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The definition of the word mull.
Mullings by Rich Galen
An American Cyber-Column By Rich Galen
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It's Up To The Israelis. Again.

Wednesday July 26, 2006



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  • This was the headline in the New York Times on Tuesday, July 25, 2006:

  • Everyone in the class who is surprised by the fact that "No Nation Commits Troops" to help diffuse the illegal Hezbollah terrorists raise hands.

  • No one? Hmm.

  • You've heard about UN Resolution 1559 which was adopted on September 2, 2004 (coming up on TWO YEARS ago) which, among other things, says the UN Security Council:
    Calls for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias;

  • The last clause:
    Requests that the Secretary-General report to the Security Council within thirty days on the implementation by the parties of this resolution.

  • The Secretary-General of the United Nations is Kofi Annan. Kofi Annan may well go down in history as the single most ineffective human being in the history of the Earth.

  • The "thirty days" called for in the UN resolution was finally met in April 2005 - seven MONTHs later - when Annan announced that a UN team would be going to Lebanon to ensure Syria had withdrawn from Lebanon.

  • According to the Global Policy Forum website, in August of 2005 - nearly a YEAR later - "UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan � said he looked forward to implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559."

  • This originally had a 30-day deadline, remember.

  • Zip forward to January 2006 - SIXTEEN MONTHS later - when the Lebanon Daily Star reported the new president of the European Union was still calling for implementation of 1559:
    "The European Union reiterates the importance it attaches to the Lebanese government extending its authority to the entire national territory and encourages it to continue the dialogue � with a view to the disarmament of Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."

  • Also in January 2006 - SIXTEEN MONTHS later - the Security Council noted
    "with concern the suggestion that there have been movements of arms and people into Lebanese territory and � condemns the continued terrorist attacks in Lebanon, which have resulted in the death or injury of scores of Lebanese citizens � as part of a deliberate strategy to destabilize the country and to intimidate the Lebanese people."

  • And you wonder why the UN is held in such high regard by a significant percentage of the American people.

  • On July 12, 2006 the BBC had the headline describing the only possible result of the UN's inaction:

    Hezbollah Seizes Israel Soldiers
    Lebanese guerrillas have captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, triggering the first Israeli land incursion into the country since 2000.

  • Farther down in the piece we learn why the Israelis have reacted as they have:
    Hezbollah captured three Israeli soldiers in 2000. They died during the operation, but four years later, the group was able to exchange their bodies for 430 Palestinians and Lebanese held in Israeli jails.

  • Oh. I see. Cease fire. Prisoner swap after four years (three dead Israelis for 430 live Palestinians and Hezbollah). Everyone lives happily ever after. Until they do it again. Two years later.

  • Which brings us around to the notion of what is going to happen next. Everyone has a great reason why they can't or won't commit troops to Lebanon. According to the reporting in the NY Times by Elaine Sciolino and Steven Erlanger:
    "The United States has ruled out its soldiers' participating, NATO says it is overstretched, Britain feels its troops are overcommitted and Germany says it is willing to participate only if Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that it would police, agrees to it, a highly unlikely development."

  • One EU official hit the nail on the head when he said, "Everyone will volunteer to be in charge of the logistics in Cyprus."

  • A columnist for an Israeli paper said:
    "They only had one small condition - for the force to be made up of soldiers from another country. The Germans recommended France; the French recommended Egypt, and so on."

  • The Israelis. The Israelis will commit troops. To defend themselves. Again.

  • On the Secret Decoder Ring Page today: A ton 'o links to everything in the column. Drift over there and read the form of one of these UN Resolutions. Also a Mullfoto and a Catchy Caption of the Day.

    --END --
    Copyright © 2006 Richard A. Galen



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