U.S. blocks UN statement condemning attack on observers

[bigtree]

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — The United States blocked the UN Security Council from issuing a statement that would have condemned Israel's bombing of a UN post on the Lebanon border in which four military observers were killed.

Several diplomats said the United States objected to one paragraph, which said the council “condemns any deliberate attack against UN personnel and emphasizes that such attacks are unacceptable.” U.S. diplomats refused comment and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton was in Washington preparing for a reconfirmation hearing before the Senate.

The diplomats said the United States opposed both the condemnation and the suggestion the attack was deliberate. Israel vehemently denies it hit the UN observer post intentionally.

The draft proposed by China alluded to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement late Tuesday that Israel appeared to have struck the site deliberately — an accusation Israel vehemently denies. China softened the text, which initially expressed shock that Israel apparently deliberately targeted the post.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060727.wunblock0727/BNStory/International/home

[chill_wind]

1. k&R nt

[Mika]

2. This veto could "spill over to other debates"..

China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said..

Mr. Wang warned late Wednesday the council's inability to reach agreement could spill over to other debates. On Iran, for example, the United States backs British, French and German demands for a tough resolution that would mandate Tehran stop enriching uranium.

“I think sometimes it will have an impact because I think that if we want the unity of the council on one issue, we also want the unity of the council on other issues,” Mr. Wang said.

[mom cat]

20. Bingo! Thanks for the info!

[me b zola]

3. HEY! Idiot boy-bush*!

Keep fucking with China and the rest of the world and they just might deliver you a care package!

But that is just a dream. The fact is bush* makes lots of $$ for these other nations and gives them lots of goodies. If anyone did retalitate against bush* it would land squarely on US--kind of like what is happening in Israel & Lebanon right now--and bush*co knows it. :cry:

God, I really do hate these bush* bastards.

[in_cog_ni_to]

4. What would Israel gain from DELIBERATELY killing UN workers?

The Canadian that was killed had posted on a blog where he kept in touch with friends and family (before he was killed) that Israel was bombing close by, not aiming AT THEM, but as a STRATEGIC hit on Hezbollah who was NEARBY. This was on CNN earlier today. I REPEAT...HEZBOLLAH WAS NEARBY.

What on earth would Israel GAIN by killing UN personnel ON PURPOSE? NOTHING!!!! Sheesh.

[Mika]

5. I dunno. Maybe eliminating witnesses?

Just a guess. Cause, ya know Israel just loves the UN talkin bout attrocities 'n violations 'n such..

[bigtree]

6. JAN Egeland, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs

said in an interview today on CNN that there were no Hizbollah operating in the area at the time

edit: Mr. Egeland noted that they were hit with a 'precision-guided' missile.

[K8-EEE]

7. Well Then Maybe They're Too Inept To Have Carte Blanche

with all these weapons we are giving them....Ambulances, UN posts, fleeing civilians? And NOTHING'S ever their fault, they're just like BushCo, in fact, one and the same. They're either complete idiots or have a very very sick agenda. Both the US and Israeli governments are currently run by people who can only dish up fear and excuses.

[berni_mccoy]

15. Israel to U.N.: "Get Out Or Die"

They don't want the U.N. there. Making an "accidental" example out of an observation post is a way to do that. Especially when the observation post was screaming at an Israeli commander to stop bombing them and the bombs kept coming, even during rescue operations.

[blonndee]

21. Yup, and it's working. Australia is withdrawing its peacekeepers.

Australia to withdraw its peacekeepers from Lebanon

Australia has decided to withdraw its 12 peacekeeping troops from southern Lebanon because of the dangerous situation there, Australian Defense Minister said Thursday.

"Late yesterday we made a decision to bring our 12 Australian Defense Force personnel back from southern Lebanon to Beirut where, of course, it is important that they continue to work with our Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials," Nelson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio.

Australia made the decision after four U.N observers were killed by an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

Source: Xinhua

http://english.people.com.cn/200607/27/eng20060727_287250.html

[malaise]

22. Did Australia

condemn the killing of the UN observers?

[blonndee]

23. I don't know. I can't find anything on it with a quick google search. nt

[Selatius]

18. Why didn't Israel act on the 10 warnings issued that day not to hit them?

"The UN warned Israel with at least 10 separate telephone calls during six hours that repeated aerial and artillery attacks had already landed at or dangerously close to their post in Khiam, south Lebanon, before the bombing that killed four of its observers there on Tuesday."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=700220

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Gee, you think this block may have ramifications of Bolton's nomination

vote tomorrow??? Oh, wait a minute, I forgot who was still in the Senate . . . never mind.

[AnOhioan]

9. Big surprise there........

Bush and Olmert.....on the wrong side of history.

[Lindacooks]

10. Hitting. Head. Against. Wall.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!

[Behind the Aegis]

11. good.

[magellan]

12. Typical. (nt)

[rman]

13. If the UN is "ineffective" it's because the US in effect owns it.

It certainly is not a beacon of democracy.

[OneBlueSky]

14. I honestly don't understand how these people (BushCo) . . .

can live with themselves . . .

I guess I just don't understand sociopathic killers . . . not at all . . .

[bigtree]

16. UN to try again to condem the bombings

07-27-2006

Security Council struggles over statement on UN observer deaths

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, France's Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to the media at UN headquarters in New York. The UN Security Council will try again to find an acceptable way of condemning the killing of four UN observers in Lebanon, after the United States rejected any criticism of the Israeli attack.

The UN Security Council will seek again to find an acceptable way of condemning the killing of four UN observers in Lebanon, after the United States rejected any criticism of the Israeli attack.

After intense haggling among the 15-nation council, ambassadors failed to agree a presidential statement on Wednesday after becoming deadlocked on how to describe the attack, French ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, council president for July, told reporters.

"Members of the council are aware of the responsibility of the council towards the safety and the security of UN personnel all around the world," he said on Thursday.

"We did not reach an agreement tonight because there was no consensus on how to qualify the incident, and thus no consensus on the best wording to react to it."

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=135133

[malaise]

17. Condemn it n/t

[smacky44]

19. How low can this country go? Israel should be condemned for this act

even if it was considered by Isarel to be an accident. You just don't target with precision weapons a site and bomb it three times.