UN to Permit Weapons from Syria for Hezbollah

Kofi Annan has now clearly stated that UN "forces" in Lebanon will not be used to patrol the border with Syria to prevent the shipment of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah terrorists. Nor will they attempt to disarm Hezbollah. Nor will the International "Forces" to be introduced into Lebanon be permitted to disarm Hezbollah.

According to Mr. Annon, the disarming of Hezbollah is to be accomplished by "political agreement among the Lebanese".

Here are the texts of the major resolutions.

Resolution 1553

Resolution 1559

Resolution 1680

Resolution 1701

There is a lot of mushy language in these resolutions, but 1559 "Calls upon all parties concerned to cooperate fully and urgently with the Security Council for the full implementation of this and all relevant resolutions concerning the restoration of the territorial integrity, full sovereignty, and political independence of Lebanon". Mr. Annan's statement is in direct contravention of this statement, which is in fact one of the very few clear statements of who is responsible to effect these Resolutions.

Mr. Annan has very clearly stated that he will have no part of it.

DEBKAfile: Kofi Annan rides roughshod over Israel's security concerns, leaves wide holes in expanded UNIFIL force, (yes, I know that DEBKAfile is controversial, but they are still generally right and this is straight reportage, not forecasting);

UNIFIL-2, which will deploy in two stages starting early September, "will not be used along Lebanon's long and porous border with Syria to stop any shipments of arms reaching Hizballah," the UN secretary admitted Friday night from Brussels.

This confirms DEBKAfile's report Friday that Israel has failed to obtain a pledge to enforce the UN embargo on arms for Hizballah's rearmament from Iran and Syria.

Annan also stated: "Troops are not going in there to disarm - let's be clear." Disarming Hizballah, he said, is a subject for "political agreement among the Lebanese -" (a direct contradiction of UN Security Council resolution 1552) (sic)

Annan also spoke of "international guarantees" to secure Israel against further attacks. In other words, that is not UNIFIL's job.

See also this from the Associated Press;

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -- The peacekeepers in Lebanon won't be disarming Hezbollah.

That word comes from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who says he wants to be "clear on that." Annan contends that disarming the militant group "cannot be done by force."

The UN chief also says the cease-fire resolution doesn't require the peacekeepers be deployed at the Israeli border unless the Lebanese government asks for that.

So, how credible is this force to be? Back to the DEBKAfile piece;

The UN Secretary General will go ahead with raising more international soldiers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, despite their refusal to maintain diplomatic relations with Jerusalem.

And this;

French defense minister Alliot-Marie (picture) told the Wall Street Journal that Paris had obtained a very important clarification permitting its troops to use rubber bullets against "anyone standing in their way."

And this;

Foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the force would mark out "exclusion zones," in which armed militias would be disarmed, as "the best way to remove Hizballah's weapons."

Neither French minister referred to the non-exclusion zones, from which it may be inferred that there, Hizballah fighters would be allowed to bear arms.

The Italian foreign minister, Massimo D'Alema, who can't wait to plant a European military presence in the Middle East, is even more relaxed about holding Hizballah to UN resolution 1701. After all, he says, Europe does not regard Hizballah as a terrorist organization. He repeated Annan's statement and declared Italy would not engage in disarming Hizballah fighters.

Hizballah spokesmen say that the "exclusion zones" issue is under study.

This is a terrible joke that will have continuing tragic results.

The UN and the International "forces" are there to protect Hezbollah terrorists, if anyone. It will be necessary for Israel to reenter Lebanon because they will be attacked again.

UPDATE: Charles Johnson has the proof. UN Allied with Hezbollah