Hezbolla's Human Shield

Photo: A Canadian soldier mans a guard tower at Camp Ziouani, Golan Heights, in 2002. Thousands of Canadians have served in this border region since 1958. (Photo: MCpl Frank Hudec, Canadian Forces Combat Camera).

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We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will. --Kofi Annan

Aaah, yes, Kofi, from your lips to God's ears....

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I was hesitant to repeat writing about what everyone else is writing about, but it's so crucial to understanding the Israeli situation and what they are and have been up against, this event's got to have a place here too. Radical islamists are willing to go to any length to justify their religious jihad.

This poor Canadian UN "observer," along with three other UN "observers," lost his life needlessly. Their blood most certainly is on Kofi Annan's hands. When this war broke out, he should have called his UN "observers" home immediately in order to protect them from becoming collateral damage. Kofi still hasn't done this and, if he had even a grain of humanity, he still could.

There's no need for UN "observers" to sit in the middle of Hezbolla-land risking life and limb--unless you actually want them to become human shields for Hezbolla.

One other thing. We, in the US, need to send the UN packing--to Geneva, Switzerland, or The Hague and let some other country deal with the criminals that they spawn (like the UN worker today who was caught smuggling--diplomatically immune--tons of drugs into the US).

For a very long time, the UN has proven itself to be not only ineffective and useless, but also a breeding ground for crime and corruption for which no one has to pay. After all, the criminals turn out to be, once again, diplomatically immune.

We Americans pay 25% to 30% of the total UN budget. We finance this corruption by sending them our money. I propose we stop funding the lion's share of the corruption and cut back our contribution to match the next most generous country in the group.

Maybe we could use the savings to keep our Social Security program alive longer or build the dang fence on our Southern border. Or fund something else we CARE about. I'm tired of lining Kofi's pockets and those of his family and friends. I'm sick to death of "diplomatic immunity" and rampant corruption. I'm fed up with his disdain for us while biting the hand that feeds him. It's time to send the UN away and cut way back our contribution. Donald Trump could make some mighty fine living space in that UN building. He'd pay taxes to the city, too. Wowsa! More income for NYC. Bu-bye Kofi and clan.

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Hezbollah was using UN post as 'shield'
Canadian wrote of militia's presence, 'necessity' of bombing

Joel Kom, with files from Steven Edwards, CanWest News Service, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Thursday, July 27, 2006

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 (Full text of email beginning in paragraph 4 HERE) 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.

"What that means is, in plain English, 'We've got Hezbollah fighters running around in our positions, taking our positions here and then using us for shields and then engaging the (Israeli Defence Forces)," he said.

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....

....The e-mail appears to contradict the UN's claim there had been no Hezbollah activity in the vicinity of the strike.

The question of Hezbollah's infiltration of the area is significant because UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, speaking Tuesday just hours after the bombing, accused the Israelis of the "apparently deliberate targeting" of the base near Khiam in southern Lebanon.... (all emphases mine)

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Full Ottawa Citizen article by Joel Kom, with files from Steven Edwards HERE.

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Related material: Excellent reference about Diplomatic Immunity. Everything you wanted to know so you can sound like an expert on the topic.