Lebanon's 'real' soldiers are put in their place (Hez kills UN deal)

[papau]

TODAY was supposed to be the day when the muchmaligned army of Lebanon took control of its borders and policed the UN ceasefire.

Instead, its military commanders were left humiliated and its troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to try to disarm its fighters.

The first infantry units were preparing to head south yesterday when Hezbollah demonstrated who exercised the real control by announcing that it had no intention of surrendering a single weapon. General Michel Sleiman, the commander-in-chief of the Lebanese Army, and his lieutenants had been invited to join in Cabinet meetings to finalise plans to deploy their 15,000-strong force in a buffer zone south of the Litani river. However, they ended up being lectured by Hezbollah’s two Cabinet ministers in the coalition Government on what the army could and could not do.

<snip>

Sami Haddad, the Economics Minister, said: “The Government can’t force Hezbollah to abide by the ceasefire. It’s unnatural to have an armed political party that is in Cabinet and does not abide by what the Government of Lebanon wants.”

<snip>

One soldier told The Times that Hezbollah was better armed and organised, adding that he was reluctant to confront what he called “the resistance fighters”.

A colleague added: “We want to be able to go anywhere we want in Lebanon and be the only force inside our borders carrying guns. What we don’t know is when we will be able to do that.”

Another said that his brother and a cousin were fighting for Hezbollah. His cousin was injured last week and moved to a Hezbollah clinic in a secret location. The soldier said: “I can't turn a gun on the resistance, because they are family.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2312171,00.html

[Solo_in_MD]

1. Saw stuff to this effect earlier

but due to its source did not want to give it much credence. http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=3098
A number of other interesting and provocative statements in there about Iran as well.

Then there is this: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749692.html stating that Syria is already resupplying Hezbollah

An this from the Jpost: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525866587&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

I don't believe everything in those articles, esp DEBKA, but clearly no one expects this truce to succeed. The question will be who will get the blame when it fails.

[lastknowngood]

6. Don't underestimate DEBKA they have direct hooks into the

Israeli army and intel. It's always from the Israeli point of view but you get to hear how the big boys are thinking.

[Solo_in_MD]

8. Agree, but their slant is so hard over that I tend to wait for a 2nd

source before I start to consider it for posting here at DU.

[TomInTib]

2. Good for them.

Hezbollah is not bound by any UN Convention.

Israel is not going to lay off (the "self defence" claim) any time soon.

[azurnoir]

3. Maybe Hezbollah

should have been included in the negotations, after all that is who Israel says it is at war with.

[Tom Joad]

4. Israel has been pounding Lebanon for the last two days.

Israeli warplanes launched a series of strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday, destroying 11 residential buildings and killing at least two people, witnesses and security sources said.

In total, 17 civilians and four soldiers were killed in Lebanon on Sunday, police said, as Israel continued its bombardment of the country.

I think to put all the blame on Hezbollah would not be accurate.

[The Stranger]

5. Israel created Hezbollah during its last occupation.

By bombing innocent civilians who never had anything to do with Hezbollah, Israel has destroyed the chances the fledgling Lebanese government would be successful, and its best chance to beat Hezbollah. Then again, perhaps if Israel would stop invading Lebanon, there would be no Hezbollah.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. And do you recall *why* Israel invaded Lebanon last time? n/t

[The Stranger]

11. Pretense was two captured soldiers, but turned out to obliterate Lebanon's

infrastructure and its fledgling government, which was the best chance ever to beat Hezbollah.

[breakaleg]

10. I agree. I think Israel created this situation in which Lebanon is

ineffective and next it's going to criticize them for being ineffective! They have ulterior motives they aren't sharing with us quite yet. Perhaps they simply have no intention of leaving Lebanon.

[Clarkie1]

9. If Lebanon does not disarm Hezbollah, Israel or the international

community must.

That's the way it has to be.

[bigtree]

13. You act as if they haven't been trying to do that already with force

all they managed to do was kill over a thousand Lebanese, mostly* civilians, many children.

Why should anyone believe that more of the same will bring about a different result?

[Little Star]

14. You can not disarm a movement unless they agree. n/t

[bigtree]

12. from the WH

The first resolution, which the Security Council is now considering, calls for a stop of all hostilities. Under its terms, Hezbollah will be required to immediately stop all attacks. Israel will be required to immediately stop all offensive military operations. In addition, the resolution calls for an embargo on the shipment of any arms into Lebanon, except as authorized by the Lebanese government.

A second resolution, which the Security Council will begin working on as soon as possible, will help establish a sustainable and enduring cease-fire and provide a mandate for a robust international force that will help the legitimate government of Lebanon extend it's authority over all of Lebanon's territory.

Under this second resolution, the Lebanese armed forces, supported by the international force, will deploy to southern Lebanon. This international force will help Lebanon patrol its border with Syria and prevent illegal arm shipments to Hezbollah. As these Lebanese and international forces deploy, the Israeli defense forces will withdraw. And both Israel and Lebanon will respect the blue line that divides them.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/08/20060807.html


Instead of focusing on these tense beginning days of the ceasefire, it should be remembered that one purpose for the the cessation of hostilities is to give time for diplomacy to work without the interference and disruption of continuing violence. Ther should be an urgent and continuous diplomacy occurring at the same time the ceasefire agreement is being implemented.

This initial period of cease-fire may well be marked by some hostilities as both sides gauge the intentions of the other and try to put themselves in the best position possible before the UN steps in and tries to manage the conflict. We can only hope that these skirmishes don't escalate the violence once more.

Today it was reported on NPR that an armed group of Lebanese soldiers was fired on for approaching Israeli troops "in a threatening manner." Like I said, this will take some time.