Decision ‘08

The UN’s Selective Enforcement

French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post.

Wednesday, several days after meeting with an IDF general in Paris to discuss what he said was a “blatant violation of the cease-fire.”

Last weekend, Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan, head of the IDF Planning Directorate, traveled to Paris and met with military officials to explain why the IAF flies over Lebanon despite the UN-brokered cease-fire.

Nehushtan, new to his post and previously deputy commander of the air force, told his French counterparts that Israel was conducting the flights to collect intelligence on Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon.

According to the French officer, Nehushtan apologized for an incident on October 31 when an IAF fighter carried out a mock bombing run over a French UNIFIL position in southern Lebanon, almost prompting troops to fire anti-aircraft missiles.

“There was a reality on the ground and it was important for us to reaffirm what we had seen and explain clearly what are the orders of the French soldiers to protect themselves,” the French officer said.

The French told Nehushtan they would view further aggressive flyovers as a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

“No assurances were made to us that they [the IAF] would stop [the flights],” the French officer said. “The orders that the [French] soldiers have is that their weapons are for self-defense and if a commander will feel threatened, as it was about to happen on the 31st of October, he would have the right to use force.”

Milos Strugar, spokesman for UNIFIL, supported the French position, saying that according to the UN resolution, UNIFIL had the right to use force in self-defense, even against Israeli aircraft.

“UNIFIL has the right to take all necessary action to protect UN personnel in self-defense,” he said.

It’s good to see the UN so concerned about enforcing the cease-fire. Let’s see, ceasefire, ceasefire, I vaguely remember some items contained…hmmm…oh, yes…

All militias shall be disarmed, including Hezbollah. How’s that one coming along? Any chance French troops will fire at the Hezbollah forces openly parading about and calling for the overthrow of Lebanon’s government (whose ministers face the reality of assassination if they oppose Syria)? Oh, yes, here’s another…the captured Israeli soldiers must be returned. Any progress on that front? Will French troops mount a daring commando raid to rescue these poor individuals?

Nah, but they’ll take pot shots at Israeli planes from the safety of their fortifications…if that’s not pathetic, then I need a new dictionary…

One Response to “The UN’s Selective Enforcement”

1 Mike Says:
November 24th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
Hmmm. Israel and France both have planes and tanks….. yeah….. they both have nukes too… right….. Hmmm, which one has, er, male generative organs?