Diplomacy and the Hounds of Hell, Part IX

Arab media reports claim Israel lost 12 soldiers in heavy fighting inside Lebanon today. Israeli reports indicate that about 25 soldiers were wounded. As the details emerge, one must remember that this is what happens when you fight an entrenched enemy who has had six years to prepare - six years where the UN failed to note, demand cessation of such activities, or put a stop to such activities as required under UN SCR 1559. The Israelis are also finding missile launchers in the strangest of places - mosques, personal residences, and the terrorists are using mosques as rallying points.

Israel plans on carving out a security corridor along the border, which suggests that they're in Lebanon for the long haul.

The IDF is also searching for 40 terrorists in Gaza. Hizbullah's rockets keep hitting Israel. Iran denies that Nasrallah is hiding in the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

Meanwhile, Iran really is begging for attention, isn't it. Ignore them at our peril? Absolutely spot on. Iran is at the center of the conflict in Lebanon. Their fingerprints are all over Hizbullah, the ratcheting up of violence in Iraq, and their intentions to acquire and deploy nuclear weapons.

And one has to wonder whether the funny money that turned up in the video shot by NBC outside a financial institution targeted by Israel had Iranian fingerprints all over them.

Via Charles at LGF; the UN is busy repairing roads that the Israelis purposefully damaged in Lebanon to impede Hizbullah from resupplying and moving about the country. I'm sure the UNIFIL thinks that this is part of their job description, but they are actively aiding and abetting terrrorists along with those civilians still in the affected areas.

Meanwhile, Kofi Annan already made up his mind, played judge, jury and executioner of Israel in the court of public opinion before all the facts were in - all while clamoring for an investigation into an incident where four UNIFIL peacekeepers were killed in an outpost along the Lebanese border. Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman had some harsh words in reply.Gillerman has also said the following:

"I was shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the Secretary Heneral insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post at Khiam and surprised at these premature and erroneous assertions," Ambassador Dan Gillerman said to the BBC World Service.

"The Secretary General, while demanding an investigation, has already issued his conclusions," Mr Gillerman said in comments marking the first official Israeli reaction to Mr Annan's comments.

"As I told you, Israel is carrying out a thorough inquiry into this tragic incident and we will inform the UN of its results as soon as possible."

Gillerman is absolutely right to go postal on Annan's accusations and claims. Right now, all anyone can say is that it was a tragic incident.

It remains to be seen whether it was anything more than that.

Egypt says that it wont go to war with Israel. Smart move. Chirac says that NATO should not be leading peacekeeping forces in Lebanon. Well, considering that NATO has the means and capabilities that no other international organization does, who does he suggest?

Bloggers to check in with for daily updates are Blue Crab Boulevard, Carl in Jerusalem, Israellycool, Dave Bender, Meryl Yourish, Euphoric Reality, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, Jameel at the Muqata, Greetings from the French Hill, R'Lazer, and Live from an Israeli Bunker. Check back with them regularly for updates.

UPDATE:
Iranian volunteers are set to join up with Hizbullah (still think Iran has nothing to do with this?). Hizbullah claims that they will begin targeting other military targets in Israel - such as the resort town of Netanya. That's more than 60 miles from the Israel/Lebanon border, and certainly puts hundreds of thousands more Israelis under the threat of attack. Not that the media bothers to report on Israel's ongoing refugee problem of its own as more than 300,000 Israelis are seeking refuge elsewhere in the country and more than a million are staying in bomb shelters and bunkers to protect themselves from the Hizbullah rocket attacks from the North and Hamas attacks from Gaza.

As the rockets keep landing in Israel, more than 55 Israelis have been wounded. Terror alerts have been raised in the West Bank.

Talks in Rome designed to gain consensus on a ceasefire have failed. That figures. Too many folks think that a ceasefire is the same as peace, and the US and Israelis know that any ceasefire will only provide aid and comfort to the terrorists who started this latest conflict. That cannot be allowed to happen - as Sec. State Rice said that there will be no status quo ante. The political situation on the ground after this conflict ends in Lebanon will be quite different than before. Here's a discussion on the pros and cons of an international force in Lebanon.

Italy says that it would send forces as part of an international peacekeeping force.

Amnesty International calls for an arms embargo on the whole of the Middle East - which only means that the terrorists will continue to acquire weapons, Iran will continue their clandestine plans to acquire and develop nuclear weapons along with providing weapons to the terrorists, Syria will continue to provide support to the terrorists, and the pressure will be on Israel because they can't necessarily sustain combat indefinitely without support from the US or other third parties. There's no reason to believe that anyone will actually adhere to any such embargo.

UPDATE:
Wretchard is deadly accurate with his take on Annan, the UNIFIL mission in South Lebanon and Israeli fire in the vicinity of UNIFIL operations. Ed Morrissey comments on diplomatic maneuverings, Chirac's statements and NATO peacekeeping. David Ignatius writes of negotiating settlements in Lebanon. Instead of focusing on eliminating the source of the threat - Hizbullah, the diplomats are trying to restore stability to a situation that was inherently unstable. Here's what Ignatius says about how such a deal would work for the Israelis:

What's in it for Israel to accept such a deal, which would allow Hezbollah to survive? The answer is that an attempt to go all the way and destroy the Shiite militia would require a full-scale invasion of Lebanon, and might well misfire in the same way as Israel's 1982 invasion. Better to go for a solid half a loaf -- pushing armed Hezbollah fighters north of the Litani River and bringing in an international force to help the Lebanese army police a buffer zone -- than to risk further setbacks.

Hizbullah has shown no signs of ever disarming itself, and indeed claims to possess even longer range missiles and rockets. If that's the case, going to the Litani River is insufficient to protect Northern Israel. Iran is supplying Hizbullah with the rockets, missiles, and other weapons being used to attack Israelis. That isn't going to change unless Lebanon's border with Syria is addressed as well. You want to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation in Lebanon, it should start there - not on Israel's border with Lebanon.

The IAF continues to strike at Hizbullah targets, and is also targeting Amal as well.

UPDATE:
The Lebanese President issues his support for Hizbullah. Not a good move, unless you know that Hizbullah threatened him if he didn't support Hizbullah. Hizbullah is a terrorist group, and you can be sure that the politicians are deathly afraid of even appearing to cross the group.

Is Hizbullah positioning itself near UN positions on purpose? Seems that way. Especially when you can see it in pictures. Israellycool has more on this. The UN really needs to explain itself as to why it permitted Hizbullah to occupy positions adjacent to its own, despite UN SCR 1559 requiring the elimination of all non government militias and to assist the Lebanese government secure its borders.

There is also a report, that the Canadian killed at the UN outpost reported to his superiors that Hizbullah was operating on the grounds of the UN outpost.

60% of Kiryat Shimona residents have left the area. They're refugees. That's what they are. They're seeking refuge from the incessant Hizbullah attacks on their area.

Any talk about international forces in Lebanon must start and end with the Syria/Lebanon border. That's the key to ending this conflict, not the Israel/Lebanon border despite the focus being on Israel and Lebanon. Hizbullah is being supplied across the Syrian border, and it's how their forces, along with Iranian assistance, are entering Lebanon. While Israeli airstrikes did damage routes leading into Lebanon from Syria, that is only a temporary move - and Hizbullah will find alternative routes from Syria. And I see that the Israelis concur (HT Solomon X at LGF).

Dozens of Hizbullah terrorists were killed in heavy fighting in the Bint Jbeil area. That's where 25-30 Israelis were injured as well (though Arab media sources continue to claim that a dozen Israelis were killed).

UPDATE:
The Jersualem Post is reporting that eight members of the Golani Brigade were killed in action in Bint Jbeil (Ynet link). Soldiers injured in this fight want to get back and speak of many acts of honor and courage.

As a PSA for the Lefties out there whose moral equivalence overwhelms facts and logic, Lorie Byrd provides a refresher on how and when to use the term terrorist - even when such organizations do 'good deeds.'

The EU is calling the attack on the UN outpost unacceptable and demands an inquiry. Get in the queue. Israel will address your concerns in turn. In the meantime, perhaps Israel should continue killing Hizbullah who continue to fire rockets into Israel while the debating circles in Europe keep debating and dithering. And Ahmadinejad is calling for another one of his ceasefires. Israel must really be taking it to Hizbullah for him to make another empty cry for ceasefire. Lebanon, meanwhile, arrested forty people who they claim were aiding Israeli efforts.

UPDATE:
Others blogging the conflict, including the reaction to the UN outpost hit by Israeli fire that resulted in four observers killed: File it Under v2.0, Coalition of the Swilling, ZioNation, Jeff Goldstein, Meryl Yourish on Hizbullah war crimes, and Laurence Simon on Sheba Farms and on Hizbullah's use of civilian facilities to further their war against Israel.

UPDATE:
The Israelis have attacked a Lebanese army base. Another weapons cache was attacked in Jabayla. The US wants Israel to deal with Syria over the Shaba Farms area (Mt. Dov).

Abu Mazen, who hasn't been heard from in a while, declares that Israel is about to obliterate Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. Sorry, but that's not happening, regardless of his overheated rhetoric. This is a mere fraction of what Israel could do if it wanted - and it doesn't.

The Canadian Prime Minister doubts that the Israelis purposefully attacked the UN outpost, as Annan claims and the hard left automatically assumes is true.

Want to see Hizbullah's positions? Check out Google Earth - that according to Defense Tech. The reason these positions aren't being disseminated by the Israelis or Americans is because they don't want to give away their technical capabilities, which is entirely understandable.

Melanie Philips notes the ongoing war against Israel. Her essay is compelling, but this stands out:

What is essentially a war of defence and of survival, however, is being presented to Britons in their armchairs as a war by Israel of unconscionable aggression, with all the suffering taking place among the Lebanese who are in turn presented as the innocent bystanders caught up in a war in which they have no standing. The fact that Hezbollah was elected to the Lebanese parliament, holds government portfolios and has been allowed to operate with impunity by the Lebanese as a state within a state to carry out its murderous objectives towards Israel is almost totally ignored. Yes, innocent Lebanese are dying and suffering in this war, and that is awful. Innocent civilians, tragically, are always victims in any war. But Lebanon itself is not an innocent bystander at all. It is an accessory to genocidal terror.

Others continuing to cover the crisis: All Things Beautiful, Defense Tech considers the swirling debate around Israel's air campaign, Blue Crab Boulevard, Liberty and Justice comments on Annan and rushing to judgment, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Partisan Times, Outside the Beltway (a good roundup of the UN outpost incident), Michelle Malkin, Right Wing News, and Hyscience.

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lebanon, syria.