Grenouille wrote:Heeby Jeeby wrote:This is not strictly true. Hezbollah is rearming and reportedly sending hundreds or thousands of Southern Lebanese males elsewhere for training but this is a very secretive organisation and none of this is done directly in front of the UN troops.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/978398.htmlHaaretz wrote:The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is intentionally concealing information about Hezbollah activities south of the Litani River in Lebanon to avoid conflict with the group, senior sources in Jerusalem said. In the last six months there have been at least four cases in which UNIFIL soldiers identified armed Hezbollah operatives, but did nothing and did not submit full reports on the incidents to the UN Security Council. [..]
Israeli anger reached boiling point over a week ago after the release of a new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with regard to another Lebanon-related Security Council resolution, 1559. [..]
A day after the release of the report, Haaretz revealed that the incident described in the report had actually been a clash between UNIFIL and armed Hezbollah activists. The latter, driving a truck full of explosives, threatened the Italian UNIFIL battalion with weapons. Instead of using force as required by their mandate, the UN soldiers abandoned the site. A UN source told Haaretz that senior officials in UNIFIL and in the UN Secretariat brought heavy pressure to bear to have the incident erased from the report or at least to blur it.
When the incident was made public, UNIFIL was forced to admit that it had indeed occurred and to request Lebanon's assistance in investigating it. UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said that during the incident, which took place near the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, five armed men had threatened UNIFIL troops. Bouziane said the identity of the armed men was uncertain.
Heeby Jeeby wrote:I'm no champion for Hezbollah but in fairness the Lebanese army were fuck all use when Israel decided to attack. Apart from lobbing useless, unguided missiles in the general direction of Israel they also provide much needed defense from Israeli aggression.
Defense trough offense? Hezbollah triggered the entire war with their attacks on Israel. Lebanon and Israel would have no reason to go to war if it wasn't for Hezbollah.
For
some reason I wouldn't ever go to unnamed 'senior sources' in Jerusalem for my facts about Lebanon.
The Israelis have murdered countless civilians in Lebanon over the course of decades, including many in refugee camps.
The Israelis had violated Lebanese airspace just under 50 times by the midpoint of last year.
The Israelis funded and supported murderous Christian death squads in southern Lebanon. These death squads were responsible for thousands of civilian deaths and the deaths of two Irish soldiers making up part of the UN force. An Israeli agent was present at the execution of the Irish soldiers.
I think its clear to all who have a basic understanding of the past 30 years of Lebanese history that Israel did not attack last year 'cos they lost a soldier or two. This is evidenced by the fact that they left without their men, despite the lack of international pressure to stop their slaughtering.
A great majority of the people killed in Lebanon last year by the Israelis were civilian. The vast majority of Israelis killed by Hezbollah in the same period were soldiers.
The Israeli death toll was a fraction of the Lebanese death toll.
The Israelis consistently lie about these and other actions. These are some of the reasons I don't turn to unnamed 'senior sources' quoted in Israeli papers for my information.