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July 24, 2007

UNIFIL and their Hezb'allah Security Blanket

Rick Moran
Beset by al-Qaeda backed terrorists who are targeting United Nations troops in Lebanon, the guys in the robins egg blue helmets are turning to the terrorists in Hezb'allah to protect them from the terrorists inspired by Osama Bin Laden:
The growing threat of attack by Sunni radicals apparently spurred the leading European troop-contributing states to seek the Shiite Hizbullah's cooperation. According to UNIFIL sources, intelligence agents from Italy, France, and Spain met with Hizbullah representatives in the southern city of Sidon in April. As a result, some Spanish peacekeepers subsequently "escorted" on some of their patrols by Hizbullah members in civilian vehicles, the UNIFIL sources say.

A day after the six peacekeepers were killed last month, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke with Manucher Mottaki, the foreign minister of Iran, Hizbullah's main patron. According to a Hizbullah official in south Lebanon, there has been at least one meeting between the Shiite party and Spanish UNIFIL officers since the bombing.

Rich Clabaugh of Staff-UNIFIL has long had quiet channels of communication with Hizbullah stretching back to the late 1980s, a recognition of the Shiite group's clout in the south. But UNIFIL commander General Graziano says that although troop-contributing governments may talk to Hizbullah, the peacekeeping battalions are only authorized to liaise with the Lebanese Army. Contacts with Hizbullah or any other Lebanese political party is not permitted, he says.
During last summer's war with Israel, UNIFIL kindly allowed Hezb'allah the cover of one of their outposts to launch rockets into nearby towns in order to kill civilians. At the time, the blue helmets said that they were prevented from interfering by their mandate. Now they've apparently expanded that mandate to make Hezb'llah something of a partner in their peacekeeping duties.

Of course, those peacekeeping duties require that UNIFIL keep an eye on Hezb'allah to make sure they're not getting resupplied or inflitrating any more fighters into the south in order to prepare for another war with Israel.

What kind of a quid pro quo do you think Hezb'allah demanded to help "protect" UN troops?

Hat Tip: Ed Lasky who adds:

 " Well, we have a history of UN peacekeepers engaing in child sexual abuse, thievery, apathy, tipping off terrorists regarding the forces of their opponents, and now consorting and pleading for help from terrorists."

Indeed.

Posted at 09:36 AM | Email |

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