August 21, 2006
U.N. Useless Nations
Phil Gallagher
The conflict in Lebanon was ended by United Nations resolution 1701 that brokered a temporary peace dependent upon a United Nations force of 15,000 peace keepers deployed in Southern Lebanon to act as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah. http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N06/465/03/PDF/N0646503.pdf?OpenElement
Although the ceasefire appears to be holding at this point it would seem to be only a matter of time before hostilities break out once again. The primary reason being the fecklessness of member nations as well as U.N Secretary Kofi Annan. Annan has insufficient weight to assemble a force with a clear cut mandate to implement the terms of the resolution.
The leader of the pack of course are the French who were thought to be major players in the region and willing to contribute a major portion of the U.N force. Thye French this week said that they were willing to dedicate a whopping 200 peace keepers (mostly engineers). The other major European power Germany, is willing to contribute nothing in terms of boots on the ground.
As to the terms of the resolution, the goals seem to be quite clear. Disarming Hezbollah stopping, the flow of Iranian weaponry in Lebanon and restoring some semblance of sovereignty to the lebanese government.
The exact wording, “Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty, so that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon;”
This of course appears to be the crux of the matter. If the Lebanese Army wanted to or could disarm Hezbollah it should have happened long ago. They cannot because of the strength of Hezbollah and they will not because it is likely to plunge the country into civil war again.
That leaves the UNIFIL force (United Nations Interim Force) as the only force capable of the task. Capability and willingness are two different things. With the rise in popularity of the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah in the Arab world, it seems unlikely that any European power with an Islamic minority population will be willing to take on the task of disarming them knowing that it might inflame tensions in their own country.
Despite the specific language of the resolution and others before it regarding Hezbollah disarmament, potential European peace keeping nations are seeking clarification of the “rules of engagement” before committing to forces. In many European countries leaders will be mulling over this issue just long enough for the force to be filled with someone else.
Annan re-assured the Europeans by stating that the UNIFIL force would not be waging “war”. Apparently Kofi thinks Nasrallah is willing to give up his remaining weaponry peacefully.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have stepped to the plate with offers of major contributions, however one can only wonder how secure the Israelis feel about the deployment of troops from predominantly Islamic countries who’s governments are hostile to Israel.
All of this continues to play into Iranian and Syrian plans to keep the area inflamed and the Israelis under pressure. The worst outcome would be the re-arming of Hezbollah under the protection of the multi national force. Add to that the possibility that if hostilities break out again, the Israelis would be firing into territory occupied by UNIFIL forces, the bulk of which might be sympathetic to their enemies.
