Thursday, July 27, 2006

UNIFIL - Pride of the UN

An excellent article detailing the proficiency of the crack UN forces keeping close watch in Lebanon.
The current contingent from Ghana has been in Lebanon for three months. The soldiers at the post are charged with patrolling and monitoring, with their single jeep, the area where the heaviest fighting has been going on for the last 10 days. The fact that Hizbullah has been well entrenched in the area ever since Israel's withdrawal six years ago - with hundreds of fighters, well stocked ammunition depots and extensive fortifications - seemed to have escape the Ghanaians notice. "I have never seen one of them," says the soldier. "You cannot easily identify them in the population."
Ghana - say, doesn't Chief Thief Kofi hail from Ghana? What do you thinks his cut on this deal might be?

2 comments:

ambisinistral said...

Two weeks later, the area around the post is quiet, except for the distant thud of artillery fire. Hizbullah has been banished from this small part of Lebanon. IDF Merkava tanks roar through a nearby opening in the border fence. There isn't even a guard at the border and Israeli and foreign journalists pass in and out unhindered.

The Ghanaian soldiers weren't even aware of the breach in the fence they are supposed to monitor, by mandate of the United Nations.


Obviously, money well spent.

Barry Dauphin said...

Another tactic is to take them at their word. So if UNIFIL cannot distinguish between terrorist and civilian, why should the IDF be able to?