Yesterday we heard that the U.N. Security Council resolved to get rid of the world's nuclear weapons.
Today we hear that Iran is now admitting to a secret uranium enrichment facility because Western intelligence agencies have discovered its existence.
The U.N. is a completely impotent organization, and they will not be able to stop Iran, North Korea, or any other nation from creating or stockpiling nuclear weapons. Sure, they might get leaders like Obama to reduce their country's nuclear arsenal, and they may be able to bribe some developing nations into not starting a nuclear program (at least not one that they let the world know about), but that is really about all that the U.N. will be able to accomplish on this empty, futile, feel-good endeavor.
USMC 9971 OUT
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
25 September 2009
20 August 2006
Iran And Syria Allegedly Violate Cease-Fire; Israel Condemned
According to Israel, a raid was executed by Israeli forces on a Hezbollah position within Lebanon in order to stop arms from being smuggled to the terror group from Iran and Syria. Kofi Annan promptly labeled the Israeli raid as a violation of the cease-fire resolution adopted by the United Nations Security Council on 11 August 2006.
UNSCR 1701, the resolution which is the source of the cease-fire that Annan is referring to, did not only call for a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, though. The resolution also required:
If the Israeli reason for the raid on Hezbollah is accurate, then there were violations of UNSCR 1701 prior to the Israeli raid.
VIOLATION OF PARAGRAPHS 3 AND 8 OF UNSCR 1701
The smuggling of arms to Hezbollah would be a violation of UNSCR 1701, paragraphs 3 and 8, since those paragraphs call for the implementation of UNSCRs 1559 and 1680 which demand the disarming and disbanding of groups such as Hezbollah.
VIOLATION OF PARAGRAPH 15(a) OF UNSCR 1701
The smuggling of arms to Hezbollah would be a violation of UNSCR 1701, paragraph 15(a), since it prohibits the supply of arms and military assets to groups such as Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Ambassador to the UN, Nouhad Mahmoud, stated before the cease-fire took effect that Lebanon was not going to disarm Hezbollah. Instead, Hezbollah would just leave the area with their arms and assets. Ambassador Mahmoud's statement made it clear that his nation was not going to adhere to all of the requirements of the cease-fire, yet Kofi Annan did not condemn this.
Iran and Syria, if arms were being smuggled from their territories to Hezbollah positions in Lebanon as Israel alleges, have violated the cease-fire agreement. Kofi Annan did not condemn their actions.
Israel may have just stopped a major violation of the cease-fire, not-to-mention taking an action which may have saved the lives of their own citizens by preventing Hezbollah from getting arms that could be used in future attacks against Israel. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev noted that Israel will not need to take these actions once the Lebanese army and international forces are active. For this, Kofi Annan finds the words and the time to condemn Israel.
USMC 9971 OUT
UNSCR 1701, the resolution which is the source of the cease-fire that Annan is referring to, did not only call for a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, though. The resolution also required:
The full implementation of the provisions in UNSCR 1559 (02 September 2004) calling for all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias to be disbanded and disarmed.
The full implementation of the provisions in UNSCR 1680 (17 May 2006) calling for further efforts to have all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias disbanded and disarmed, and the restoration of the Lebanese government's control over all of Lebanon.
The prohibition of all States to allow the "sale or supply to any entity or individual in Lebanon of arms and related materiel of all types, including weapons and ammunition, military vehicles and equipment, paramilitary equipment, and spare parts for the aforementioned, whether or not originating in their territories."
The prohibition of all States to provide any technical training or assistance to any individual or group in Lebanon in relation to the prohibited assets listed in the previous paragraph.
The establishment of a DMZ between the Litani River and the Blue Line (the border demarcation between Israel and Lebanon that the UN used to confirm that Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon in accordance with UNSCR 425) that would prohibit anyone, other than the authorized representatives of the Lebanese government and UNIFIL, to be in possession of arms or other military assets.
If the Israeli reason for the raid on Hezbollah is accurate, then there were violations of UNSCR 1701 prior to the Israeli raid.
VIOLATION OF PARAGRAPHS 3 AND 8 OF UNSCR 1701
The smuggling of arms to Hezbollah would be a violation of UNSCR 1701, paragraphs 3 and 8, since those paragraphs call for the implementation of UNSCRs 1559 and 1680 which demand the disarming and disbanding of groups such as Hezbollah.
VIOLATION OF PARAGRAPH 15(a) OF UNSCR 1701
The smuggling of arms to Hezbollah would be a violation of UNSCR 1701, paragraph 15(a), since it prohibits the supply of arms and military assets to groups such as Hezbollah.
The Lebanese Ambassador to the UN, Nouhad Mahmoud, stated before the cease-fire took effect that Lebanon was not going to disarm Hezbollah. Instead, Hezbollah would just leave the area with their arms and assets. Ambassador Mahmoud's statement made it clear that his nation was not going to adhere to all of the requirements of the cease-fire, yet Kofi Annan did not condemn this.
Iran and Syria, if arms were being smuggled from their territories to Hezbollah positions in Lebanon as Israel alleges, have violated the cease-fire agreement. Kofi Annan did not condemn their actions.
Israel may have just stopped a major violation of the cease-fire, not-to-mention taking an action which may have saved the lives of their own citizens by preventing Hezbollah from getting arms that could be used in future attacks against Israel. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev noted that Israel will not need to take these actions once the Lebanese army and international forces are active. For this, Kofi Annan finds the words and the time to condemn Israel.
USMC 9971 OUT
14 August 2006
Giving Hezbollah Time To Regroup
If any Western political party issued a statement which said, "It is an open war until the elimination of all Islamic states and until the death of the last Muslim on earth," do you think the world community would call for that party be censured or to be removed from power? If any Western leader came out and said, "If they all gather in Mecca, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide," do you believe that there would be cries of condemnation, and calls for that leader to step down?
In the West, that would be an offense. Many members of Western society would be aghast at the statements, groups representing Islam in the West would be screaming to anyone who would listen, and the Islamic nations around the world would be appealing to the U.N. to do something about this flagrant call for genocide.
Those quotes, however, were not from a Western political party or a Western leader. They are the words of Hezbollah and its ever so intolerant leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. I did take the liberty of changing around the references to Israel and the Jews, but the remainder of the statements stayed intact.
Strangely enough, the world community has allowed Hezbollah to remain in power, and there is little to make anyone believe that more will be done to force the organization to disarm and/or disband. While it is true that there is the new cease-fire agreement to the latest Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, it doesn't do much more than help to legitimize Hezbollah by putting the terror group on equal footing with recognized U.N. member states. UNIFIL hasn't been willing to do anything about Hezbollah in the past, so what is to make us believe that they are going to change now?
A prime example of the impotence of the U.N. in Lebanon occurred back in 2000. It took the U.N. 271 days to turn over a videotape showing the vehicles, and the contents thereof, which were believed to have been used in the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers on 07 October 2000. The last segment of the videotape, filmed one day after the kidnapping, shows armed individuals, believed to be Hezbollah, intercepting the vehicles that the UNIFIL forces were about to tow away. UNIFIL did nothing to stop Hezbollah from grabbing the vehicles, and made no mention of it to the world until Israel began to loudly complain that they believed that the U.N. had a videotape.
And why didn't the U.N. notify Israel of the incident between UNIFIL and Hezbollah on 08 October 2000?
The security of its personnel? While I can't say for certain what the USG meant by that, I would be willing to guess that he was indicating that the U.N. was concerned that, if the tape were to be turned over to the Israelis and (most likely) be made public, then the UNIFIL forces could be in danger of retaliation from Hezbollah.
With a backbone like that, I'm sure that Hezbollah will be firing at Israel from behind UNIFIL positions shortly after the international "peace-keeping" forces are in place and the Israeli troops have withdrawn from Lebanon.
USMC 9971 OUT
In the West, that would be an offense. Many members of Western society would be aghast at the statements, groups representing Islam in the West would be screaming to anyone who would listen, and the Islamic nations around the world would be appealing to the U.N. to do something about this flagrant call for genocide.
Those quotes, however, were not from a Western political party or a Western leader. They are the words of Hezbollah and its ever so intolerant leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. I did take the liberty of changing around the references to Israel and the Jews, but the remainder of the statements stayed intact.
"It is an open war until the elimination of Israel and until the death of the last Jew on earth."
Hezbollah statement; source: The New York Sun
"If they all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide."
Statement by Sheik Hassan Nasrallah; source: The Daily Star
Strangely enough, the world community has allowed Hezbollah to remain in power, and there is little to make anyone believe that more will be done to force the organization to disarm and/or disband. While it is true that there is the new cease-fire agreement to the latest Israeli-Hezbollah conflict, it doesn't do much more than help to legitimize Hezbollah by putting the terror group on equal footing with recognized U.N. member states. UNIFIL hasn't been willing to do anything about Hezbollah in the past, so what is to make us believe that they are going to change now?
A prime example of the impotence of the U.N. in Lebanon occurred back in 2000. It took the U.N. 271 days to turn over a videotape showing the vehicles, and the contents thereof, which were believed to have been used in the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers on 07 October 2000. The last segment of the videotape, filmed one day after the kidnapping, shows armed individuals, believed to be Hezbollah, intercepting the vehicles that the UNIFIL forces were about to tow away. UNIFIL did nothing to stop Hezbollah from grabbing the vehicles, and made no mention of it to the world until Israel began to loudly complain that they believed that the U.N. had a videotape.
And why didn't the U.N. notify Israel of the incident between UNIFIL and Hezbollah on 08 October 2000?
The Under-Secretary-General pointed out that the UN has a duty to protect the confidentiality of its internal documents and to consider the security of its personnel. "At the same time, we understand the plight and anxiety of the families who want to know as much as possible," he said.
The security of its personnel? While I can't say for certain what the USG meant by that, I would be willing to guess that he was indicating that the U.N. was concerned that, if the tape were to be turned over to the Israelis and (most likely) be made public, then the UNIFIL forces could be in danger of retaliation from Hezbollah.
With a backbone like that, I'm sure that Hezbollah will be firing at Israel from behind UNIFIL positions shortly after the international "peace-keeping" forces are in place and the Israeli troops have withdrawn from Lebanon.
USMC 9971 OUT
