Hezbollah Disarms the UN
Commentary by Robert Tracinski
Granted, it's no great achievement to disarm an organization that is in permanent disarray and wields no power, but the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 has once again revealed the United Nations as the ally of dictators and terrorists. Ditto for the French, who have officially backed out of the "multinational force" for which they were expected to provide "the backbone." But who ever thought we could rely on the French for backbone?
"Resolve Is Eroding in Face of Call to Disarm Hezbollah," Benny Avni, New York Sun, August 17
As all sides prepare for Lebanese and international troops to replace the Israeli army in Lebanon in as early as 10 days, officials in Europe, America, and Lebanon have made clear that the resolve to confront and disarm Hezbollah in the aftermath of the war is fast eroding.
After meeting Secretary-General Annan yesterday, Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, hailed the security council resolution that ended the fighting Monday morning, calling it a beginning of a "process" in which "the international community" is expected to end the presence of Hezbollah as an armed force….
But as Ms. Livni called implementation of resolution 1701 "a test" for the United Nations, Secretary of State Rice was quoted as saying the multinational force envisioned in the resolution is not expected to disarm Hezbollah, which she said should be done "voluntarily."…
Paris yesterday again sidestepped an announcement about the size and scope of the French contribution for the multinational force. Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France was ready to lead the force but complained that its mandate remained "fuzzy."…
UN spokesmen so far declined to answer questions about how they intended to ensure that no Hezbollah combatants or weapons are smuggled in with the convoys of returning refugees which have been pouring into southern Lebanon in the last few days.
Lebanon War Defeats "Disengagement"
The first casualty of the Olmert government's disastrous mismanagement of the Lebanon War may well be Defense Minister Amir Peretz, a former peacenik whose political ambition caused him to seek a job that he apparently had no interest in performing.
The latest news is that Peretz is complaining that he didn't manage the war properly, because no one told him what to do. And just as he should be preparing for a second round of war with Syria's Lebanese proxy, Peretz is now advocating negotiations with Sryia. (This report is slyly placed by YnetNews alongside an article on statements by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, summarized in the headline as "Hizbullah Won, Israel Is the Enemy.")
But I suspect (and fervently hope) that the end is coming soon for the whole Olmert cabinet. A friend in Israel reports that, on entering Tel Aviv yesterday, "we saw posters with the pictures of Olmert, Peretz, and Livni under the words, in Hebrew, 'Losers, Go Home!'" I'll reply in Hebrew: Amen.
But the most immediate casualty of the Lebanon War is Olmert's plan for "convergence," the latest euphemism for the "disengagement" policy of retreat behind a defensive wall—a strategy that is now a perceptually demonstrated failure.
"'Convergence' in Doubt on West Bank," Eli Lake, New York Sun, August 17
Among the many casualties of Israel's war with Hezbollah is the prime minister's vision to draw the country's final borders and withdraw Jewish settlements from the West Bank of the Jordan River.
Even leading members of Prime Minister Olmert's Kadima Party are saying withdrawal plans are impossible after the rockets and missiles from Israel's enemies this summer were launched from the territory its army evacuated.
Making matters worse, a recent internal government assessment leaked this week to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz found a withdrawal would expose Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and the Ben Gurion Airport as targets for rocket attacks if the prime minister's plan proceeded as initially planned next year.
Yesterday, a member of Kadima and key member of the panel that helped develop the strategy…said Israel and the West ultimately would have to defeat Islamic terrorism if his country is to return to discussions about withdrawing from the West Bank.
"We will get out of part of Samaria and we will find it is another front in another war," he said. "Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the airport, all the country will live under terror. We have to be sure we stop all the terror. Then we will negotiate about the land and the peace agreement."…
With the central plank of Mr. Olmert's policy, disengagement, now looking a political impossibility, the prime minister now appears a lame duck leader of a deeply divided government. |
