U.N. peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to keep the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon for another year, calling for stepped-up efforts to achieve a permanent cease-fire and long-term resolution of the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.

The 13,300-strong U.N. force known as UNIFIL was deployed along Lebanon's border with Israel after the war to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority into the south for the first time in decades and create a buffer zone free of Hezbollah fighters. [snip]

Ban [Ki-Moon] has alleged that Hezbollah has rearmed with new long-range rockets and missiles since its 2006 war with Israel in violation of a U.N. arms embargo that bans weapons transfers to the militant Islamic group, and that sophisticated weapons from Iran and Syria have passed across the Lebanon-Syria border...

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[that's what the 13,000 blue hats were supposed to be preventing...>



FLASHBACK: NNBrief 7/24/2005 :

UNIFIL and their Hezb'allah Security Blanket

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.

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.

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

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