Ban Ki-Moon is hailing the exchange of live prisoners for dead Israeli soldiers as the “completion” of part of UNSC 1701.
The secretary general conveyed his heartfelt condolences and said he is deeply satisfied that the humanitarian aspects of Security Council Resolution 1701 have finally been met.
Really? Because just a few months ago, he said that any conditions on the release of Regev and Goldwasser were “outside the scope” of 1701.
“Hezbollah continues to refuse to provide any information on the release or fate of abducted soldiers, and places conditions and demands for the release that are far outside the scope of resolution 1701,” Ban wrote in the report, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz.
The secretary-general also cites Israeli intelligence reports of Hezbollah’s rearmament drive since the end of the Second Lebanon War. The militia is said to have replenished its arsenal of rockets and missiles – including 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range projectiles – which are now deployed on both sides of the Litani River.
“The reports of Hezbollah rearming are a cause of great concern posing serious challenges to the sovereignty, stability, and independence of Lebanon and the implementation of resolution 1701,” Ban wrote in the report.
It’s amazing, isn’t it, how the world’s memory fails at every instance of Arabs and Muslims breaking UN resolutions, and yet, they hold Israel responsible for breaking resolutions that are nonbinding, or that she never broke in the first place.
The Exception Clause, in all of its wonder.
Wording of 1701:
The new resolution emphasizes the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasizes the need to urgently address the causes that have given rise to the crisis, including the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers.
Note the modifier “unconditional.” Israel’s trade of live bodies for dead soldiers was not “unconditional.” And the trade was done under the auspices of the Secretary General. In other words he facilitated the trade rather than insisting that Hezbollah abide by the terms of the resolution.
Ban Ki-Moon is not as bad as Kofi Annan, but he’s no prize.
Ban Ki Moon?
Cock ihm oon.