Centrerion Canadian Politics

UN Force Exists in Lebanon!

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Anyone reading the mediocre media would here plenty of impassioned calls for the UN to send a "peace-keeping force" - what peace they would keep, I do not know - to establish a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon. The problem these impassioned (inebriated, rather?) speakers are unaware of is that such a force actually exists, and obviously has been a total failure to date.

As a matter of fact, a kidnapping of an Israeli civilian once took place while the UN's force (UNIFIL) did nothing. Which just reminds us that kidnappings are unfortunately one of the Lebanese terrorists' favourite provocation tools...

This website has more info for those who want to read up on Israel and Lebanon (though I object to their name which references an non-existant entity).
Israel's foreign ministry also has some useful reading on the past of Israel and Lebanon's relationship.

On a related note, the UN is remarkably adept at allowing violence to take place. Current UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was head of the UN's peacekeeping division at the time of the Rwandan massacres in the mid-90s. He closed his eyes and limited the UN's forces there - forces whose Canadian leader, General Romeo Dallaire, would later criticize Annan bitterly - which inaction and criminal negligence has been documented in "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1998), a book by Philip Gourevitch.

The current genocide in Sudan's western province of Darfur is unsurprisingly getting the same treatment at the UN. That is, none. For more on Darfur, check out Students Taking Action Now: Darfur.

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This article and related articles are archived in the topical categories Israel, foreign affairs.

posted by lecentre @ 2:13 a.m.