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Michael Ramirez on United Nations Sanctions for Iran’s Refusal to Halt Uranium Enrichment
Reuters: U.S. differs with EU on Iran
The United States said on Friday it was consulting European governments about possible sanctions against Iran for intransigence over its nuclear program, but the EU signaled it wanted to see more dialogue with Tehran.
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Technorati Tags: Iran, Ahmadinejad, UnitedNations
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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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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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Michael Ramirez on Nuclear Iran and the United Nations
It is morning in Tehran and the world is waiting Iran’s response to the P-5-Plus-1 proposal.
Is there any doubt that the answer will be NO?
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: MichaelRamirez, Iran, UnitedNations
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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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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.
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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: Lebanon Warns Israel After Israeli Raid Against Hezbollah
AP: Lebanon gives warning after Israeli raid
Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep inside Lebanon Saturday, sparking a fierce clash with militants that killed one Israeli. Lebanon called the raid a “flagrant violation” of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire, while Israel said it was aimed at disrupting arms shipments from
Iran and Syria.Witnesses said Israeli missiles also destroyed a bridge during the raid in what would be the first such airstrike since the cease-fire took effect Monday, ending 34 days of warfare between the two sides.
The fighting did not appear to be escalating, but it highlighted the fragility of the truce as the
United Nations pleaded for nations to contribute to an international peacekeeping force due to patrol southern Lebanon.Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 Israel is within its rights to defend itself and to prevent the resupply of arms and military materials for Hezbollah. The text of the resolution is here.
Lebanon has NOT diarmed Hezbollah and has made NO attempt to interdict the resupply of arms to Hezbollah.
And where is the United Nations and UNIFIL?
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.
Well, UNIFIL is not policing Hezbollah and NOT enforcing UNSCR 1701.
Is this a surprise?
NOPE
Why the Israeli government of Prime Minister Olmert EVER thought 1701 would work is anyone’s guess.
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr threatened to halt the army’s deployment in south Lebanon if the United Nations does not take up the issue of the raid. A stop to the deployment would deeply damage efforts to move in the U.N. force to strengthen the cease-fire.
“If there are no clear answers forthcoming on this issue, I might be forced to recommend to the Cabinet early next week the halt of the army deployment in the south,” Murr told reporters after a meeting with U.N. representatives.
Israel’s response:
In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev defended the raid as a response to “a violation of the cease-fire.”
“The U.N. Security Council resolution on Lebanon is very explicit: It says that Hezbollah cannot use the cease-fire to rearm, to receive more missiles and more rockets from Syria and Iran. That was happening, and Israel acted to prevent that from happening,” he said.
Regev indicated Israel could conduct further raids until Lebanese and international troops take up positions to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding its arsenal — a goal that the U.N. resolution sets as part of a long-term end to the conflict but does not immediately require.
“If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo,” Regev said. “Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active … then such Israeli activity will become superfluous.”
UNSCR 1701 is a disaster and it will take months to deploy enough UNIFIL troops to stop the rearming of Hezbollah. And Hezbollah has been allowed by the Lebanese government to keep its existing weapons – in direct violation of 1701.
So, what does Hezbollah plan prior to the full deployment of UNIFIL?
REARM from Iran and Syria.
Israeli soldiers load a tank on a transport truck as they leave northern Israel, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2006. Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli commandos who launched a raid near the militants’ stronghold deep inside Lebanon early Saturday, killing one soldier, in what Lebanon called the first large-scale violation of the U.N.-brokered cease-fire between the sides.
This cease-fire has been a disaster for Israel since its inception. There will be NO compliance by Lebanon, Hezbollah, Syria or Iran.
Get ready for round two of this war…….
Stay tuned……
Captain Ed has Israel Attacks Resupply Convoy
If the Lebanese want to restart the war, they will find the Israelis more than willing to do so. Israel may count on precisely that reaction, as well as the inability of Siniora to enforce his end of the cease-fire agreement. If this cease-fire fails, the Israelis will have no further constraints by the UN and can take all the time necessary to complete their overall mission, and Siniora will have no way to stop it. All the crying in the world will not cover the fact that he had an opportunity to rid himself of Hezbollah and chose to endorse it instead.
And further illustrate the weakness and futility of the United Nations to enforce any of its resolutions. The discussion in the UNSC will be heated as the war starts anew.
Previous: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: The Cease-Fire – Disarming Hezbollah
JPost: LAF to deploy in South within 72 hours
Lebanon’s communications minister told French radio Monday that the Lebanese army was preparing to cross the Litani River into the troubled south within two or three days, despite uncertainty about a future UN force for the region.
“The Lebanese army is readying itself along the Litani to cross the river in 48 or 72 hours,” Marwan Hamade said on Europe-1 radio.
It will then be flanked by “the first contingents of an international force,” he added, likely from France, Turkey, Spain and Italy. He did not give a timeframe.
He spoke shortly after a UN-imposed cease-fire went into effect across the region, halting a month of fighting.
But implementation of the resolution was in question after the Lebanese Cabinet on Sunday indefinitely postponed a crucial meeting dealing with plans for the deployment. Lebanese media reported that the Cabinet was sharply divided over demands that Hizbullah surrender its weapons in the south.
Does anyone expect Hezbollah to disarm and turns its weapons over to either the Lebanese Army or an international force?
NOPE
And Israel will NOT leave unless they are disarmed.
Hamade said the Lebanese government would try Monday to find a “formula” for implementing the resolution.
Lebanon’s industry minister, Pierre Jemayel, a member of a majority anti-Syrian bloc in parliament, told Al-Siyassah daily, “Hizbullah has to deliver its weapons to the Lebanese army, and its light weapons to the police.”
“Its fighters are welcome to join the military force and the state will then quickly regain control of all Lebanese territories.”
“I’m not telling Hizbullah to surrender its weapons to Israel, or to the international community,” Jemayel told the daily. “(I am telling it) to surrender them to the Lebanese army.”
Well, the Lebanese and UNIFIL folks had better quickly work out the details of Hezbollah disarming or this cease-fire will be short-lived indeed.
A couple of Lebanese Shiite men look at destroyed apartment buildings in the Hezbollah strongholds of southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 14, 2006,after an overnight aerial bombardment by Israeli forces. Israel halted its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas as a U.N.-imposed cease-fire went into effect Monday after a month of warfare that killed more than 900 people, devastated much of south Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters.
Captain Ed has The Humiliation Of Lebanon
Fuad Siniora’s collapse yesterday humiliated his armed forces, the Times of London reports, and demonstrated the illusive grasp of power that the official government holds in Lebanon. The consensus in his Cabinet to accept the cease-fire collapsed when it came time to deploy the army into southern Lebanon.
Will this move the Siniora government to quit blamimg everyone but the terrorists that started the war? As late as Saturday, the PM still talked about the brave “national resistance”, but those moments appear to have ended. If Fuad Siniora expects to lead his nation, he now has to acknowledge that Hezbollah cannot exist as a state within a state.
The civil war is coming very soon now.
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Israel at War Watch: Lebanon Falters Over Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Israeli Cabinet Approves United Nations Cease-Fire
Israel at War Watch: Israeli-Hezbollah Cease-Fire Begins Monday
Israel at War Watch: Israeli Troops Reach Latani River – Will Cease-Fire 7 AM Monday
Israel at War Watch: Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Has Accepted United Nations Cease-Fire Deal
Israel at War Watch: United Nations Security Council Resolution to End War?