28. juli 2006

Multinational fantasy force ready to go to Lebanon UN peacekeepers in Lebanon are hung out to dry, writes Winds of Change blogger Yehudit, quoting an Israeli newspaper report by a journalist who had visited a UNIFIL position manned by Ghanese soldiers. On the wall nearest to the gate of the white-washed building is an "Alert State" board with the arrow pointed to black. But none of their information on the current situation has come from their own sources. "We know what's going on from the television," says the commander. Even the deaths of four UNTSO members on Tuesday night in an IAF bombardment, at a base not so far away, wasn't communicated to them from headquarters. That, too, they learned from TV. 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." The UNIFIL soldiers have "zero contact" with the Lebanese living in the surrounding towns and villages. All their supplies are brought by UNIFIL, and they never go out for recreation, aside from periods of leave in Beirut. Some UNIFIL and other UN observers are now apparently being evacuated from southern Lebanon. It's long overdue to end this "interim" UN mission, even as it probably violates some international law to ever, for any cause, end a UN mission that fulfills the UN's objective to endlessly expanding its turf. In related news, Bush and Blair are pushing for a multinational force in Lebanon. That is a totally stupid and impractical idea put forth just so they can give the impression of doing something instead of nothing. First, British or US forces will not be part of it, so it's easy for them to back such a force. We are talking a typical UN blue helmets force of a handful of token troops from the always-UN-eager western countries like Norway, Sweden, Holland and so on, and the bulk of the force being under-equipped and badly trained soldiers from Bangladesh and, as above, Ghana. Hung out to dry, indeed. Second, will these troops do anything to disarm Hezbollah or even try to stop them firing missiles at Israel? Of course not. Will they actually be able to use force? No. So why should they be there? 9:16:39 PM    comment []  trackback []

Iranian 16-year-old rape victim executed for adultery A TV documentary team has provided the details of Iran's execution of a 16-year-old girl two years ago. On 15 August, 2004, Atefah Sahaaleh was hanged in a public square in the Iranian city of Neka. Her death sentence was imposed for "crimes against chastity". The state-run newspaper accused her of adultery and described her as 22 years old. But she was not married - and she was just 16.  Atefah's "crime", in fact, was being raped repeatedly by 51-year-old Ali Darabi, a former revolutionary guard member. Darabi got away with 95 lashes. She got death. Sharia Judge Haji Rezai himself put the noose around the young girl's neck for her public execution. 5:56:17 PM    comment []  trackback []

Al-Zawahiri stirring the Middle East pot I was a bit surprised to see al-Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri coming out with statements in apparent support of Lebanese Hezbollah. Obviously, al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have a common enemy in Israel, but the head-chopping contest going on in Baghdad demonstrate there is little love lost between extremist Shiites and extremist Sunnis. The Associated Press says Zawahiri even called for non-Muslims to join their cause. Kamal Habib, a former member of Egypt's Islamic Jihad militant group who was jailed from 1981-1991 along with al-Zawahri, said the appeal to non-Muslims was unprecedented and reflected a change in tactics. "This is a transformation in the vision of al-Qaida and its struggle with the United States. It is now trying to unite Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims and calling for non-Muslims to join the fight," he said. But the Egyptian-born militant saved most of his vitriol for Israel. "The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires ... . It is a jihad (holy war) for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails ... from Spain to Iraq," said al-Zawahri. "We will attack everywhere." It is, however, not clear whether he invites the "downtrodden" to join in an alliance of convenience or join by becoming Muslims (more specifically, extremist Muslims). It does appear, however, that Zawahiri is actually referring to Hezbollah as al-Qaeda's brothers. "Therefore, all those who have taken part in the crime must pay the price. We cannot just watch these shells as they pour wrath on our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon and sit back in submission."  But a more careful reading shows Zawahiri simply states they have "brothers" in the region, not referring specifically to Hezbollah with this term. Zawahiri refers to "our brothers in Gaza and Lebanon" (a corrected reference to the quote) and says, "The war with Israel does not depend on cease-fires... It is a Jihad for God's sake and will last until (our) religion prevails...We will attack everywhere... The shells and rockets ripping apart Muslim bodies in Gaza and Lebanon are not only Israeli (weapons), but are supplied by all the countries of the crusader coalition. Therefore, every participant in the crime will pay the price." [...] Zawahiri never said that Hezbollah were his "brothers"... he only said that Al-Qaida has "brothers" in Gaza and Lebanon. Be very careful with this, there is a lot of turmoil and debate in the jihadi community over the exact meaning of this tape. Some are saying that it means Zawahiri is pushing for a pragmatic temporary alliance with the Shiites, at least while they are busy dealing with the Jews. Others are saying that Zawahiri made a purely political speech that simply shows Al-Qaida trying to manipulate the situation to score propaganda points. Among those who share the latter view, there is great emphasis on Zawahiri's discussion of the use of the term "downtrodden." The US response emphasised that sending tapes was the only capability the al-Qaeda leadership has, the war on terror having taken its toll on its military capabilities. It may not be too much of a stretch to fear the terrorists to bury the hatchet, so to say, at least outside Iraq, and decide to unite their resources against Israel in particular, and maybe also the west. Update: The wish that Islam should prevail "from Spain to Iraq" is interesting in both directions, so to say. First, it shows Islamists still haven't gotten over the reconquista in 1492. How's that for long term grudges? Second, why "to Iraq" only? Islam is actually the dominant religion throughout Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir, contested between India and Pakistan. But Iran is Shiite, so Zawahiri seems to exclude Iran from "[our] religion", that is the Sunni-dominated areas. While not putting too much emphasis on such a phrase, it appears he has no plan to include the Shia, except maybe reluctantly as strategic partners over the shorter term. 1:26:22 AM    comment []  trackback []

© Copyright 2006 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.08.2006; 17:38:57.