U.N. All Talk, No Action

First the French show their true colors and waiver on their commitment to the international peace effort, they brokered, and now, the rest of the world balks at deploying troops with an armed Hezbollah still in the picture.

As all sides prepare for Lebanese and international troops to replace the Israeli army in Lebanon in as early as 10 days, officials in Europe, America, and Lebanon have made clear that the resolve to confront and disarm Hezbollah in the aftermath of the war is fast eroding.

After meeting Secretary-General Annan yesterday, Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, hailed the security council resolution that ended the fighting Monday morning, calling it a beginning of a "process" in which "the international community" is expected to end the presence of Hezbollah as an armed force.

Israel has to be convinced, she said, that provisions such as an embargo by the Lebanese army and the multinational force to prevent the rearming of Hezbollah are implemented. The United Nations, however, demands that the current Israeli-imposed blockade is removed even before such a mechanism is in place.

U.N. officials say that within 10 days to two weeks, 3,500 troops will join the 2,000-troop UNIFIL stationed in southern Lebanon since 1978, to aid the Lebanese army that yesterday started deploying south of the Litani River.

But as Ms. Livni called implementation of resolution 1701 "a test" for the United Nations, Secretary of State Rice was quoted as saying the multinational force envisioned in the resolution is not expected to disarm Hezbollah, which she said should be done "voluntarily."

Announcing that the Lebanese army will deploy troops in the south, officials of Prime Minister Siniora's government yesterday left vague the question of Hezbollah's disarmament. Lebanon's army will allow no troops other than its own and those in the multinational force to carry weapons, they said, leaving open the possibility that Hezbollah will still maintain huge concealed arms caches.

Well, ok, I understand not wanting to put your troops in the same area as an armed militia like Hezbollah, especially since Hezbollah has a history of using UNIFIL forces as a shield from which they attack Israel.

So what's the solution, simple DISARM HEZBOLLAH!!! it is so simple. Can't believe the world never thought of it. Think this one through, disarming Hezbollah, accomplishes two key goals, it eliminates the danger to your troops by not having them used as a human shield, and, more importantly, it eliminates the need for them in the first place. Sometimes the simple solutions are the best solutions.

So why isn't that the course of action that the world is taking? Well, because Hezbollah doesn't want to be disarmed, and Hezbollah will fight to keep their arms, and the World will not do, what they must do, and what Israel is willing to do, and that is, fight Hezbollah so that Hezbollah doesn't have any more weapons. Until the World wakes up and realizes that Hexbollah, and Syria and Iran are their enemies, and not Israel, then Hezbollah will remain an armed power to be dealt with and Israel will be handcuffed into inaction by world contempt.