What Now Kofi?

In case anyone doubted my dismissing of this UN resolution. Now you know. There is only one possible upside now. And that's if the US has shipped some additional ammunitions Israel requested recently - like two days ago.

Israel had two serious problems. Hezbollah had much higher tech anti-tank rockets than they figured. And they were more dug in. What might have benefited Israel was more effective close air support and a change in tactics. So, is it possible Bush and Olmert had this figured and are prepared to come out swinging more effectively in round two?

It's possible and Olmert certainly needs it. But, frankly, I'll be surprised. I'm not ruling it out. But Olmert's decision not to release the IDF sooner suggests at heart he's still a bit of a dove. Not to mention that fact that civilians have been pouring back into Southern Lebanon.

Israel has asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of short-range antipersonnel rockets armed with cluster munitions, the New York Times reported Friday morning. These rockets can be effective against hidden missile launchers.

Army can't disarm Hezbollah fighters

IT was supposed to be the day the maligned Lebanese army took control of the country's borders and policed the UN ceasefire.
Instead, the military commanders were left humiliated and troops stranded as Hezbollah told them not to disarm its fighters.

The first infantry units were preparing to head south when Hezbollah showed who controls the area by announcing it would not surrender its weapons.

General Michel Sleiman, commander-in-chief of the Lebanese army, and his lieutenants had been invited to join cabinet meetings to finalise plans to deploy the 15,000-strong force south of the Litani River.

But they were lectured by Hezbollah's two ministers in the coalition Government on what the army could and could not do.

In Beirut, Western diplomats said the standoff raised concerns about the army's ability to deal with Hezbollah. The Lebanese Government is left struggling to maintain a united front after unanimously backing the UN resolution on Saturday.

"The Government can't force Hezbollah to abide by the ceasefire," Economics Minister Sami Haddad said.

"It's unnatural to have an armed political party in cabinet that does not abide by what the Government of Lebanon wants."

Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese parliament and the Shia politician best placed to negotiate with Hezbollah, asked for 48 hours to broker a deal.

The standoff came after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would respect the ceasefire, describing the deployment of Lebanese and foreign troops to the south as "an honourable move".

But without Lebanese troops or the planned international force in the intended demilitarised zone, there is little prospect of the ceasefire holding.

There were optimistic murmurs about trying to integrate Hezbollah fighters into the army. But Hezbollah seems to have decided that the demand for its fighters to disarm and leave the 20km arms-free zone would show it as losers in the conflict.

Comments

[brent]

Israel needs to continue pounding their enemy and the US should back them up all the way. Kofi is nothing buy a joke. Everytime I see that man it makes me sick. President Bush needs to grow a bigger spine and tell Kofi to shut up and sit down. If Israel is forced to a cease fire it only gives their enemy time to regroup get better weapons from terrorist countries along with support from American Liberals. Bush needs to give Israel all the weopons they need to help win this war against Muslim Terrorist nations.

[Elisabeth]

Yes, but America refused.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3290322,00.html

[splashtc]

With the new UN force-perhaps things will take on a more covert fighting atmosphere-infiltration, intelligence, oops Nasrallas' car exploded.