Intifada III, or testing the waters? Another Palestinian caught with another lot of pipe bombs. I think it’s the latter.
Sigh. Cyberwar. Hackers striking Israeli sites again, and a retaliation promised. No good is going to come of this, and there will be a lot of collateral damage.
What UN resolution? Ban Ki-Moon was in Lebanon this weekend, praising its adherence to UN Security Council Resolution 1701 which, among other things, demands that Hezbollah give up its arms. So what did Ban say?
He said that 1701 has brought an “unprecedented” degree of relative calm and stability to southern Lebanon, adding that the situation along the so-called Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon – despite a number of serious incidents – has been largely stable since 2006.
Riiight. And also:
The U.N. Secretary General says he is “deeply concerned” about the military capacity of the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group and lack of progress in its disarmament.
Ban Ki-moon says the presence of any weapons outside Lebanese state authority is “not acceptable.”
The Hezbollah response? Mockery.
“I affirm today, firmly, decisively and with the greatest conviction the choice of armed resistance,” Nasrallah said. “These weapons, along with the Lebanese people and army, are the only guarantee of Lebanon’s protection.”
Mocking a demand by visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Hezbollah lay down its weapons, Nasrallah said he was happy that Hezbollah’s military prowess was a cause for concern.
“Your concern, Secretary-General, reassures us and pleases us. What matters to us is that you are worried, and that America and Israel are worried with you,” he said in a televised speech marking a Shia holy day.
The pertinent clause in 1701: “resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state.”
It’s good to know that Ban is content with the non-compliance of Lebanon’s armed groups. Also note: If this were Israel, there would be thousands of news stories insisting that Israel is in violation of UN resolutions. Nobody notes that Lebanon is in violation of a binding UN Security Council resolution. Well, except for us.