dozens.
This cartoon is a take on Ben Franklin’s “Join, Or Die” cartoon (and not our first).
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, Israel, Hezbollah
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Israel at War Watch: Who’s Looking for Al-Manar TV?
LGF: Who’s Looking for Al-Manar TV?
Courtesy of Google Trends, here are the countries whose citizens are searching the web for links to the Hizballah hate channel Al-Manar. (Hat tip: Egfrow.)
Hummmmmm, alot of France and Canadian hits, eh?
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Michael Ramirez on France, Lebanon and the United Nations
Technorati Tags: Al-Manar, France, Canada, Israel, Hezbollah
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Iran Nuclear Watch: Israel Sending a “CLEAR” Message to Iran
In this image released by the Israeli Defense Force the crew of Israel’s Dolphin submarine, stand on deck during a ceremony Sunday, July 25, 1999 between Crete and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea, commemorating the 69 crew members of the Israeli submarine Dakar which sank here in 1968. With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin submarines, Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike back if attacked by nuclear weapons, military experts said Thursday, Aug. 24, 2006.
AP: Israel adds 2 nuclear-capable submarines
With the purchase of two more German-made Dolphin submarines capable of carrying nuclear warheads, military experts say Israel is sending a clear message to Iran that it can strike back if attacked by nuclear weapons.
The purchases come at a time when Iran is refusing to bow to growing Western demands to halt its nuclear program, and after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
The new submarines, built at a cost of $1.3 billion with Germany footing one-third of the bill, have diesel-electric propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time than the three nuclear arms-capable submarines already in Israel’s fleet, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The latest submarines not only would be able to carry out a first strike should Israel choose to do so, but they also would provide Israel with crucial second-strike capabilities, said Paul Beaver, a London-based independent defense analyst.
Israel is already believed to have that ability in the form of the Jericho-1 and Jericho-2 nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, which are buried so far underground they would survive a nuclear strike, he said.
“The Iranians would be very foolish if they attacked Israel,” Beaver said.
And Israel will use their NUKES.
A nuclear deterrence against Ahmadinejad and the Mullahs?
Perhaps
Israel is prepared to “go it alone” against Iran. The United States and Israel will ultimately deal militarily with Tehran.
Stay tuned…..Graphic of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran has appeared heading for a showdown at the UN Security Council next week over its nuclear programme, facing the threat of sanctions after failing to freeze key fuel cycle work.
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Iran Nuclear Watch: Germany – Iran’s Response to P-5-Plus-1 Proposal is Unsatisfactory
Iran Nuclear Watch: P-5-Plus-1 – Will Likely Reject Tehran’s Terms for Talks
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran to Announce Nuclear “Breakthroughâ€
Iran Nuclear Watch: Showdown at United Nations Next Week?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Carrot and Stick?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Responds to the P-5-Plus-1
Michael Ramirez on Nuclear Iran and the United Nations
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Blocks United Nations Nuclear Inspections
Iran Nuclear Watch: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Iran Will Continue Nuclear Program
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says It Will NOT Halt Uranium Enrichment
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Military Exercises to Test Asymmetrical Warfare Combat Doctrine
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Information Blackout – Police Destroying Satellite Dishes in Tehran
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Ready to Discuss Suspension of Uranium Enrichment?
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack
The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.
Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad
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Michael Ramirez on France, Lebanon and the United Nations
But, wait…..
France has pledged 1,600 more troops to Lebanon today.
Reuters: France pledges 1,600 more troops for Lebanon
France said on Thursday it was ready to send an extra 1,600 troops to bolster a revamped
United Nations force for Lebanon, bringing the total French contingent to 2,000 and making it easier to recruit other nations.France initially offered only to double its force in Lebanon to 400, disappointing many United Nations’ diplomats who had expected Paris to provide the backbone of the mission.
However, President Jacques Chirac said France decided to dispatch many more troops after winning assurances from the U.N. that the troops would be able to defend themselves fully if they came under attack and could use force to protect civilians.
UNSCR 1701 continues to be a joke.
Full scale hostilities may resume before these French boots hit the ground in Lebanon.
Stay tuned……
Technorati Tags: UNIFIL, France, UnitedNations
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Israel at War Watch: Syria Opposes UNIFIL Force Along Its Border
AP: Syria opposes U.N. forces on its border
Syria on Wednesday opposed deployment of an international force along its border to prevent arms shipments to Hezbollah, and Israel called the situation in Lebanon “explosive.” A cease-fire was further shaken by artillery shells and explosions that killed three Lebanese soldiers and an Israeli.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora asked the U.S. to help lift an Israeli blockade on his country’s coast and airport — something Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would not happen until U.N. troops deployed along the Lebanon-Syria border to block the flow of weapons. Hezbollah’s vast arsenal of rockets and other weapons, much of which is believed to originate in Iran, reaches the guerrillas across the Syrian border.
What cease-fire?
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a JOKE. Hezbollah is NOT dearmed. Hezbollah is rearming and now Syria is refusing any international UNIFIL force to patrol its borders to prevent in-bound arms to Hezbollah.
An Israeli girl walks next to a metal cut-out statue of a firing soldier, left, in an army post from the 1967 war at Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights, overlooking Syria, Monday, Aug. 21, 2006. Speaking hours after an Israeli Cabinet minister called for renewal of negotiations with Syria and said Israel should give back the Golan Heights in exchange for peace, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday ruled out a resumption of peace talks at this time, denouncing Damascus as the ‘single most aggressive member of the axis of evil.’ Israel accuses Syria, along with Iran, of arming and supporting Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas who fired nearly 4,000 rockets at Israel in the 34-day war that ended last week.
This is a LULL in the war against Hezbollah. Israel will have an opportunity to rearm and re-equip the IDF to better combat the asymmetric warfare and Iranian anti-tank missiles of Hezbollah.
European Union ambassadors and deputies met in Brussels, Belgium, to drum up volunteers for the force, but tentative pledges reached just 4,200 troops by Wednesday — far short of the 15,000 called for by the U.N. cease-fire resolution. Deployment was likely take weeks or months.
Meanwhile, Syria indicated it might impose a blockade of its own.
“They will close their borders for all traffic in the event that U.N. troops are deployed along the Lebanon-Syria border,” Finland’s foreign minister Erkki Tuomioja said after meeting his Syrian counterpart, Walid Moallem, in Helsinki. Finland holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.
This cease-fire will NOT last much longer before full time hostilities resume.
Stay tuned…..
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Israel at War Watch: Iran and Syria Ready to Re-Arm Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Expected To Give UNIFIL Teeth
Israel at War Watch: Israel Preparing for More Fighting?
Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
Israel at War Watch: Kofi Annan – Israel Raid Violates Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Reaches Southern Border with Israel
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Moves Below Latani River
Israel At War Watch: Israel Defense Forces To Withdraw Despite Plans To Leave Hezbollah Armed
Michael Ramirez on Israel-Hezbollah War
Israel at War Watch: Israel to STOP Pullout If Lebanese Army Fails to Deploy Timely
Israel At War Watch: Israel Threatens To Resume War If Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm
Israel At War Watch: Hassan Nasrallah – The Disarmament of Hezbollah Should NOT Be Discussed Now
Israel at War Watch: The Arab Street Rejoices – Mocks Israel And United States
Israel at War Watch: Conversation With Benjamin Netanyahu – Hezbollah Will NOT Disarm
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack
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Israel at War Watch: Iran and Syria Ready to Re-Arm Hezbollah
Katyusha rockets are fired from the outskirts of the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre into Israel on August 6. Turkey has grounded two Syria-bound Iranian planes over the past month to search for weapons following Israeli intelligence that Iran is supplying rockets to Hezbollah.
Washington Times: Report: Iran, Syria re-arming Hezbollah
Iran and Syria are working to replenish weaponry and funding for Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, a London Arabic newspaper reported Monday.
The daily al-Sharq al-Awast quoted a senior officer of the Revolutionary Guard in Tehran saying huge quantities of weapons reached Damascus during the last three weeks and are waiting to be transferred to Lebanon.
A spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, Hamid Rada Asafi, confirmed Sunday “the government is learning the need for aid and ways to transfer it to Lebanon.”
United Nation Security Resolution 1701 is failing. Aren’t Syria and Iran as members of the United Nations obligated to comply with the resolution? Or are they blowing it off like all of the previous resolutions?
If Israel wishes to defend itself, this cease-fire cannot last much longer.
If not, then Hezbollah will re-arm with the acquiescence of the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL. So, in the next war there will be 30,000 troops in southern Lebanon at peril.
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Israel at War Watch: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Expected To Give UNIFIL Teeth
Israel at War Watch: Israel Preparing for More Fighting?
Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
Israel at War Watch: Kofi Annan – Israel Raid Violates Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Reaches Southern Border with Israel
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Moves Below Latani River
Israel At War Watch: Israel Defense Forces To Withdraw Despite Plans To Leave Hezbollah Armed
Michael Ramirez on Israel-Hezbollah War
Israel at War Watch: Israel to STOP Pullout If Lebanese Army Fails to Deploy Timely
Israel At War Watch: Israel Threatens To Resume War If Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm
Israel At War Watch: Hassan Nasrallah – The Disarmament of Hezbollah Should NOT Be Discussed Now
Israel at War Watch: The Arab Street Rejoices – Mocks Israel And United States
Israel at War Watch: Conversation With Benjamin Netanyahu – Hezbollah Will NOT Disarm
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack
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Israel at War Watch: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Expected To Give UNIFIL Teeth
United Nations peacekeepers from France, atop an APC, disembark from a landing vessel in the port of the southern border town of Naqoura, Lebanon.
JPost: Annan to give UNIFIL ‘teeth’
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to recommend Monday that the rules of engagement of the enhanced UNIFIL force to be deployed in Lebanon include opening fire on Hizbullah where necessary, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
While UN Security Council Resolution 1701 mandated an enhanced UNIFIL force to help the Lebanese Army deploy south and along the border with Syria, it did not spell out the operational procedures of this force.
Israel has been pushing for the need for an effective force, arguing that one of the criteria would be the ability to open fire on Hizbullah if the force saw, for instance, Hizbullah launching rockets toward Israel. This matter came up at a meeting Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held last week in New York with Annan.
One would expect that any credible international peace keeping force would have had these rules of enegagement form the beginning. This, again, demonstrates the weakness of the United Nations.
Frankly, Flap does not give much credence to Annan’s move here. The Lebanese Army is suspect in policing Hezbollah and will not forcibly disarm them – they are in effect just standing around – not doing much.
The UNIFIL folks will forcibly prevent Syria and Iran from rearming Hezbollah?
Doubtful
UNSCR 1701 has been a failure. Be prepared for an end to the cease-fire.
Stay tuned….the President has scheduled a news conference within the next hour.
Captain Ed has UNIFIL Teeth Sharpened?
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Israel at War Watch: Israel Preparing for More Fighting?
Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
Israel at War Watch: Kofi Annan – Israel Raid Violates Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Reaches Southern Border with Israel
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Moves Below Latani River
Israel At War Watch: Israel Defense Forces To Withdraw Despite Plans To Leave Hezbollah Armed
Michael Ramirez on Israel-Hezbollah War
Israel at War Watch: Israel to STOP Pullout If Lebanese Army Fails to Deploy Timely
Israel At War Watch: Israel Threatens To Resume War If Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm
Israel At War Watch: Hassan Nasrallah – The Disarmament of Hezbollah Should NOT Be Discussed Now
Israel at War Watch: The Arab Street Rejoices – Mocks Israel And United States
Israel at War Watch: Conversation With Benjamin Netanyahu – Hezbollah Will NOT Disarm
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack
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Israel at War Watch: Israel Preparing for More Fighting?
Telegraph: Israel is ‘preparing for more fighting’
Any chance of long-term peace between Lebanon and Israel all but vanished last night after Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, said his country was preparing for another round of fighting.
Mr Peretz spoke only hours after Israeli commandos mounted a raid deep inside Lebanon. Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, said it was a violation of the week-old UN ceasefire.
With talks on a beefed-up peacekeeping force for southern Lebanon apparently stalled, Mr Annan’s senior envoy for the Middle East, Terje Roed-Larsen, said there was a danger of the situation “sliding out of control”. Mr Peretz issued his warning during the weekly cabinet meeting when he promised full transparency in the internal inquiry into his government’s handling of the 34-day conflict with Hizbollah.
“We will put everything on the table,” he was quoted as saying. “Our duty is to prepare for the next round.”
Israel had better prepare to WIN this time. The survival of Olmert’s government depends upon it.
Now, the world has seen the WEAKNESS of the United Nations and the U.N.’s lack of credibility – just in time for the Iran nuclear announcements on the 22nd.
Stay tuned…..
Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister has said his country was preparing for another round of fighting.
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Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
Israel at War Watch: Kofi Annan – Israel Raid Violates Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Reaches Southern Border with Israel
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Moves Below Latani River
Israel At War Watch: Israel Defense Forces To Withdraw Despite Plans To Leave Hezbollah Armed
Michael Ramirez on Israel-Hezbollah War
Israel at War Watch: Israel to STOP Pullout If Lebanese Army Fails to Deploy Timely
Israel At War Watch: Israel Threatens To Resume War If Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm
Israel At War Watch: Hassan Nasrallah – The Disarmament of Hezbollah Should NOT Be Discussed Now
Israel at War Watch: The Arab Street Rejoices – Mocks Israel And United States
Israel at War Watch: Conversation With Benjamin Netanyahu – Hezbollah Will NOT Disarm
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack
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Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
Cox & Forkum: Disproportionate Response II
AFP: European press warns French troop offer weakens UN force in Lebanon. (LGF)
France faced criticism in the European press for not offering more troops for southern Lebanon, which was seen as jeopardizing the UN force’s difficult task of imposing peace. …Despite expectations that France would provide the bulk of a planned 15,000 strong UN force, Paris said Thursday it would send 200 troops to reinforce the UN mission in Lebanon.
While it said France was prepared to command the enlarged force, it also called for safety guarantees for its soliders before making further commitments.
FoxNews: French Soldiers Among First Peacekeepers to Land in Lebanon.
Boston Herald: With doublespeaking France, honor gets lost in translation. (via InstaPundit)
In recent weeks, France stepped forward to act as a broker of peace in Lebanon. “Act†is the key verb in that last sentence, as it now would seem that the only other verifiable part of the sentence is “in recent weeks.â€To correctly parse that sentence, one must understand that when France suggested it wanted to broker peace in Lebanon, it did not necessarily mean “broker†or “peace†or “Lebanon†in the way we might understand those words. The same is true when France further suggested it wanted to “lead†a “strong†“multinational†“force†there.
I don’t speak French, so I have no idea what the actual French words are for those concepts or what possible nuances there may be. I’ve been relying on news reports in English, which now inform me that the French do not intend to send any significant number of troops to what is supposed to be a force of 15,000 in Lebanon, like everyone thought they said they would.
The heady moment of peace brokering having passed, uponsober reflection, the French now say they already have a general and some staff in south Lebanon ordering about UNIFIL, the U.N. monitoring entity there. That’s plenty of leadership, the French suggested: All France needs to contribute now is another 200 combat engineers.
In tactical terms, when it comes to securing a Middle East conflict zone, that can be referred to as “squat.â€
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is a disaster for Israel and the United States.
Israel lost the war but the United Nations lost ALL of its credibility.
And France?
Who can ever depend upon the French for any negotiated agreement?
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, UnitedNations, Israel, Hezbollah, France
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Israel at War Watch: Kofi Annan – Israel Raid Violates Cease-Fire
Israeli soldiers prepare their weapons before entering southern Lebanon, in northern Israel Saturday, Aug. 19, 2006. Israel on Saturday warned that a raid against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, its first since a cease-fire went into effect, may not be its last.
AP: Annan: Israeli raid violates cease-fire
Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon on Saturday, engaging in a fierce gunbattle, and the Lebanese government threatened to halt further troop deployments to protest what U.N. officials called a violation of the 6-day-old cease-fire.
Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters. An Israeli officer was killed during the raid, and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously.
There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.
The office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement later Saturday labeling the operation a violation of the U.N. truce.
So, what is Israel to do? Allow Hezbollah to rearm and resupply itself with Iranian arms (including shoulder held anti-tank rockets) transported though Syria?
French soldiers from an engineering unit arrive to join the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on the border with Israel at the Lebanese port of Naqura, near the southern city of Tyre (Soure), August 19, 2006.
The UNIFIL troops are sure as hell not policing the situation. President Jacques Chirac of France is still MOANING about the rules of engagement and chain of command. And what is Kofi Annan doing?
NOTHING.
The Lebanese Army refuses to disarm Hezbollah and has arranged some “DEAL” that Hezbollah can keep their existing weapons but just not show them publically. This is a violation of UNSCR 1701. What is Kofi Annan saying about this “deal?”
NOTHING
The credibility of the United Nations is WORTHLESS. The permanent members of the UNSC must order the Secretary General to demand enforcement of UNSCR 1701 or Annan MUST resign.
Stay tuned……Israel will NOT await the UNIFIL police keeping force which is weeks or months away from deployment.
Previous:
Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Reaches Southern Border with Israel
Israel at War Watch: Lebanese Army Moves Below Latani River
Israel At War Watch: Israel Defense Forces To Withdraw Despite Plans To Leave Hezbollah Armed
Michael Ramirez on Israel-Hezbollah War
Israel at War Watch: Israel to STOP Pullout If Lebanese Army Fails to Deploy Timely
Israel At War Watch: Israel Threatens To Resume War If Hezbollah Refuses to Disarm
Israel At War Watch: Hassan Nasrallah – The Disarmament of Hezbollah Should NOT Be Discussed Now
Israel at War Watch: The Arab Street Rejoices – Mocks Israel And United States
Israel at War Watch: Conversation With Benjamin Netanyahu – Hezbollah Will NOT Disarm
Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Cleric Ahmad Khatami Warns Israel of Missile Attack