I haven't been commenting much on the Israel/Hezbollah/Lebanon war, since I have so little expertise in the area and things are happening much too fast. I do know that all the news outlets for the past few days have commented on Israel's bombing of a UN outpost, which was clearly marked, in Lebanon. Kofi Annan then said it was probably deliberate... the Israeli's don't have accidents. This caused a big argument on all sides. The US in its defense of Israel, well, defended Israel. Al Jazeera and the Arab press, of course, said this was a terrorist attack by Israel. Neither side, of course, is telling anything close to what really is going on, and Condoleeza Rice has no idea what to do.
Now an article appears in the
Ottawa Citizen that says it was a known fact that Hezbollah was using the UN post as a shield, that everyone knew it for at least nine days.
Some of the article:
The words of a Canadian United Nations observer written just days before he was killed in an Israeli bombing of a UN post in Lebanon are evidence Hezbollah was using the post as a "shield" to fire rockets into Israel, says a former UN commander in Bosnia.
Those words, written in an e-mail dated just nine days ago, offer a possible explanation as to why the post -- which according to UN officials was clearly marked and known to Israeli forces -- was hit by Israel on Tuesday night, said retired Maj.-Gen. Lewis MacKenzie yesterday.
The strike hit the UN observation post in the southern Lebanese village of El Khiam, killing Canadian Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three others serving as unarmed UN military observers in the area.
Just last week, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener wrote an e-mail about his experiences after nine months in the area, words Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie said are an obvious allusion to Hezbollah tactics.
"What I can tell you is this," he wrote in an e-mail to CTV dated July 18. "We have on a daily basis had numerous occasions where our position has come under direct or indirect fire from both (Israeli) artillery and aerial bombing.
"The closest artillery has landed within 2 meters (sic) of our position and the closest 1000 lb aerial bomb has landed 100 meters (sic) from our patrol base. This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity."
Those words, particularly the last sentence, are not-so-veiled language indicating Israeli strikes were aimed at Hezbollah targets near the post, said Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie.
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That would mean Hezbollah was purposely setting up near the UN post, he added. It's a tactic Maj.-Gen. MacKenzie, who was the first UN commander in Sarajevo during the Bosnia civil war, said he's seen in past international missions: Aside from UN posts, fighters would set up near hospitals, mosques and orphanages.
A Canadian Forces infantry officer with the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry and the only Canadian serving as a UN military observer in Lebanon, Maj. Hess-von Kruedener was no stranger to fighting nearby.
The UN post, he wrote in the e-mail, afforded a view of the "Hezbollah static positions in and around our patrol Base."
"It appears that the lion's share of fighting between the IDF and Hezbollah has taken place in our area," he wrote, noting later it was too dangerous to venture out on patrols.
The e-mail appears to contradict the UN's claim there had been no Hezbollah activity in the vicinity of the strike.
So Hezbollah was using a tactic designed to bring the innocent under attack. This seems to be common practice for Middle East terrorist groups. And, of course, we keep falling for it.
As to what will happen next... I don't think Israel will join Kofi Annan in the investigation he's called for as long as he claims that the UN post was struck where there was no Hezbollah activity. No side bends in this conflict.
Under The LobsterScope